Sciatica is a blanket term used to describe a group of symptoms in the lower extremity.
Symptoms can include pain, pins and needles, numbness, burning and weakness located in the leg.
There are several causes for sciatica symptoms to be felt in the leg, the best way to understand why this happens is to go over a little bit of anatomy!
The legs are supplied by nerves which originate in the spine, they then enter the pelvis, travel down into the buttock, thigh, leg and foot to supply all the muscles and skin in the lower extremity. Therefore these nerves can become trapped or irritated anywhere along their journey.
The most common location for the nerves to become affected is in the back as they exit the spine, at this level disc damage can cause nerve root irritation, which can lead to a shooting band like pain travelling into the buttock, thigh, calf and foot.
Other causes of nerve irritation include inflammation of the joints in the back (facet joints).
Wear and tear of the discs and facet joints (osteoarthritis).
A tightness in the buttock muscles can also lead to irritation of the sciatic nerve (piriformis syndrome).
Other causes of lower limb pain include sacroilica joint inflammation (a joint in the back of the pelvis), referred pain from facet joints in the spine, sitting on a wallet in your back pocket! And circulatory problems to name a few!
The osteopath will carry out several tests to determine what is causing your leg pain, occasionally Maidstone Osteopathy will refer the patient for x-rays or an MRI scan to confirm their diagnosis.
MAIDSTONE OSTEOPATHY LIMITED
Village Hotels
Castle View
Forstal Road
Sandling
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 3AQ
To make an Appointment or to Discuss Treatments
Please Telephone: 01622 656 944