Sciatica

"What Is Sciatic Pain - How Long Will It Last - What Should You Do Now!"

Are you a sciatica sufferer? Do you wake up in the morning with pain down your leg? Or is pain just sitting around your pelvis and lower back?

Did you know that pain in your lower back can be as much a sciatic pain issue as the pain that travels right down to your ankle?

Once you understand the mechanics of how sciatica develops you will know whether you have "true" sciatic pain or pseudo-sciatica.

Sciatic Anatomy

To understand more about how your pain develops, first it is best to know some small anatomy facts.

The lower back is formed from five vertebrae or spinal bones. At the base of the spine rests your Sacrum (the wedge shaped bone) and your Pelvis (the 2 wing shaped bones).

Collectively this forms your lower spine. The sciatic nerve is formed by the nerves exiting the joints in the lower spine ... from the second lowest spinal joint (L-4) to the third Sacral joint (S-3).

These nerve roots join together to form a thick trunk of nerve that then runs through the buttock area and down your leg.

One of the reasons why sciatica occurs is that the nerve runs either through or directly next to one of the muscles in the buttock. If this muscle tightens then the nerve is irritated and sciatic pain occurs.

What is 'True' Sciatica?

"True" Sciatica Pain is where the joints in the lower back are not functioning correctly, the nerves exiting the spine are irritated and pain occurs. It is a common form of lower back pain, just a more severe and debilitating condition. The pain can start in the low back and travel as far down as the foot, creating many issues on a daily basis. This migration of pain is commonly referred to as 'referred pain'.

However the nerves may be irritated to a lesser degree and pain may still be centered in your lower back or buttock area. Both are still sciatic type pains.

Pseudo-sciatica is where the nerve is irritated away from the spine such as when the nerve runs through the buttock area. The Piriformis muscle if tight will irritate the nerve and send pain down the leg, creating a sciatic type pain.

Sciatic pain can therefore originate from a variety of issues: spinal stenosis (reduced size of the spinal canal), disc injuries, low back joint misalignment, the Piriformis muscle spasm, and/or a combination of these.

Sciatic pain can be from serious causes such as spinal stenosis and disc problems, or from lesser conditions that combine to irritate the sciatic nerve.

However, when there is disc involvement or spinal stenosis, these are commonly the result of pressures exerted on the spine. When the spine twists and distorts, a compression stress occurs on the spine placing discs under huge pressure.

The disc may bulge and irritate one of the nerves exiting the spine and pain down your leg occurs. Trying to correct the disc issue will only give short term results, the compression stress must ease before long lasting results are gained.

This is why it is essential to assess all the causes of your pain first, rather than assuming you have sciatica ... or the more serious issues creating it.

How Long Will Your Sciatica Last...

Sciatic pain occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause the pain, but rather it may develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.

The vast majority of people who experience sciatic pain get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical treatments.

Although in the majority of cases the pain eases quickly after a few weeks (faster if you treat the problem with various sciatic nerve treatments or using sciatic home treatment), it can become more serious.

Sciatic symptoms that may indicate the need for medical help include: progressive weakness in the leg or bladder/bowel incontinence. If you have any other general health issues and sciatica pain occurs, it is best to seek help from your health practitioner.

Most of the time, the pain associated with the sciatic nerve goes away in days to weeks. Pain can become more chronic in a small number of people, leading to some disability. Sciatic pain tends to reoccur frequently, sometimes without warning.

Although it main seem to be a severe problem. After all, the pain can be debilitating at times, most pain is correctable. The correction however needs to be directed to the causes.

The First Step To Remove Sciatica

When you talk about removing pain, most people immediately believe the best step is some type of stretch, exercise or joint movement. In fact stretching or exercising first is likely to cause more problems.

You cannot remove any pain until you know what causes your pain!

This is not your posture, your work habits or how you lift, bend or twist. The causes are the various distortion patterns in your spine that cause muscles and joints to be out of balance. These imbalances are explained in more detail on our web page on back pain causes.

The first step is finding the cause of your sciatica. The imbalances that occur in your muscles and joints that allows the nerves to be irritated or the Piriformis to tighten.

Once you know which pattern of imbalance you have, it becomes obvious which areas you need to target to get symptom relief and which patterns need balancing for long lasting results.

Click the link below to request a copy of our Free Back Pain Relief Guide teaching you a simple diagnostic test to find these imbalances. Once found you can target your sciatica and remove your pain.

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