Leg Numbness

spinal stenosis

Leg numbness is one of the neurological symptoms often associated with sciatica. There are many possible sources of numbness in the legs and all conditions should be thoroughly investigated by a qualified physician to insure that the patient is not suffering from some potentially serious health crisis, such as a circulatory disorder or diabetic condition. Unfortunately, many numbness conditions tend to either defy diagnosis or are misidentified as to the actual causative condition sourcing the symptoms. This is par for the course when discussing any of the usual symptoms of sciatica...

Leg numbness comes in 2 distinct symptomatic expressions. The first and less common is objective numbness. This type of symptom is defined as a numb feeling which can be verified medically and proven through diagnostic testing. The leg will not only feel numb; it will actually be sensory deprived, as well. The more common type of sciatica numbness is called subjective numbness. In this expression, the leg will feel numb, but testing will reveal no actual numbness in the skin, nerves or muscles involved. This objective versus subjective symptomatic comparison is very important in many sciatica conditions and can also be applied to weakness conditions, as well.

Objective numbness will usually be indicative of a structural issue in the lower back, or sciatic nerve anatomy, which has affected nerve activity, leading to decreased functionality. The most common cause of this phenomenon is a herniated lumbar or lumbosacral disc which compresses a spinal nerve root or the entire cauda equina structure. The second most common cause is an identical compression issue enacted by an arthritic osteophyte complex enacting foraminal or spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine. Other possible spinal reasons for weakness in the legs can include extreme spondylolisthesis or scoliosis, as well as failed back surgery syndrome. Non-spinal reasons for numbness are usually linked to a condition known as piriformis syndrome, in which the sciatic nerve is theorized to be compressed by the powerful piriformis muscle deep within the buttocks anatomy.

Subjective numbness is most often the result of a non-structural process, such as regional ischemia. This oxygen deprivation syndrome is at the heart of many chronic back pain conditions and is certainly the root source of many sciatica nightmares. Ischemia can be anatomical and linked to circulatory issues, but is usually enacted by the mind-body processes. In my experience, the majority of treatment-resistant sciatica syndromes are caused by oxygen deprivation, which helps explain why they do not respond well to medical care, complementary medical care or virtually any accepted treatment option, except knowledge therapy.

While this objective versus subjective symptom guideline is helpful to remember when diagnosing the source of numbness, it is not absolute. There are some structural issues which may only enact subjective numbness, although these conditions are usually transitional and typically improve without any dedicated treatment. There are also extreme cases of objective numbness caused completely by a powerful psychogenic process. In the case of both subjective and objective numbness caused by a mind-body issue, structural scapegoats are often located via diagnostic testing and usually take the blame for pain. It may take the patient year's worth of failed therapies and maybe an unsuccessful surgery or two to repudiate the diagnosis and finally realize the reason for their pain, tingling, numbness or weakness all along... This is the saddest aspect of life as a sciatica sufferer. The fact remains that despite advances in medical care, the present back pain industry is still burdened by misinformation, antiquated theories of pain and the illogical Cartesian medical philosophy which has proven itself to be so incredibly ineffective at dealing with chronic pain of any type or location.