Why did this lady leave us a five star review saying I saved her husband’s life, when in fact he only came in for sciatica? What is the one question every practitioner must ask every sciatica patient?

In this case study, a 37 year old male presented to Joondalup Chiropractic in extreme pain with sciatica. He’d been to the emergency department over the weekend, but was discharged with pain relief and told us his GP.

The men came in. He was in obvious distress. He was constantly bending forward, stretching his leg, trying to get any sort of relief that he could. MRI images were available, as he’d seen a specialist three years earlier. Multiple disc bulges appeared on MRI, but none were compressing the nerve sufficiently to warrant surgery at the time. The pain had started a few days earlier, so instead of doing its usual weight routine, the man decided to do a lot more stretching by sitting on the floor, bending forward, reaching for his toes.

Unfortunately for this man, this caused a lot more irritation to the lumbar disc and actually made him worse. Before beginning a physical examination, I asked him the one question I ask every sciatica patient. Have you had any problems with bowel bladder going to the toilet?

For a split second the man actually stopped stretching. He looked at me and he said, doctor, I can’t feel it.

What the man was describing there was numbness in the saddle area. Now Corda Equina is a surgical emergency. This is where a large disc bulge compressing the nerves can cause permanent loss of bowel and bladder control. So I immediately referred in back to the emergency department, where he was admitted. He had a repeat MRI at 11pm that night, which actually confirmed a diagnosis of Cauda Equina.

The man had decompression surgery at 10 a.m. the next morning. So did I say this patient’s life? Probably not. But we did pick up the one sign that could have changed his life forever – and it all came down to just asking the right question.

If you’re experiencing persistent leg pain, consult a professional.

You can watch a You Tube video of this case here.