Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sciatica: Symptoms and Possible Causes

Sciatica Causes











http://www.LoseTheBackPain.com Sciatica causes can often be difficult to understand. This sciatica video talks about the true causes of sciatica and tells you how to get fast pain relief from sciatic pain and sciatic nerve pains.

The expression sciatica is commonly used to describe pain traveling in the distribution of the ischiatic nerve.


Sciatica is a symptom caused by a disorder occurring in the lumbar spinal column. The sciatic nerve is the largest fortitude in the human body, about the diameter of a finger.

Sciatic nerve fibers set on foot at the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebra (L4, L5) and the foremost few segments of the sacrum. The endurance passes through the sciatic foramen true below the Piriformis muscle (rotates the thigh laterally), to the back of the increase of the hip and to the decrease part of the Gluteus Maximus (muscle in the buttock, thigh extension). The sciatic nerve for this reason runs vertically downward into the back of the thigh, backward the knee branching into the hough muscles (calf) and further downward to the feet.


Sciatica Fig 2

1 Sciatic Nerve (golden) 2 Sacrum 3 Hip Bone
Yellow = Nerves
Red = Arteries
Blue = Veins

Sciatica Symptoms

Usually ischiagra affects one side of the carcass. The pain may be dull, pointed, burning, or accompanied by intermittent shocks of shooting harass beginning in the buttock traveling downward into the back or side of the thigh and/or leg. Sciatica therefore extends below the knee and may exist felt in the feet. Sometimes symptoms comprise tingling and numbness.


Sitting and dire to stand up may be distressful and difficult. Coughing and sneezing be possible to intensify the pain.

To get living facts about sciatica, you can also visit SpineUniverse's Sciatica Slideshow.

The Cause: Nerve Compression
Compression of the ischiatic nerve can cause any of the of rectitude too great for-cited symptoms. Rarely is nerve injure permanent and paralysis is seldom a jeopardy as the spinal cord ends near the front of the first lumbar vertebra. However, increasing leat or leg weakness, or bladder and/or bowel non-retention is an indication of Cauda Equina Syndrome, a grave disorder requiring emergency treatment.

Lumbar spine disorders known to cause sciatic coolness compression include the following:

Herniated Discs are the most common cause of sciatica in the lumbar backbone.

Degenerative Disc Disease, a natural biological measure associated with aging, is known to bring into existence disc weakness that can be a antecedent to a disc herniation.

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis is a narrowing of some or more neural passageways due to disc degeneration and/or facet arthritis. The sciatic nerve may get to be impinged as a result of these changes.

Isthmic Spondylolisthesis results from a force fracture often at the 5th lumbar vertebra (L5). The cleft combined with disc space collapse may endure the vertebra to slip forward adhering the first sacral segment (S1). The slippage may consideration the L5 nerve root to adorn pinched as it leaves the ridge.

Spinal Tumors and Infections are other disorders that may press together the sciatic nerve, but this is unusual.

There are other conditions, which may occur, and may imitative true sciatica but these are hard to diagnose.

Diagnosis of Sciatica

The doctor's examination includes the patient's curative history, a review of current medications, a material and neurologic examination and, if warranted, x-rays, CT scrutinize and/or MRI. A proper diagnosis requires some analysis of the patient's anguish. The patient is often provided a Pain Diagram to explain pain distribution and sensation (eg, tingling and fervid).

The physician's questions may contain:

How did the pain develop?

On a scale from 1 to 10, by 10 being the worst pain imaginable, rate your pain.

Is the anguish worsened by walking uphill or downhill?

How does the aggrieve affect activities of daily living?

What model of treatment has been tried and what was effective?

The patient's ramble of motion is observed. Reflexes and muscle courage are tested. The physician may appliance one or more movement tests to give direction to the source or cause of the harass.

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