Sciatica usually means agony or disturbed sensation in the lumbar region that extends into the leg, knee and foot, though each person's symptoms may differ quite a bit. There are various factors behind 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 back as they exit the spine by disc bulges, bony growths or toughened ligaments
*Damage of tissues like muscle, ligament, bones or tendons in the lower back which can then refer a burning sensation down into the leg
*Additional causes include disturbances with abdominal and pelvic organs and arteries but contrasted to the other causes these are very rare
Because sciatica is nearly always accompanied by low back pain there are similar risk indicators for both Lumbar Region Discomfort and Sciatica:
An inactive approach to life is a massive predisposing factor for a number of reasons, when someone is sitting for extended periods they are going to be supporting the weight of their trunk, shoulder and head usually on the low back and pelvis. This leads directly to a position where a relatively tiny amount of tendons, ligaments and muscles are supporting a large part of your body weight. Because the body favors loads to be spread around so loads are shared, extended sitting can lead to over load of areas of tendon, ligaments and muscles which leads to the consequence that they get damaged and are not as good at supporting you later on.
Smoking is a predisposing factor due to the damaging effect on arteries. This increases oedema in the body and over time can decrease the quantity of blood delivered to an injured area by decreasing the flow through damaged vessels.
People working in jobs that call for frequent lifting who have not been taught (or don't use) correct method are also at bigger risk.
Treatments include Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture & Massage.
Analgesic treatments can be effective at relieving pain in some 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 back as they exit the spine by disc bulges, bony growths or toughened ligaments
*Damage of tissues like muscle, ligament, bones or tendons in the lower back which can then refer a burning sensation down into the leg
*Additional causes include disturbances with abdominal and pelvic organs and arteries but contrasted to the other causes these are very rare
Because sciatica is nearly always accompanied by low back pain there are similar risk indicators for both Lumbar Region Discomfort and Sciatica:
An inactive approach to life is a massive predisposing factor for a number of reasons, when someone is sitting for extended periods they are going to be supporting the weight of their trunk, shoulder and head usually on the low back and pelvis. This leads directly to a position where a relatively tiny amount of tendons, ligaments and muscles are supporting a large part of your body weight. Because the body favors loads to be spread around so loads are shared, extended sitting can lead to over load of areas of tendon, ligaments and muscles which leads to the consequence that they get damaged and are not as good at supporting you later on.
Smoking is a predisposing factor due to the damaging effect on arteries. This increases oedema in the body and over time can decrease the quantity of blood delivered to an injured area by decreasing the flow through damaged vessels.
People working in jobs that call for frequent lifting who have not been taught (or don't use) correct method are also at bigger risk.
Treatments include Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture & Massage.
Analgesic treatments can be effective at relieving pain in some 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.
