Expert: Dr. Brendon J. O`Brien, D.C. - 8/18/2004

Question
I'm a 32 yr old female who has been having what my chiropractor says is  sciatica. The symptoms I started with 4 days ago were shooting pain  down my right buttock and leg occasionally when I stepped on that foot.  (This was a day after an adjustment that sent me home feeling a little  bit more uncomfortable than when I went in).  My chiropractor adjusted  me again, I felt a little better until I got home-the pain returned,  but it felt different. Now the pain down my leg was gone, the pain in  my buttock was gradually disappearing but now my right calf was getting  symptoms of fullness, heaviness, thickness, (maybe numbness, too. hard  for me to say)-almost feeling like the calf was bulging so much that it  was about to burst. Despite another adjustment and ultrasound therapy  and electro therapy, I am still in tremendous pain and very concerned.  My calf started turning purple this morning. My chiro wants me to get  an MRI to rule out a bulging disk. My spine feels fine, the area where  my sciatic nerve comes out of the spine and traveling thru the buttock  area doesn't hurt, even when I'm massaging it. Is this sciatica, a case  of a poor adjustment or something unrelated? I've never in my life had  pain like this in my calf. What do I do? Thanks.
Mary

Answer
Hello Mary,

   The sciatic nerve pain will travel through the buttocks and down the back of the leg, sometimes even into the toes.  If the pain in the back and buttocks are decreasing and almost gone, the calf pain could be unrelated.  Some times you can have venous or arteriole problems in the calf.  I would have your chiropractor check the calf (as soon as possible!) and see if he wants to order a MRI of the lower leg and lumbar spine.

Let me know how everything turns out.

Dr. O'Brien