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<\/a><\/h4>\nWhat Sciatica Is…<\/b><\/h4>\n
A common explanation is that sciatica is used to describe pain that radiates downwards along the course of the lumbosacral nerve roots, which may be from your back to the buttocks and back of your thigh to the back of your calf and foot.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This sciatica has been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks in 370BC!<\/span><\/i> Until the 20th century. <\/span><\/i> <\/p>\n The most commonly blamed cause of sciatica is this: <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We NOW know that imaging scans (like MRIs) show that <\/span>disc pathology (disc bulges and herniations), and stenosis with neural compromise (when the lumbar spine degenerates and causes narrowing of the tunnel where the nerve comes out from) is actually a relatively common finding in people WITHOUT any symptoms of sciatica, or back pain! (Brinjikji et al., 2015; Boos et al., 2000).<\/span><\/p>\n Patients with pain AND a disc herniation seen on MRI may experience <\/span>marked improvement in symptoms WITHOUT any changes in your spine or disc, whereas the removal of herniated disc material or other causes of nerve root compression DOES NOT ALWAYS relieve pain.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Evidence suggests that it is not so much just pressure on the nerve root that causes sciatica, but a COMBINATION of immunological responses in the body – inflamed, stretched, and\/or compressed nerve roots causes sciatic pain. <\/span> That being said, having a \u201cdiagnosis\u201d of \u201cSciatica\u201d is JUST identifying a symptom.<\/span><\/p>\n There needs to be an in-person assessment<\/a> at our Mont Kiara practice of your complete history, and a physical consultation to identify what activities may need to be modified for the time being to help your active recovery<\/a>. Eventually, you should be getting back to what you were doing before, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nDid you know?<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n
\n<\/span><\/i>Hippocrates described \u2018ischias\u2019 – pain felt around the hip and thigh – affecting men around 40 to 60 years old, and that young men who felt it would often have pain lasting around 40 days before resolving spontaneously!
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\n<\/span><\/i>From the 17th century all the way till the 19th century, physicians knew of sciatica but were unsure about what caused it –<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/i>In 1931, a neurosurgeon named Elsberg described that the removal of \u2018cartilaginous tumours\u2019 from the spinal canal improved sciatic symptoms; and 3 years later in 1934, a famous paper by the New England Journal of Medicine cemented the idea that the prolapsed intervertebral disc caused sciatica.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\u2026 Is it really though?\u2026<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSo why does sciatica actually happen?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n<\/span>This CAN be because of an injury causing a disc bulge and pressure on the nerves, a muscle spasm<\/a> that causes temporary pinching of the nerve, and other lifestyle factors which increase inflammation in the body like excessive alcohol, smoking, poor diet, inadequate sleep, and mental stress.<\/span><\/p>\n3 assessments that are commonly used by clinicians in differentiating causes of low back pain:<\/b><\/h4>\n