In this video, I’m going to give a breakdown of the 3 main causes of sciatica and what
symptoms to look for to help figure out what might be causing your sciatic nerve pain.
Hi everyone, Dr Rowe here at SpineCare Decompression and Chiropractic Center in St. Joseph, MI.
Alright, let’s begin with the most common cause of sciatica, which is
a lumbar herniated disc, or a bulging disc.
The bones, or vertebrae, that form the spine in your back
are cushioned by small, spongy discs.
[Drawing] So you can see them here.
When the discs are healthy, they act as shock absorbers
for the spine, and keep the spine flexible.
Through overuse and injury, the disc may become damaged
and may bulge, or break open.
This is what we call a disc herniation.
So a herniated disc will pinch onto nearby nerves
causing symptoms such as dull or sharp pains in the low back,
muscle spasms or cramping, sciatica, and even leg weakness or loss of leg function.
Patients that I see in the office a disc herniation tend to have a lot of pain when
they bend forward from the waist or having to lift something from the floor,
coughing or sneezing usually aggravates it.
A second cause of sciatica pain is due to piriformis syndrome.
We tend to call this ‘pseudo-sciatica’ since true sciatica comes from a pinched nerve
in the low back.
However, people suffering from piriformis syndrome will still feel sciatica symptoms
such as pain, tingling, or numbness in the back of the thigh, calf, or foot.
So let’s take a look at what causes it.
The piriformis is a small muscle that lies deep to the glutes or buttocks, and the sciatic
nerve runs right below this muscle.
In this image. you can see the piriformis muscle starts at the base of the spine at the sacrum
(that funny looking bone with the tiny holes) and attaches towards the thigh bone.
What this muscle does is it helps with rotating the hip and turning the leg and foot outward.
Since the sciatic nerve runs deep to the piriformis muscle, you can imagine it getting sandwiched
and pinched by the swelling of this muscle due to an injury or spasm.
This is very common with runners and overuse injuries.
Patients I see with piriformis syndrome are going to have more pain while they sit, since
it tightens the muscle and puts pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Having pain during activities such as sitting, running, or walking for a long time are also
very common.
The third main cause of sciatica pain is spinal stenosis, which is when the holes where the
spinal nerves travel begin to narrow and become closed off.
Think of canal where a spinal nerve travels through that is becoming smaller and smaller,
until it’s so small it starts to pinch the sciatic nerve and cause shooting pains
down the leg.
Spinal Stenosis is more common in people over the age of 50, due to wear and tear on the
spine, leading to the build-up of osteoarthritis and bone spurs.
People that suffer from spinal stenosis have pain when standing up straight, especially
after sitting for a long time.
Standing and walking for long periods of time also tend to cause a lot of pain.
Generally, I notice patients having to lean forward when they walk because it’s too
painful to stand up straight.
Those are the main causes of sciatica.
I hope you enjoyed this video and it helped you understand a bit more about how sciatica starts.
It’s very important that you know what’s causing your sciatica pain, because it will
help give you the correct treatment plan to follow.
At SpineCare Decompression and Chiropractic Center in St. Joseph, MI, I’ve been able
to help a lot of people find relief from low back and sciatica pain.
The majority of my patients are sciatica suffers, and I have a lot of experience treating it.
So if you, or someone you know, has been suffering from back pain or sciatica
and need help, don't hesitate to contact us.
We offer modern and effective treatment options
that can get you on the road to recovery, today.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below.
Thanks for watching!