Sciatica Causes and Symptoms

Many of us have felt it. That sudden pain right in the middle of our glute (buttock) that sometimes radiates down into our leg. Sciatica can be quite painful and in most cases resolves quickly. In other cases, symptoms may persist or happen on a recurring basis.

Your sciatic nerve is the longest and thickest nerve in your body. It’s actually a bundle of nerves that come from five nerve roots branching off from your spinal cord. Sciatica occurs when your sciatic nerve—which runs from your buttocks down to your feet—gets pinched. This can be extremely painful and can result in sudden and sharp pain. You have two sciatic nerves, one on each side of your body. Each sciatic nerve runs through your hip and buttock and goes down the leg until they reach just below your knee. Once there, they split into other nerves that connect to parts farther down, including your lower leg, foot and toes.

Sciatica symptoms can include:

• Pain. Perhaps the first symptom people notice, it can come on suddenly and feel like a burning sensation. Often, this pain will start in a buttock and radiate down the leg of the affected side and can be aggravated with bending or lifting your leg. It is common to also feel pain in the low back.

• Tingling. This is the feeling of “pins and needles” (also called paresthesia) or of your leg falling asleep.

• Severe Symptoms. Numbness and Muscle Weakness are more severe symptoms and indicate that signals from your nervous system are not reaching their destinations. These are more severe symptoms and should be discussed with a physician.

The symptoms can affect your lower back, hips, buttocks or legs and may extend as far down as your feet and toes, depending on the specific nerve(s) affected. Conditions that can cause sciatica include: Disk diseases, Spinal Stenosis, Osteoarthritis, Injury, Pregnancy, Piriformis Syndrome. The National Institutes of Health notes the most common underlying cause in 90 percent of cases is a herniated disc. If you are experiencing prolonged sciatica symptoms, it is important to discuss it with your physician.

In most cases, treatment with massage and other at-home self-care routines can help to manage the pain and increase mobility. We will cover these treatments in our next post.

Sources and More Information:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12792-sciatica

https://www.amtamassage.org/publications/massage-today/massage-sciatic-nerve-pain/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23495-piriformis-syndrome