Can Leg Pain be Caused by Your Neck? Leg Pain Doctors

Can Leg Pain be Caused by Your Neck? Los Angeles Upper Cervical Chiropractic

Leg pain has many different causes.  Sciatica, low back disc bulge, TFL syndrome, and IT band syndrome can all cause leg pain. All of these conditions can have their cause in your upper cervical spine. I know this sounds far-fetched but once you understand that  postural muscle tone is controlled in the neck it  starts to make sense.

The vestibular nuclei , which is housed in the brain-stem, is responsible for most of the deep postural muscle tone throughout the spine.(1) If this center is irritated or malfunctioning it causes the  posture of the body to become imbalanced.

If the top vertebrae in the neck(atlas) is out of position from  injury it affects how the nervous system functions (1,2,3).  One result of this irritation is what is termed a "short leg syndrome"(fig 1).  The muscles of the spine become imbalanced. One shoulder becomes higher than the other, one hip also and the leg becomes functionally short.  This can result in muscle imbalance problems anywhere in the body.

Once you have unleveling of the hips your body weight is carried unevenly. Over time people can develop conditions such TFL syndrome, Sciatica, Low Back Disc problems and IT band syndromes. Most of these conditions become exacerbated with exercise. Exercise works the imbalanced muscles. The ones that are already tight become painful as they are unable to recover. Over time these problems become chronic because the control center, the neck, is misaligned.

The Upper Cervical procedure’s goal is to restore normal bio-mechanics of the upper cervical spine so the irritation of the brain stem can be cleared.  Muscle tone imbalances will migrate towards balance. Over time many of these musculo-skeletal conditions either improve or disappear all together.

If you suffer with these conditions and live in Los Angeles our office offers a free consultation. You can schedule by calling 213 399-7772 for our Los Angeles office or 310 324-6172 for South Bay office. Or you can schedule online by clicking here.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11081/
2.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2493202
3.  https://uprightdoctor.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/c1-c2-and-csf-flow
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27012296