Sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve becomes pinched. The cause is usually a herniated disk in the spine or an overgrowth of bone, sometimes called bone spurs, form on the spinal bones. More rarely, a tumor can put pressure on the nerve. Or a disease such as diabetes can damage the nerve.
What Are the Symptoms of Sciatica? This pain often feels like it begins in the lower back, but it quickly travels down into the buttock and shoots down the back of your leg. Sometimes it might even reach all the way into the foot and toes. It's an intense shooting, searing type of pain.
Piriformis syndrome also causes symptoms similar to sciatica. It occurs when the piriformis muscle in the buttocks irritates the sciatic nerve, which can cause pain to radiate along the path of the nerve into your leg.
Symptoms of sciatica
Rarely, people with sciatica may also have more serious symptoms. If you're experiencing tingling or numbness in your legs that makes it hard to walk or move, you should make a doctor's appointment. If you're having difficulty controlling your bladder or bowels go to the emergency room right away.
One of the big red flags for diagnosing sciatica is that the pain is usually limited to only one side of the body. Other red flags that indicate sciatica include pain when standing or sitting, numbness in the legs and weakness or numbness when moving a leg or foot.
Tumors cause sciatica-like pain if they occur in your lumbar spine, or if they form close to the sciatic nerve. As the tumor grows, it may put pressure on the nerve, causing pain and weakness in your lower extremities. Not all spinal tumors are cancerous, though.
Sciatica flare ups are caused by compression of the sciatic nerve. If you have a condition that affects your lower back, such as a herniated disc, this can put pressure on the nerve and cause pain symptoms to appear. Other lifestyle-related risk factors include age, lack of exercise, or recent surgery.
If the sciatic nerve is damaged, it could result in numbness, tingling and, in more severe cases, weakness in the knees or legs. The longer it is left untreated, the longer it will take for numbness and weakness to go away, and they may become permanent.
Alternating heat and ice therapy can provide immediate relief of sciatic nerve pain. Ice can help reduce inflammation, while heat encourages blood flow to the painful area (which speeds healing). Heat and ice may also help ease painful muscle spasms that often accompany sciatica.
It's easy to mistake sciatica as a symptom or related condition of MS, which often causes neuropathic pain. But while the two do coexist, sciatica isn't caused by MS. It's caused by strain on the sciatic nerve.
The pain due to a blood clot usually feels like a tightness, cramping soreness, throbbing, or maybe warmth and swelling in the affected leg, Dr. Mintz says. Although both are in the leg, blood clots and sciatica feel fairly different. “The pain from a blood clot does not radiate and it doesn't extend to your back,” Dr.
If the pain persists, a doctor will likely order imaging tests to make sure the pain is, in fact, due to sciatica. Potential causes of sciatica, such as herniated disks or bone spurs, will show up on MRI scans, computed tomography (CT) scans, or X-rays.
Walking is a low-impact exercise that can additionally be used as a first-line treatment for existing sciatica. Any weight loss, muscle growth, and movement improvements can support natural recoveries. Meanwhile, walking is shown to reduce inflammation, which is one of the leading causes for actual pain.
While sciatica pain can be debilitating, chiropractic treatment can relieve it gently and naturally. This care entails treating the pain without costly and harmful side effects.
Most people recover fully from sciatica. However, chronic (ongoing and lasting) pain can be a complication of sciatica. If the pinched nerve is seriously injured, chronic muscle weakness, such as a “drop foot,” might occur, when numbness in the foot makes normal walking impossible.
Everyone deals with stress from time to time; however, chronic unmanaged stress can take a toll on your mental health and physical well-being. Stress is believed to be a potential trigger for sciatica and low back pain, which is one of the leading causes of missed work and workplace disability in the United States.
People can experience sciatic pain in the lower back, buttocks, and down the back of either leg. Sciatica usually gets better in 4–6 weeks, but it could last longer. If the pain is severe or lasts more than 6 weeks, consider talking to a doctor about treatment options.
For the majority of patients, acute sciatica pain resolves within 1 – 2 weeks. In some cases, behavioral modification or at-home remedies may be adequate for relieving sciatica pain. However, certain patients may develop chronic sciatica pain which may wax and wane but remains present over many years.
Lumbar or sacral spinal tumors can cause back pain and leg weakness as seen in sciatica; leg pain may also be present.
Blood and tissue cancers such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and melanoma can all cause lower back pain.
The first reported case of this was in 1992 when a calcified degenerated myoma, suspected to be an ovarian tumour, induced sciatica by compressing the sciatic nerve in the lumbosacral plexus [3].
In more severe cases, sciatica and related inflammation can affect the nerves that control your bladder and bowel function. When these nerves are compressed or pinched, you can experience bladder or bowel leakage or an inability to control urination or bowel movements.