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What You Need to Know About Sciatica
By: Stephen H. Hochschuler, MD
The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that originates in the low back and travels through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.
The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical sciatica treatment. For others, however, sciatic nerve pain can be severe and debilitating.
Sciatica is often characterized by the following symptoms:
Pain on one side of the buttock or in one leg that is worse when sitting
Burning or tingling down the leg
Weakness, numbness or difficulty moving the leg or foot
A constant pain on one side of the rear
A sharp pain that may make it difficult to stand up or to walk
The clinical diagnosis of sciatica is referred to as a "radiculopathy", which simply means that a disc has protruded from its normal position in the vertebral column and is putting pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the lower back, which forms part of the sciatic nerve.
Note that sciatica is not a medical diagnosis, but rather a symptom of an underlying problem in the lower back (such as a herniated disc or spinal stenosis that is compressing or irritating the nerve roots). This is an important distinction because it is the underlying diagnosis (vs. the symptoms of sciatica) that often needs to be treated in order to relieve sciatic nerve pain.
Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica, but rather the sciatic pain over time tends to develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.
Sciatica symptoms
For some people, the pain from sciatica can be severe and debilitating. For others, the pain might be infrequent and irritating, but has the potential to get worse.
While sciatica can be very painful, it is rare that permanent sciatic nerve damage (tissue damage) will result. Most sciatica symptoms result from inflammation and will get better within two weeks to a few months. Also, because the spinal cord is not present in the lower (lumbar) spine, a herniated disc in this area of the anatomy does not present a danger of paralysis.
While relatively rare, two sciatica-related symptoms that warrant prompt medical attention and possibly emergency surgery, include: progressive weakness in the leg, and either bladder or bowel incontinence or dysfunction. Patients with either of these symptoms may have cauda equina syndrome and should seek immediate medical attention.
Sciatica medical definition: radiculopathy
To clarify medical terminology, the term sciatica (often misspelled as ciatica, cyatica or siatica) is often used very broadly to describe any form of pain that radiates into the leg, however, this is not technically correct. True sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve is pinched or irritated and the pain along the sciatic nerve is caused by this nerve (radicular pain) and is called a radiculopathy. When the pain is referred to the leg from a joint problem (called referred pain), using the term sciatica is not technically correct. This type of referred pain (e.g. from arthritis or other joint problems) is quite common.
Sciatica treatment
Sciatica nerve pain is caused by a combination of pressure and inflammation on the nerve root, and treatment is centered on relieving both of these factors. Typical sciatica treatment include:
Non-surgical sciatica treatments, which may include one or a combination of medical treatments and alternative (non-medical) treatments, and almost always includes some form of back exercises and stretching. The goals of non-surgical sciatica treatment, such as sciatica exercises, should include both relief of sciatica pain and prevention of future sciatica pain.
Sciatica surgery, such as microdiscectomy or lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, to remove the portion of the disc that is irritating the nerve root. This surgery is designed to help relieve both the pressure and inflammation and may be warranted if the sciatic nerve pain is severe and has not been relieved with appropriate manual or medical treatments.
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/sciatica-causes
By: Stephen H. Hochschuler, MD
The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that originates in the low back and travels through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.
The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical sciatica treatment. For others, however, sciatic nerve pain can be severe and debilitating.
Sciatica is often characterized by the following symptoms:
Pain on one side of the buttock or in one leg that is worse when sitting
Burning or tingling down the leg
Weakness, numbness or difficulty moving the leg or foot
A constant pain on one side of the rear
A sharp pain that may make it difficult to stand up or to walk
The clinical diagnosis of sciatica is referred to as a "radiculopathy", which simply means that a disc has protruded from its normal position in the vertebral column and is putting pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the lower back, which forms part of the sciatic nerve.
Note that sciatica is not a medical diagnosis, but rather a symptom of an underlying problem in the lower back (such as a herniated disc or spinal stenosis that is compressing or irritating the nerve roots). This is an important distinction because it is the underlying diagnosis (vs. the symptoms of sciatica) that often needs to be treated in order to relieve sciatic nerve pain.
Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica, but rather the sciatic pain over time tends to develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.
Sciatica symptoms
For some people, the pain from sciatica can be severe and debilitating. For others, the pain might be infrequent and irritating, but has the potential to get worse.
While sciatica can be very painful, it is rare that permanent sciatic nerve damage (tissue damage) will result. Most sciatica symptoms result from inflammation and will get better within two weeks to a few months. Also, because the spinal cord is not present in the lower (lumbar) spine, a herniated disc in this area of the anatomy does not present a danger of paralysis.
While relatively rare, two sciatica-related symptoms that warrant prompt medical attention and possibly emergency surgery, include: progressive weakness in the leg, and either bladder or bowel incontinence or dysfunction. Patients with either of these symptoms may have cauda equina syndrome and should seek immediate medical attention.
Sciatica medical definition: radiculopathy
To clarify medical terminology, the term sciatica (often misspelled as ciatica, cyatica or siatica) is often used very broadly to describe any form of pain that radiates into the leg, however, this is not technically correct. True sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve is pinched or irritated and the pain along the sciatic nerve is caused by this nerve (radicular pain) and is called a radiculopathy. When the pain is referred to the leg from a joint problem (called referred pain), using the term sciatica is not technically correct. This type of referred pain (e.g. from arthritis or other joint problems) is quite common.
Sciatica treatment
Sciatica nerve pain is caused by a combination of pressure and inflammation on the nerve root, and treatment is centered on relieving both of these factors. Typical sciatica treatment include:
Non-surgical sciatica treatments, which may include one or a combination of medical treatments and alternative (non-medical) treatments, and almost always includes some form of back exercises and stretching. The goals of non-surgical sciatica treatment, such as sciatica exercises, should include both relief of sciatica pain and prevention of future sciatica pain.
Sciatica surgery, such as microdiscectomy or lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, to remove the portion of the disc that is irritating the nerve root. This surgery is designed to help relieve both the pressure and inflammation and may be warranted if the sciatic nerve pain is severe and has not been relieved with appropriate manual or medical treatments.
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/sciatica-causes
