Are you experiencing pain that starts in your back or buttock and travels down your leg?
You might be experiencing radiculopathy, or you might know it as sciatica.
Sciatica can occur in many ways.
Irritation, inflammation, pinching, or compression can affect one or more nerves that run down the lower back and into the legs. It is most often caused by a slipped/herniated disc or bone spur, an overgrowth of bone that puts pressure on the lumbar spine's nerve roots.
Other causes of sciatica can include, but are not limited to:
Spinal stenosis
Piriformis syndrome
Tumors
Spondylolisthesis
(Image sourced from: https://redefinehealthcare.com/sciatica-exercises-whats-best-and-what-to-avoid/)
The pain can occur anywhere along the nerve pathway. A common path is from the lower back to the buttocks and the back of the thigh, calf, and foot. However, it most often occurs on one side.
The pain can vary widely.
You may experience tingling, numbness, a dull ache, and/or a burning sensation. The affected leg may also feel weak. Sometimes, the pain can worsen with coughing, sneezing, or sitting for a long time. In some cases, the pain can be severe enough to affect your day-to-day activities.
Risk Factors can include:
Obesity - Being overweight increases the stress on the spine.
Age - People aged 20 to 50 are most likely to have herniated disks and bone spurs, which are known to develop more commonly as people age.
Occupation - Some jobs require prolonged standing and bending, heavy manual labour, heavy lifting or driving (vibration of the whole body).
Mental stress
Smoking
Prevention:
Preventions for sciatica can be changes you can make to your lifestyle.
These could include but are not limited to:
Regular exercise
Quit smoking
Maintaining a healthy weight
Here are a few exercises that might help to relieve your symptoms in the video below:
Disclaimer: These exercises are general in nature, and everyone's presentation is different. They are only to be used as a guide. If the pain gets worse, please stop.
If you need further assistance or would like to learn more about this condition or help prevent further occurrences, call us to book an appointment with one of our physiotherapists.
You can contact us on 0484 522 073 or email us here: admin@innovaterehab.com.au
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