Sciatica Symptoms Can Include Many Things

Sciatica symptoms include pain, numbness and tingling, buzzing, or electric shock type sensations. They usually are felt in the butt, thigh, calf and foot. This is because this is where the nerve runs.

The symptoms of sciatica are produced by compression and/or irritation of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is made of of the last 5 nerves that come out of the spinal cord. They are the last 2 lumbar nerves, L4 and L5. And also the first 3 sacral nerves, S1,S2, and S3.

Sciatica symptoms are mis-understood by a lot of people. In fact, the term “sciatica” has basically been turned into a catch all to describe any pain in the back, butt or in the leg.

Real and Pseudo Sciatica Symptoms

Some people have real sciatic symptoms, and then others have “pseudo-sciatic” symptoms. The two are often confused for the other.

A person gets true sciatica symptoms when the sciatic nerve is compressed or irritated close to the spine. This is usually the result of a bulging or herniated disc. Or, it could be the result of tight muscles around the sciatic nerve too. But real sciatica is more serious than the pseudo variety.

Most of the time sciatica symptoms will only be felt down one leg or the other. In rare cases, it may be felt in both.

While it’s a pretty common condition that a lot of people have, most people don’t have a good idea of what it is. Sciatica is a set of symptoms. The symptoms are telling you that there is something that is happening to the sciatic nerve. Sort like having a runny nose and fever are a sign of an infection.

So,sciatica is a group of symptoms. It’s not a diagnosis. In order to treat it properly you have to find out what is irritating the nerve root and causing the pain.

This is a very important point. In most cases treatment for different causes of sciatica or sciatic symptoms may will be different.

As was said before, true sciatica is often caused by a more serious problem that may require some kind of surgery.

Psuedo-sciatic type symptoms can sometimes be cured by exercise and stretching.

Find Out The Cause Of Sciatica Symptoms

So, how do you tell if you have real or pseudo? This is usually done by having an x-ray or MRI study. If either of these tests show that something is going on with the discs or bones of the spine, it’s an indication that the nerve is actually being compressed.

If the tests are negative, or, if your doctor doesn’t suggest surgery or something else, then a good stretching program will probably relieve your symptoms.

In fact, a good stretching program would be beneficial for sciatica symptoms in either case.

photo credit: The.Rohit

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