Sciatica
The sciatic nerve is the longest individual nerve in the body, feeding the area from the lower back down to the entire back of the hips and thighs, down to the knee, down to the knees Toes.
The pain of the sciatica below the knee, from the lower back to the buttocks and thighs, is due to the nerve irritation or narrowing of the spine, resulting in pressure. The function of this nerve is to provide the places that feed it with sensation, By force to make the right reactions; the imbalance and narrowing of this nerve affects these functions in places where it passes and fed by the nerve.
Treatment of sciatica
The patient can ease the pain of the sciatica home, especially if the pain can be tolerated, and there is no serious display, and can be implemented by the following:
- Keep away from activities that cause pain, and provide comfort for the patient, but it is not recommended to take longer than two days in bed.
- Apply cold compresses or bags filled with ice and wrap them with a cloth and apply them to the pain places for 20 minutes. This can be repeated several times a day.
- Warm compresses can also be applied and replaced with cold compresses on pain areas two to three days after the onset of sciatica pain.
- Exercise exercises lengthening the lower back; to improve the patient’s condition, relieve pressure on the nerve root.
- Exercise aerobic exercise (aerobics) with the explanation of the coach of the suffering of the patient, so that the coach must choose sports exercises improve the patient’s health condition and avoid any exercises that can make it worse.
- Over-the-counter painkillers can be taken, such as ibuprofen and naproxen.
- If the patient does not improve on the home remedies, he or she can refer to the doctor to prescribe other medications that may improve his / her condition. In this case, the doctor may prescribe for the patient one of the following medicines:
- Antihypertensive drugs.
- Muscles for muscles.
- Analgesics and analgesics.
- Tricyclic antidepressant.
- Antidepressants.
- After the symptoms calm down, the doctor can prescribe a physical therapy program to strengthen the patient’s muscles, adjust his body position, and improve the flexibility of his muscles.
- Some doctors may resort to injecting corticosteroid needles at the root of the sciatic nerve from the back. These needles can relieve the pain for a few months, and then the therapeutic effect of corticosteroid will disappear.
- Surgical intervention If the patient continues to suffer without improvement, or the pain develops significantly, or complications such as loss of control urination and protrusion.
Symptoms of sciatica
What distinguishes the symptoms of sciatica is that the pain should extend up to the bottom of the knee, if the pain does not extend down the knee is not symptoms due to sciatica, and other symptoms associated with sciatica are:
- the pain is in the lower back.
- Pain in the hip, thigh and foot of the back.
- Feeling pain and discomfort in areas along nerve-fed places.
- Pain in the pelvic area.
- The nature of the pain is acute, the nature can be similar to tingling, in addition to a burning sensation in the nerve passage area, and pain increases when the patient is sitting.
- Feeling of tingling extends down the foot.
- Weakness and numbness and difficulty moving the foot.
- Sciatica symptoms are often present in one foot, not in the feet depending on the position of the injured nerve, on the right or left foot.
- The following symptoms require you to go directly to the doctor:
- When the pain is sudden and very severe, and restricts the movement of the foot significantly, especially if both feet are infected.
- When you are seriously injured, such as a car accident or the like.
- When the patient loses the ability to control and control the process of urination and defecation.
Causes of sciatica
The cause of this disease is pressure on the sciatic nerve and this results from:
- Hernia in the lumbar disks: This means that a hernia in the disc, so that the internal material out of him, and irritation of the nerve.
- Corrosive discs between the vertebrae: It is one of the natural processes that occur with age in some people, and when this corrosion occurs in discs that act as cushions between the lumbar vertebrae occurs irritation of the nerve and the symptoms of the disease.
- Pear syndrome: An irritation of the sciatic nerve caused by the passage of the lower pimple muscle that can be pressed in the area of the buttocks.
- Narrowing of the lumbar canal: a normal process that occurs as a person ages, especially after the age of 60, and leads to pressure on the sciatic nerve, leading to the appearance of sciatica.
- Isthmic spondylolisthesis, a condition in which the vertebrae slip on each other, occurs because of the fractures in the vertebrae. If the lesions of the lumbar vertebrae lead to pressure on the sciatic nerve in the end and the appearance of sciatica symptoms.
- Functional dysfunction of the sacral joint: This joint is located at the bottom of the spine, where it reaches the left and right part of the femoral vertebrae. In the event of any defect in the joint, the area surrounding the joint is irritated, leading to pains similar to the sciatica.
- Pregnancy.
- Muscle strain in the lower back and hip area.
Diagnosis of sciatica
Diagnosis of sciatica such as any disease; beginning with knowledge of the symptoms experienced by the patient, and the symptoms in detail, and identify areas where the pain, in addition to knowledge of the patient’s history of the patient, then the patient is examined clinically, and includes a full clinical examination of the lower back and muscles of the lower limbs , Including the examination of muscle strength, reflexes, and examination of sensation in the area of the lower extremities.
A doctor may request a scan of the spine to exclude a spinal fracture, an MRI image, a transverse sectional image, or muscle layout.