“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
Condition
Sciatica treatment
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
Leg pain that outruns your back pain means a nerve is being irritated somewhere. The plan starts by finding where, because the answer changes the treatment completely.
- 22 years in practice
- Decompression and Neuromed on site
- No injections, no surgery
- $47 new patient exam
- 22 years in practice
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 14, 2026
Quick summary
Sciatica is leg pain caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve or of the roots that form it, most often from a disc, a narrowed opening in the spine, or a tight deep gluteal muscle. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC locates the level before treating it, then unloads it with spinal decompression, chiropractic care and Neuromed electroanalgesia at both offices.
Understanding sciatica
Sciatica is less a diagnosis than a description: pain travelling along the path of the sciatic nerve, from the low back or buttock down the back of the leg. Something is irritating the nerve or the roots that form it, and the useful work is identifying what and where.
The sciatic nerve is the largest in the body, formed from roots leaving the spine in the lower back and sacrum, then running through the buttock and down the back of the leg. Anywhere along that path it can be compressed or irritated, and where that happens determines which part of the leg speaks up. Most commonly the trouble is at the spine end. A bulged or herniated disc presses on a root as it exits. Narrowing of that exit does the same thing more gradually and tends to hurt more on standing and walking than on sitting. Less commonly the nerve is irritated further down, where it passes through the deep muscles of the buttock. One detail matters more than any other. Pain is one thing; loss of strength is another. A leg that hurts is usually mechanical with a mechanical answer. A leg getting weaker, or a foot starting to drop, needs medical assessment, and testing for that happens at every visit.
Sciatica has a particular cruelty to it. The back might barely hurt while the leg is unbearable, sitting is worse than standing, and the one position that helps at two in the morning is never the one you are in. Most people who come to ChiroMed Wellness Centers with it have already been through anti-inflammatories and a stretching routine from the internet, and several have been offered an injection. What almost none have had is an examination identifying which level of the spine, or which structure, is irritating the nerve. That is not an academic distinction. A disc at one level, a narrowed opening at another and a tight deep gluteal muscle all produce leg pain, and none of them answer to the same care. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has 22 years of doing that examination. Where the finding is mechanical, the plan takes pressure off the nerve with computer guided decompression, restores movement in the lower back and pelvis with adjusting, and uses Neuromed electroanalgesia for the nerve pain itself.
Independent background: Sciatica, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Symptoms
Most people recognise their own version somewhere in this list. Each one maps to a specific finding the examination checks for.
- Pain running down the back of one leg
- Burning or electric sensation in the leg
- Pins and needles in the foot
- Worse pain on sitting
- Pain on coughing or sneezing
- Numbness along the calf or foot
- Difficulty standing up straight
- Aching deep in the buttock
- Leg feeling heavy or tired
Common causes
Lumbar disc herniation
Disc material presses on a nerve root where it leaves the spine. This is the most common cause of true sciatica and the reason pain is worse sitting and bending forward.
Foraminal narrowing and spinal stenosis
The openings the nerve roots pass through narrow with age and disc height loss. Symptoms are worse standing and walking and ease on sitting or leaning forward.
Deep gluteal irritation
Where the nerve passes through the muscles of the buttock, tightness and trigger points can irritate it directly. Pain starts in the buttock rather than the back, often after a long drive.
Spondylolisthesis
One vertebra slipping forward on the one below changes the space available to the nerve roots, producing a sciatic pattern alongside a low back that feels unstable.
Degenerative change with facet enlargement
As facet joints wear they enlarge, and the extra bone encroaches on the space a nerve root needs. This develops slowly and is more common in older adults.
Pregnancy related compression
The mechanical changes of later pregnancy, with pelvic ligament laxity, can compress or irritate the nerve. It usually settles after delivery but does not have to be endured meanwhile.
How we treat sciatica in Lakeland and The Villages
Sciatica care here is about taking pressure off an irritated nerve and keeping it off. That means spinal decompression where a disc or narrowed opening is the source, chiropractic care to restore movement in the lower back and pelvis, and Neuromed electroanalgesia aimed at the nerve pain itself.
Spinal Decompression to Take Pressure Off the Nerve Root
This addresses the cause directly when the examination points at a disc or a narrowed exit. Controlled, cycling traction is applied to the specific level identified, reducing compressive load on the root. Dr. Bergin sets the level and angle from your findings and reassesses the leg as the course progresses, because a leg that is not changing means the plan needs to.
Chiropractic Care for the Lower Back and Pelvis
Restricted lumbar segments and a pelvis not sharing load keep the nerve in an irritable environment. Adjusting restores that movement so the decompression work holds, and it settles the guarding that makes every position uncomfortable. This portion bills insurance, verified beforehand.
