Sciatica generally means pain or disturbed sensation in the back that extends into the leg, knee and foot, though each person's symptoms may differ a bit. There are different causes of sciatica:
*Irritation of the Sciatic Nerve (one of the thickest nerves in the body) by compression of surrounding muscles
*Compression of the nerves that supply the leg and low back as they exit the spinal cord by disc bulges, bony growths or fibrotic ligaments
*Damage of tissues like muscle, ligament, bones or tendons in the lumbar region which can then refer a burning sensation down into the leg
*Additional causes include disturbances with abdominal and pelvic organs and blood vessels but in contrast to the other causes these are very rare
Because sciatica is almost always accompanied by low back pain there are similar risk indications for both low back Agony and Sciatica:
A sedentary lifestyle is a great predisposing factor for a number of reasons, when a person is sitting for long periods they are going to be supporting the weight of their trunk, shoulder and head typically on the back and pelvis. This leads directly to a scenario where a comparatively little quantity of tendons, ligaments and muscles are supporting a large part of your body weight. Because the body needs loads to be spread around so loads are shared, prolonged sitting can cause over load of areas of tendon, muscles and ligaments which leads to the consequence that they get materially fatigued and aren't as good at supporting you later on.
Smoking is a predisposing factor thanks to the damaging effect on veins. This increases oedema in the body and over time can lessen the quantity of blood delivered to a damaged area by reducing the flow through damaged vessels.
Folks working in jobs that call for frequent lifting who haven't been taught (or don't use) correct technique are also at bigger risk.
Treatments include Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture & Massage.
Pain killers can be effective at alleviating pain in a few cases.
*Irritation of the Sciatic Nerve (one of the thickest nerves in the body) by compression of surrounding muscles
*Compression of the nerves that supply the leg and low back as they exit the spinal cord by disc bulges, bony growths or fibrotic ligaments
*Damage of tissues like muscle, ligament, bones or tendons in the lumbar region which can then refer a burning sensation down into the leg
*Additional causes include disturbances with abdominal and pelvic organs and blood vessels but in contrast to the other causes these are very rare
Because sciatica is almost always accompanied by low back pain there are similar risk indications for both low back Agony and Sciatica:
A sedentary lifestyle is a great predisposing factor for a number of reasons, when a person is sitting for long periods they are going to be supporting the weight of their trunk, shoulder and head typically on the back and pelvis. This leads directly to a scenario where a comparatively little quantity of tendons, ligaments and muscles are supporting a large part of your body weight. Because the body needs loads to be spread around so loads are shared, prolonged sitting can cause over load of areas of tendon, muscles and ligaments which leads to the consequence that they get materially fatigued and aren't as good at supporting you later on.
Smoking is a predisposing factor thanks to the damaging effect on veins. This increases oedema in the body and over time can lessen the quantity of blood delivered to a damaged area by reducing the flow through damaged vessels.
Folks working in jobs that call for frequent lifting who haven't been taught (or don't use) correct technique are also at bigger risk.
Treatments include Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture & Massage.
Pain killers can be effective at alleviating pain in a few cases.
About the Author:
Joshua Moffat is an Osteopath working in a specialist Sciatica centre in Bedford. He spends almost all of his working day precicely diagnosing the cause of a person's sciatica and then helping them to totally get over the problem.
