Sciatic Nerve Pain
Sciatic Nerve Pain occurs in the sciatic nerve. It causes inflammation of the nerve accompanied by pain & tenderness along the length & breadth of the nerve in our legs & thighs. The sciatic nerve is located in our legs. It transmits information from our legs to the brain. The sciatic nerve is extremely large & is the largest peripheral nerve in human body. The sciatic nerve spreads outward from the lowermost segment of our spinal cord. The point at which the sciatic nerve leaves the spinal cord is known as Lumbosacral region. From here on end, the nerve passes behind the joint of the hip & runs down across the back of the thigh.
Sciatic Nerve Pain: Overview
Functions Performed by the Sciatic Nerve:
The sciatic nerve primarily performs two functions – Sending signals from the brain to the muscles as well as sending sensory signals from the muscles of the legs & the hips to the brain. During sciatica (sciatic nerve pain) these functions of the sciatic nerve is disturbed. The sciatic nerve starts to pain & the muscles of the legs & the hips starts weakening.
Causes of Sciatic Nerve Pain:
● The sciatic nerve pain most commonly occurs due to Lumbar Disc Herniation, where a bulging lumber disc compresses the sciatic nerve causing inflammation & pain in the sciatic nerve region. In this problem, pain usually occurs in the prostate thigh area & lower leg or foot area rather than in the lower back region.
● Pressure from isthmic spondylolisthesis could result in sciatic nerve pain. Isthmic spondylolisthesis occurs when a vertebrae in the spinal cord moves or slips from its normal position. The dislocated vertebrae put pressure on the sciatic nerve causing it to pain. In some cases though, people with this condition may not even realize that they have this problem since they may not experience any pain at all.
● Spinal stenosis may also cause sciatica in a person. Spinal stenosis happens when the space between two vertebrae gets reduced causing compression of the sciatic nerve.
● Other than this sciatic pain may also be caused due to irritation of the nerve by adjacent bone, tumors, muscle, internal bleeding, injury & infections.
● In women, sciatica may occur during pregnancy because of a growing uterus.
Symptoms of Sciatica or Sciatic Nerve Pain:
Pain, burning & tingling sensation, numbness etc from the lower back to the upper buttocks and in the thighs & legs are major symptoms of sciatic nerves. It causes the leg pain. The area which pains the most is the back of the leg area. At times, the pain radiates around the hip area, causing hip pain. Severe sciatic nerve pain may make walking extremely difficult. Standing, walking, bending or even sitting down in certain postures may aggravate the sciatic nerve pain. Resting the sciatic nerves by lying down or by changing positions may provide some amount of comfort to the person experiencing sciatic nerve pain. But this will not heal the problem.