What is Sciatica?
It is an irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve. The symptoms, since you are reading this, are probably something you intimately understand and you could describe yourself very well…
* Low back pain that radiates into the buttock
* Lancinating thigh and leg pain-from the buttock down to the calf and possibly into the foot. May or may not involve the back of the thigh.
* Leg/foot numbness
* Leg/foot pins and needles
* Burning pain and hyper sensitivity on the skin
* Cramping in the thigh, leg or foot
* Weakness of muscles in the thigh, leg or foot
* Foot drop- causes unusual tripping
* Decreased hamstring flexibility
There are more to this list, but that’s a good start; Now let’s look at the sciatic nerve closer.
The Sciatic Nerve
The sciatic nerve starts at the spine and has a contribution from 5 different nerve roots. These nerve roots, after leaving the spine from 5 different locations, come together in the deep buttocks (close to a muscle we call the piriformis muscle) to form one thick nerve bundle…we call this bundle of nerves, the sciatic nerve.
Symptoms vary from person to person because injuries or conditions can affect one or more of these 5 nerves that go to different parts of the buttock, thigh, leg and foot.
REMEMBER: each nerve has a sensory portion for skin sensation, pain, and muscle feedback. There is also a motor portion for muscle control and strength. This adds to the complex nature of diagnosing sciatica.
