Sciatica is the name given to the painful condition or inflammation of your sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body, being a little over a centimeter thick. It extends from the sacral plexus (a network of nerves in the combined lumbar spine and the sacrum region) down the spinal column to its exit point in the pelvis.
From here it continues down the back of your legs with its nerve branches regulating motor and sensory functions (i.e. movement and feeling) in your thighs, knees, calves, ankles, feet and toes.
This disorder can make life uncomfortable for sufferers. Simple everyday activities such as driving, standing, walking, sitting at the computer, and bending over can result in sudden pain. Acute sciatica can be very disruptive in your life.
Symptoms
Some of the symptoms most often experienced include:
Mild or severe pain down the back of the left or right leg, extending anywhere from the buttocks down the back of the thighs to the foot;
A loss of reflexes in your legs;
Sensations of tingling, numbness, burning, and pins and needles;
Muscle weakness in the legs.
These symptoms make essential activities such as standing, walking and sitting very painful and difficult to perform.
Causes
The most common cause is having a herniated disc in your lower back pressing down on your sciatic nerve.
There are also other less common causes, such as when one lumbar vertebra slips forward over another vertebra. This can result from a trauma, physical stress, or a developmental condition called spondylolisthesis.
Trauma to the lumbar region from an outside source such as a car or a sporting accident can also cause compression on the sciatic nerve root.
This disorder can also occur as a result of muscle spasms in the piriformis muscle compressing the sciatic nerve which runs beneath this muscle.
These causes are best diagnosed through your chiropractor or orthopedist.
Sometimes a MRI Scan of your lower back is used in determining the diagnosis.
Treatment
In treating your disorder your chiropractor uses non-invasive and drug-free methods.
These therapies may include some of the following:
If you think you may be suffering from sciatica and would like to schedule an appointment with Dr. John Collins regarding your health, please call us at 403-243-0111.
