Sciatic nerve pain can sometimes be so excruciating and debilitating to the extent that it keeps you on your couch for the rest of the day. The condition can be caused by a number of reasons. A ruptured disk, injury, and the narrowing of the spinal canal are however some of the most common causes of sciatic nerve pain.
Many certified physical therapists agree though that while causes for sciatic nerve pain vary from patient to patient, the key to treatment is an early diagnosis. Knowing where the pain is originating from is vital in dealing with it. Some homemade solutions like stretching and trying to rotate the hip can offer some immediate relief too. However, you will still need to seek additional medical help just to be sure.
Symptoms
Sciatica may have many symptoms that will often vary from one patient to another. Some patients may experience a mild ache while in some cases the pain can be too much to bear. Sciatic pain often runs from your lower back down your hips until it reaches the legs. This leads to significant impairment of normal mobility.
Some of the other effects include numbness in the affected area and tingling sensations. Other patients may also experience some level of muscle weakness across their thighs right down to the calf and foot. The pain gets worse if you have a cold. Coughing and sneezing with sciatica is not always the best thing to do.
In most cases, the pain resulting from sciatica will be experienced on one side of the body. Although it’s important to seek medical advice, the pain can easily be relived through simple physical therapy, massage treatment, or basic chiropractic treatment. It’s also important to work on improving your body strength and flexibility, especially around your core muscles in order to reduce the risk of sciatica in the future. Applying some ice packs and heat on the affected areas may also offer some relief.
Different Types of Sciatic Nerve Pain?
Most sciatica pain comes from the lower back area. The pain can start right from your abdomen and spread downwards to your legs and thighs. However, different people experience different types of sciatica pain. Here are some of the common origins of this pain:
Sciatica from the L4 Nerve Root
The L3 and L4 nerve roots are located around the lower spine. Symptoms of this kind of pain may vary from one patient to another. However, most of the time you may experience some numbness or pain around your medial lower leg and foot. The muscles around the foot will also get weak making hard for you to bring the feet up and down as normal. Some patients may experience some knee-jerk reflexes. This kind of pain will most definitely make it impossible for you to walk on your heels.
