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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SCIATICA

Pain from Sciatica can be severe and debilitating.  Learn how you can handle this problem.

The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.

An important thing to understand is that sciatica is a symptom of a problem—of something compressing or irritating the nerve roots that comprise the sciatic nerve—rather than a medical diagnosis or medical disorder in an of itself. This is an important distinction because it is the underlying diagnosis (vs. the symptoms of sciatica) that often needs to be treated in order to relieve sciatic nerve pain.
While sciatica can be very painful, it is rare that permanent nerve damage (tissue damage) will result. Most sciatica pain syndromes result from inflammation and will get better within two weeks to a few months. Also, because the spinal cord is not present in the lower (lumbar) spine, a herniated disc in this area of the anatomy does not present a danger of paralysis.
Sciatica symptoms that may constitute a medical emergency include:

• Progressive weakness in the leg
• Bladder/bowel incontinence or dysfunction.

Sciatica nerve pain is caused by a combination of pressure and inflammation on the nerve root, and treatment is centered on relieving both of these factors. Typical sciatica treatment include:

• Non-surgical treatments, which may include one or a combination of medical treatments and alternative (non-medical) treatments, and almost always includes some form of exercise and stretching. The goals of non-surgical sciatica treatment should include both relief of sciatica pain and prevention of future sciatica symptoms.
• Sciatica surgery, such as microdiscectomy or lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, to remove the portion of the disc that is irritating the nerve root. This surgery is designed to help relieve both the pressure and inflammation and may be warranted if the sciatic nerve pain is severe and has not been relieved with appropriate manual or medical treatments.

This link will take you to an article with more information and resources on dealing with Sciatica