What Is Sciatica?

spinal stenosis

Patients with chronic pain must deal with inaccurate diagnosis all of the time. It's not that their family physician does it on purpose, but in many cases primary care doctors don't have the resources to be able to accurately diagnose many chronic pain conditions that we treat. Sciatica, a common chronic pain, is one of these instances when a primary care physician may not realize that the sciatica could be a symptom of something much worse happening in your body.

According to Mayo Clinic, sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve and its branches - from your back down your buttock and leg. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It runs from your spinal cord to your buttock and hip area and down the back of each leg.

Sciatica is a symptom, not a disorder. The radiating pain of sciatica signals another problem involving the nerve, such as a herniated disk. Depending on the cause, the pain of acute sciatica - which may be quite uncomfortable - usually goes away on its own within a couple of months.

Symptoms of sciatica include pain in the rear or leg that becomes unbearable when sitting, a burning or tingling down the leg, weakness or difficulty moving that leg, and a shooting pain that can make it difficult to stand up. So whether you're sitting or standing, sciatica pain can be severe.

Like with many other chronic conditions, sciatica might be hard to figure out at first. You will feel the pain, but pass it off as a leg that has fallen asleep, or perhaps a pinched nerve that will fix itself. However, if the symptoms persist and your primary care physician is at a loss on how to treat it, you'll want to consider seeking a pain doctor for answers because the problem might be just a symptom of something worse.

According to Mayo Clinic, sciatica may develop when a nerve root is compressed in your lower spine - often as a result of a herniated disk in your lower back. Herniated disk is the most common cause of sciatica pain, however there may be other things at work as well.

WebMD points out that sciatica pain might be a symptom of one of the following conditions:
• Lumbar spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back)
• Degenerative disc disease (breakdown of discs, which act as cushions between the vertebrae)
• Spondylolisthesis (a condition in which one vertebra slips forward over another one)
• Pregnancy

Whether sciatica is the symptom of a herniated disc, or lumbar spinal stenosis, it's incredibly important that you speak to your pain doctor about treatment as soon as possible. Many of these conditions (besides pregnancy), if left untreated can lead to permanent nerve damage, loss of feeling in the legs, loss of movement in the affected leg, and loss of bowel or bladder function.