Neuromed Electroanalgesia for Nerve Pain
Electroanalgesia delivers specific electrical waveforms into the tissue to interrupt pain signalling and improve circulation in the area. We use the Neuromed system. It runs alongside the decompression and chiropractic work rather than instead of them, and it is most useful when nerve pain is blocking sleep. Cash pay protocol.
What recovery usually looks like
Getting the leg quiet The opening phase
What changes first is usually distance and position: sitting through a meal, getting through a night, driving without stopping. Back pain often improves before leg pain, which is expected.
Centralisation As the plan progresses
The pattern we look for is pain retreating up the leg toward the back rather than simply fading everywhere. That is the signal the nerve is decompressing, and it is tracked at each reassessment.
Rebuilding and protecting Later in the plan
Once the leg is quiet, care shifts to the loads that irritated the nerve: sitting time, lifting mechanics, hip movement. Visits space out as gains hold.
If the leg is not changing The honest checkpoint
A leg that has not shifted by the agreed review, or any leg starting to lose strength at any stage, stops the plan rather than extending it. That referral happens the week it is identified.
When to seek care sooner
What to try at home first. For leg pain of a few days with no weakness and no red flags, the most useful thing is to keep moving within tolerance. Bed rest makes sciatica worse. Walk little and often. Break up sitting every fifteen or twenty minutes, since sitting loads the disc more than standing. Find the direction of movement that eases the leg, usually gentle extension, and repeat it often rather than forcing stretches that increase leg pain. Avoid deep forward bending and heavy lifting while it is irritable. Heat for the surrounding spasm tends to help more than ice after the first day. The worst things you can do are bed rest, aggressive stretching that reproduces the leg pain, and waiting quietly while a foot gets weaker. See someone urgently if you develop loss of bowel or bladder control, numbness in the saddle area between your legs, weakness in both legs, or a foot that drops and catches as you walk. Those are emergency findings and need a hospital, not an appointment. Also seek same day assessment for sciatica alongside fever, unexplained weight loss, a cancer history, or leg pain that began with a significant fall or crash.
Red-flag findings belong with a physician, promptly, and not with conservative care alone.
Cost, insurance and financing
The cost of sciatica care depends on where the irritation is and how long it has been there. You get the plan and the cost in writing at the report of findings, and nothing starts before you have seen both.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What moves the cost
- Which structure and which level the examination identifies
- Whether the plan needs a decompression course
- Whether nerve pain warrants an electroanalgesia protocol
- How long the leg has been symptomatic
What a course includes
- The consultation, examination and neurological screening
- Digital X-rays where they change the plan
- The written report of findings and the home program
Payment: Chiropractic care bills insurance and our team verifies your benefits before your first visit. Spinal decompression and the Neuromed electroanalgesia protocol are self-pay, quoted in writing before they start. Payment plans are available for self-pay care. Ask the front desk which plan fits your course of care.
Who you would be seeing
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has spent 22 years working with nerve pain, and he screens for strength loss at every sciatica visit rather than only at the first. His philosophy fits in a sentence: identify the level, take pressure off it, refer immediately if the nerve is losing function rather than just complaining. The unhurried appointment model exists because that examination cannot be done quickly.
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, 22 years in practice, performs the examination personally and explains the findings before any program starts. Lakeland: 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland. The Villages market office: 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake. Both offices run the same program.
Getting to us
The Lakeland office at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13 sits near the Polk Parkway junction on South Florida Avenue, keeping the drive short from Highland City, Christina, Dixieland, Scott Lake and the Southgate and Lakeside Village side of town. Much of the sciatica we treat in Polk County starts with a long commute, a delivery route or a job spent lifting off the floor. At Lady Lake, 929 US-441 #404 is reachable from The Villages, Summerfield, Fruitland Park, Oxford, Wildwood and Leesburg across Lake, Sumter and Marion counties. There sciatica usually shows up as the thing that ended the daily walk or the golf round, and the golf cart becomes the only comfortable seat in the house.
Browse every condition on the conditions we treat index.
