Back Pain and Sciatica – Part 2

Back Pain and Sciatica – Part 2

Back Pain and Sciatica

Last month I posted a case study showing how we treat back pain and associated ‘sciatica’ like symptoms here at Elite Physical Therapy in Traverse City.  You can find that article here:  https://elitepttc.comback-pain-and-sciatica-physical-therapy-treatments/

This month’s case study is a little different in that the presentation and location of the pain were quite different but it still comes down to playing detective to determine where the patient’s symptoms are really coming from.  Before we get started here, I’m re-posting the picture of the dermatomes of the body (basically the sensory distribution of the nerves from the spine) so be sure to check that out.  Pretty cool how we were created for sure!

Dermatomes

Case Study #2

The patient in this case presented to our clinic with pain shooting into the front of his hip and groin as well as down the front and side of his thigh.  He also reported minor back pain but it was nothing compared to the pain in his leg.  The patient reported having this pain on and off over the past couple years especially when exercising but recently it was much more constant and severe.  In the past he had been diagnosed with IT Band syndrome (pain laterally in the hip and thigh might make you think that), and more recently with a hip flexor strain (could also make sense now that he was having more pain into the front of the hip and groin).

Exam

  • minimal tenderness to the ‘hip flexor’ muscles anteriorly, slight weakness with manual muscle testing but no pain (probably not a hip flexor strain).
  • moderate tenderness and active trigger points in the lateral hip musculature that referred pain down the lateral thigh to the knee (could be part of IT Band syndrome).
  • springing of the lumbar vertebrae at L2 and L3 reproduced the typical symptoms  he felt into his anterior hip/groin as well as lateral thigh (Bingo!)

Treatment

Dry needling was performed at the levels of L2 and L3 along with electric stimulation for 10 minutes, and followed up with Graston Technique (GT) to decrease tone and improve mobility of the superficial fascia and muscles of the mid and lower back.

A couple exercises were given to maintain, and hopefully even improve, the mobility gained through the spine and hips as a result of the dry needling and GT.

Results

The patient reported a significant decrease in the anterior hip and groin symptoms as well as a moderate improvement in lateral hip and thigh symptoms.

During the second treatment session I decided to treat the muscles of the lateral hip as well since they also referred pain into the lateral thigh.  This was done with by dry needling + e-stim just like we had done in the low back.

By the third treatment session a few days later the patient was reporting a significant reduction in lateral hip and thigh symptoms as well.

Final Thoughts

It took a few more treatments to completely resolve this patient’s symptoms but it’s nice to see an immediate decrease in symptoms to know that you are treating the right areas.  With a thorough evaluation process it wasn’t hard to figure out that the patient’s symptoms were primarily coming from his spine which was quite a different diagnosis than what was previously thought.

A little detective work plus effective treatment tools like dry needling and Graston Technique can make a huge difference in patient outcomes especially in these ‘sciatica’ cases.  If you have similar types of symptoms or pain that just doesn’t ever seem to get better then give us a call!  If you have any questions feel free to email me:  joe@elitepttc.com