Do you know that the sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body? Notably, this nerve extends from your lower back to the back of your lower legs through your buttocks. Through this nerve, the muscles within your legs can move, thus making you flexible. In addition, the sciatic nerve helps to carry the touch feelings on your legs to the brain for interpretation. However, when you have Fair Lawn sciatica, the sciatic nerve may not execute the sensory and motor functions effectively, making you experience sharp pain through this nerve, thus reducing your mobility. Let us go through the following little-known facts to help you understand sciatica.
Sciatica Is the Collection of Symptoms
You may think sciatica is a single condition, but you are mistaken. Notably, sciatica is the set of symptoms that imply that you have underlying conditions. Usually, leg pain is one of the common symptoms for patients with sciatica. This pain is characterized by numbness or weakness, which simultaneously impacts each leg.
Sciatica Depends on the Extent of the Spinal Nerve Involved
The sciatica symptoms differ from one individual to another based on the compressed nerve root. For instance, if the condition is within the S1 nerve root, you will experience pain in the back of your leg or thigh. Further, if the pinching occurs in the L5 nerve root, you will encounter pain in your feet. Nonetheless, you can still experience overlapping symptoms whenever the compression occurs in more than one nerve root.
Excessive Weight Is a Risk Factor
Individuals who are overweight are more susceptible to sciatica. Notably, the excessive fat build-up causes excessive stress on the spinal discs, which are subject to bulging. Consequently, the herniated disc pinches the nerve root, thus igniting sciatic pain. Fortunately, eating a healthy diet with low fats can help you minimize the risk of those symptoms.
The Cause of Sciatica Dictates the Treatment Plan
Previously, people used to believe that there was only a single therapy for patients experiencing sciatica symptoms. However, different treatment plans are based on the underlying condition of sciatica. For instance, if spinal stenosis is the cause of your sciatica pain, the specialist may recommend surgery to widen the room between vertebrae, thus minimizing the chances of nerve compression. The epidural steroid injection can also help to relieve sciatic pain if the symptoms are associated with the herniated disk.
Exercise Can Help
Although it may feel tempting to spend the whole day in your bed once you develop sciatic pain, this practice can do more harm than good. Usually, when you take excessive rest, your agonizing muscles become stiffer, which causes exacerbated sciatica pain when you start moving altogether. Therefore, it is recommended to continue moderate exercises whenever you have sciatica symptoms. Through physical activities such as light jogs and walking, you boost the flexibility of the sciatic nerve, thus easing the sciatica pain.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body which helps your leg muscles to be mobile and have sensation. Certain spinal complications, such as herniated disk and spinal stenosis, can undermine the health of the sciatic nerve by compressing this nerve. Consequently, you will encounter a sharp pain moving from your lower back to your legs through your buttocks. Moderate exercises such as walking can help manage these symptoms. However, if they keep worsening, it is recommended to seek necessary medical treatments, which usually depend on the underlying conditions behind sciatica.
