Posts Tagged ‘Sciatic Nerve’

Sciatica symptom relief has been hard to come by for many sciatica sufferers, but a new treatment option is now available that brings fast relief with a minimal risk of side effects to the vast majority of sciatica sufferers.

Sciatica (commonly misspelled as syatica) is an irritation of the sciatic nerve which is formed by nerves that arise in the low back. Most cases of sciatica are caused by herniations or bulges of one or more spinal discs. The spinal discs are soft tissue structures that separate the spinal bones (the vertebrae) and act as shock absorbers.

When a spinal disc is damaged through a single injury or multiple small injuries over time, the outer wall of the disc may not be able to contain the pressure from within and the disc bulges outward into the canals where the spinal nerves exit the spine. This results in compression and irritation of the nerves, which often produces sciatica that begins in the buttock muscles and may travel downward across the back of the leg to the bottom of the foot.

The treatment options for sciatica symptom relief vary depending on the case. The first line of sciatica treatment is usually medication to reduce pain and inflammation. Muscle relaxers may also be prescribed to reduce muscle spasm. Medication may be effective enough to provide relief short-term until inflammation subsides and/or the disc stabilizes. In more severe cases, oral medication may not be effective, and some patients may not be able to tolerate the common side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs and/or the diminished mental alertness seen with pain killers and muscle relaxers.

Steroid injections are often the next line of sciatica symptom relief treatment, and they are used to try to reduce inflammation around the discs and spinal nerves. While steroid injections often provide relief short-term, the long-term effects are less favorable. Due to the fact that the main effect of steroid injections is to reduce inflammation, once those effects wear off, inflammation and the resulting pressure on the nerves often builds up again, and symptoms return. Steroid shots come with a number of side-effects including bone thinning, damage to soft tissues, and suppression of immune function, so doctors limit the amount of steroids used in order to avoid adverse health effects from the treatment.

Surgical treatment is often suggested for sciatica sufferers, and in a few cases it may be the only real option. Surgery has a poor track record (about a 50% success rate overall), and in some cases, symptoms may worsen following surgery. Complications of surgery include problems from post-surgical scar tissue formation and increased stress on adjacent spinal discs which may result in additional problems with other discs in the years following surgery.

Fortunately, there is a new option in sciatica symptom relief that has a high success rate and a very low risk of side-effects. Spinal decompression is a new, advanced form of spinal traction that uses special computerized traction motors to gently and slowly apply a decompressive force to the spine, reducing pressure in the spinal discs. Spinal decompression systems can comfortably create negative pressure (suction) within the spinal discs that can pull disc bulges and herniations back in and away from sensitive nerve structures, as well as increase disc hydration and nutrition to help with disc healing. Unlike the old forms of spinal traction which could be painful due to the traction pull triggering muscle spasm, spinal decompression systems monitor and respond to the body to keep muscles relaxed so the treatment is comfortable and effective.

Preliminary studies have shown a success rate for spinal decompression of 80 to 90%, with the beneficial effects holding up well over the long-term. The one-year recurrence rate post-treatment is less than 5%. While spinal decompression is not appropriate for everyone with sciatica and is not effective in every case, it does represent a big improvement in sciatica treatment.

Sciatica (often misspelled as “syatica” or “psyatica”) is pain that results from irritation of one of the sciatic nerves (one on the right and one on the left), and includes pain in the hip and buttock area that may extend partially or all the way down the back of the leg to the foot. The sciatic nerves start out as smaller nerve roots that branch off from the lower part of the spine. The component nerve roots come together in the pelvis to form the sciatic nerves. Each sciatic nerve then extends down the back of each thigh and divides into two parts below the knee and the two halves continue down the lower leg to the foot.

While there are several possible causes of sciatica, by far the most common source of sciatic nerve irritation is a bulging or herniated disc in the lower lumbar spine. A damaged disc may bulge into the opening where one of the nerve roots exits the spine on it’s way to join other nerve roots as part of the sciatic nerve. The bulging disc may create direct nerve pressure, and/or may trigger inflammation and swelling, which can also cause pressure on the nerve. When this occurs, pain and other symptoms may be felt part along the course of the sciatic nerve, starting in the buttock area and possibly running down the leg, sometimes all the way to the foot.

Besides disc bulges, spinal openings for nerves may be narrowed by bone spurs or other bone formations related to spinal degeneration. In some cases, sciatica may result from direct trauma to the nerve after it exits the pelvis, such as what can happen if there is a direct impact or hard pressure applied in the lower buttock region. Rare sources of sciatica can include spinal tumors, which can compress sciatic nerve roots as they exit the spine. Another rare cause of sciatica is a cyst or tumor that compresses the sciatic nerve in the hip or knee area.

Not every buttock or leg pain that people think is sciatica is acutually sciatica. True sciatica (sciatic nerve irritation) is usually felt mostly in the back of the leg (not the front or side of the leg). The symptoms of true sciatica can take different forms and may be descibed as tingling, burning, stabbing, aching, electric shock, numbness, or heaviness. But even if symptoms seem like sciatica, they are not always due to actual irritation of the sciatic nerve.

One common condition that closely mimics sciatica is caused by knots of contraction called trigger points in a muscle called the piriformis. The piriformis muscles are located on either side of the lower buttock area, running from the upper thigh bone to the edge of the sacrum (the triangular pelvic bone that is at the base of the spine). In addition to causing symptoms that mimic sciatica, tightness in the piriformis muscle may also cause true sciatic irritation, because the sciatic nerve actually runs through the center of the piriformis muscle in some people, and can be compressed by excessive muscle contraction.

Trigger points in other muscles in the buttocks and upper thigh can cause referred pain in the side of the leg that may be mistaken for sciatica as well. It should be kept in mind that true sciatica and piriformis syndrome are associated with symptoms that are primarily felt in the back of the leg. If symptoms are in the front or side of the leg, there’s a good chance that the problem is not sciatica.

Treatment of sciatica is usually associated with treating a bulging disc. The first line of treatment is usually an attempt to reduce inflammation to reduce pressure on the nerve bymeans of oral medications. For more powerful anti-inflammatory effects, spinal injections with steroids like cortisone may be used. A variety of other types of treatment may also be used, such as physical therapy, massage, chiropractic or osteopathic spinal manipulation, acupuncture, or one of the newest forms of treatment, spinal decompression. In some situations, surgery may be recommended as a last resort.

In the majority of cases, an episode of sciatica will resolve even without any treatment within a period of several weeks, but due to the intensity of pain, most patients will not wait for it to go away on its own and seek out treatment. Unfortunately, due to misconceptions by doctors and patients alike regarding the nature of sciatica, the necessary steps to prevent a return of sciatica are usually not taken. So, even though most people do recover from a bout of sciatica, nearly all will eventually have problems again at some point. Even sciatica sufferers initially treated successfully with surgery will often have future problems with sciatica.

The good news is that with awareness of how to manage sciatica and a little bit of effort dedicated to prevention, most people can avoid ongoing long-term sciatica problems. The challenge is simply to making people aware of the necessity of a “management” versus “cure” approach to sciatica and getting them to follow-through with preventive exercises and other self-care techniques.