Options compared, honestly
This is treated very differently depending on who you walk in to see. Here is the full set, including the options this practice does not provide.
| Criteria | Our approachSpinal decompression | Chiropractic care | Neuromed electroanalgesia | Prescription nerve medication | Epidural steroid injection | Microdiscectomy or decompression surgery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Cycling traction applied to the identified level to reduce compression on the nerve root | Restoring movement at restricted lumbar segments and the pelvis | Electrical waveforms delivered into tissue to interrupt pain signalling | Medication aimed at the nerve pain signal | An image guided steroid injection near the irritated root | Surgery to remove the disc material or bone pressing on the nerve |
| Typically considered when | A disc or narrowed exit is identified and leg pain is the dominant symptom | Segments are restricted and guarding holds the low back locked | Nerve pain is blocking sleep while mechanical work proceeds | Pain is intolerable and a physician judges it appropriate | Severe root pain has not responded to conservative care | Strength is being lost or conservative care has genuinely failed |
| Invasive? | No | No | No | No | Minimally | Yes |
| Offered at ChiroMed? | Yes. Self-pay, quoted in writing first | Yes. Billed to insurance | Yes. Cash pay protocol | Not performed here. We do not prescribe, and it does not change what compresses the nerve | Not performed here. Reasonable when a severely inflamed root needs settling | Not performed here. A leg losing strength belongs with a surgeon and we refer the same week |
The last three columns exist because the honest answer to some sciatica is not us. A nerve losing strength is a surgical conversation, and nobody should spend twelve weeks on a table while a foot gets weaker.
What to expect
From evaluation to a plan for your sciatica
A course, not a single visit. The examination decides the length and the cost, and both are written down first.
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01Evaluation
Orthopedic and neurological testing, with imaging on site where it changes the plan.
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02Findings, in plain language
What the examination actually found, and honestly whether this is a case conservative care can help at all.
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03A written program
Which disciplines, how many visits, over what period, and what it costs. Decided before anything begins.
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04Reassessment as it runs
Function is re-measured through the course. If the response says the plan should change, it changes.
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Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better!”
“I have had pain in my right upper back quadrant by my shoulder blade for at least a year now and the doctors have been unsuccessful in making the pain go away. I came to Dr. Bergin looking for some help. Within 3 to 4 weeks. My pain in that area is completely gone.”
“Dr. Bergin is phenomenal. Chronic lower back issues led a different doctor to mention back surgery to me. That was not an option I wanted to entertain. After a consult with Dr. B, he was confident that he could help resolve my back issues. I’ve been seeing him weekly to resolve the issue, and I am so pleased with the results so far! More mobility, less pain, and a great customer experience.”
“I bless the day that Dr. Bergin started working on me. I have had long standing pain for so long. After just a few visits my pain left and I feel so good. He is very patient oriented and caring. I regard him highly.”
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best.”
Get in touch
Schedule your sciatica evaluation
Tell us what you are feeling and which office is closer. A member of the ChiroMed team follows up within one business day.
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Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
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We call you back
A real person, within one business day, to find a time that works.
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Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Sciatica questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
Who is the best doctor to see for sciatica?
Start with a provider who examines you rather than images you first, and who tests strength, reflexes and sensation in the leg. A chiropractor or physical therapist is a reasonable first stop for mechanical sciatica. A spine surgeon is the right stop if strength is being lost. The examination should tell you which you are on day one.
the clinic teamWhat's the worst thing you can do for sciatica?
Three things. Going to bed with it, because prolonged rest stiffens the spine and deconditions the muscles supporting it. Stretching hard into the leg pain, which irritates an already inflamed nerve. Third, waiting while strength disappears, since a foot starting to drop is time sensitive. Movement within tolerance beats all three.
the clinic teamWhat is commonly mistaken for sciatica?
Several things. Gluteal tendinopathy gives pain down the outside of the thigh that stops above the knee. Sacroiliac joint pain refers into the buttock and back of thigh. Hip arthritis refers into the groin. A vascular problem can cause leg pain on walking that eases on stopping. True sciatica follows a nerve path past the knee.
the clinic teamCan a sciatic nerve be massaged out?
Massage genuinely helps when tight deep gluteal muscles are irritating the nerve, and it eases the guarding that accompanies any sciatica. What it cannot do is move disc material off a nerve root, which is the most common cause. So it is a useful part of a plan and a poor plan on its own.
the clinic teamHow long does sciatica take to go away?
Many episodes settle substantially within weeks and some take considerably longer, which is why we track direction of travel rather than promise a date. The pattern that matters is pain retreating up the leg toward the back. A reassessment point is set at the start so there is an agreed moment to judge progress.
the clinic teamDo I need an MRI before treating sciatica?
Usually not at the start. Imaging earns its place when strength is affected, when red flags are present, or when a case is not responding and the result would change the plan. Scanning early mostly finds age related changes that were never causing your symptoms, and it can send care toward the wrong finding.
the clinic teamSame-week appointments
Start with an examination, not a package.
Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
- $47 consultation, exam and report
- 22 years in practice
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47