Sciatic Nerve Pain - Diagnosis, Causes and Symptoms
What is Nerve Pain?
Nerve pain, known in medical terms as Neuralgia, is
pain that is felt along the path of any nerve, or nerves,
in the body. Nerve pain has a number of causes including
diabetes, certain infections or diseases like shingles,
pressure on the nerve by bone, tumors or swelling and
trauma or injury. In many patients, the exact cause
of their neuralgia is not known. While neuralgia is
most common in older people, it can occur to anyone
at any age. Sciatic nerve pain occurs when the large
sciatic nerve is affected.
Symptoms of Sciatic Nerve Pain
Typical symptoms of nerve pain are muscle weakness in
the affected area or problems with the normal function
of that part of the body; sensitivity or numbness of
the skin in the affected area; tingling, numbness or
pins and needles in the feet and toes, pain along the
pathway of the affected nerve which may always be in
the same place, may be a sharp pain that is intermittent
or a constant burning type of sensation.
Movement may
be difficult or painful and pressure on the affected
area is also painful. With sciatic nerve pain, because
the sciatic nerve travels from the lower back to the
feet, pain can be felt at any spot along this long path.
Typically, sciatic nerve pain is felt as pain in the
lower back, buttocks or as a shooting pain that travels
from the hip, through the back of the thigh and down
the leg. Movement is difficult and walking, in particular,
is almost impossible. Any activity that compresses the
spine makes the pain worse; any movement that stretches
the spine alleviates the pain. Causes of Sciatic Nerve Pain
The most common cause of sciatica is disc herniation;
this is when one of the cushioning discs, which are
between each vertebra in the spine, ruptures or bulges
so that it presses on the root of the sciatic nerve.
Sciatic nerve pain can also be caused by sitting for
long periods in the same position, like when traveling,
lifting heavy weights or working in a forward-bent position
for long periods as when gardening.
Some sciatica is
caused by an accident, injury or even certain types
of exercise. Pregnancy is another cause of sciatica.
Compression of a nerve, inflammation, nerve degeneration
and arthritis can all lead to sciatic nerve pain.
Diagnosis of Sciatic Nerve Pain
Because sciatica is a symptom not a disease, sciatic
nerve pain needs to be diagnosed by a medical professional
so that you know what is causing the pain; the cause
needs to be treated to relieve the sciatica in the long
term. Diagnosis is obtained with a physical medical
examination when your medical history will be taken.
You need to be honest and give a complete account of
your history and recent activities to help your doctor
diagnose your condition correctly. Sometimes a doctor
will order an x-ray, MRI or CT scan to determine the
exact cause of your sciatic nerve pain.
Pinched Nerve
The term 'pinched nerve' is commonly used to describe
nerve pain but it is only one cause of injury to a nerve.
There are many causes of nerve pain, as we have discussed,
and a pinched nerve is only one of these. This term
is correctly applied to an injury which compresses or
constricts a nerve in any part of the body.
Common injures
caused by a pinched nerve include tennis elbow, carpal
tunnel syndrome and many work-related injuries. The
sciatic nerve has a branched root at the lumbar spine
any one of these could be 'pinched' and causing sciatic
nerve pain.
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