Some patients come to us and report that they are suffering from sciatica but that is not absolutely right rather I would call it relatively right statement as Sciatica is a symptom not a disease. It is the pain which is arising from the sciatic nerve and runs along the route of the nerve itself from proximal to distal i.e. From Lower back up to the Great toe.

What are the common complaints of the patients -

The pain extents distal to the site of obstruction where the nerve is getting impinged or irritated & may extend up to the toes.

Every patient has different prognosis and the symptom can become severe overtime or it can be present in an intermittent come and go pattern with a potential to get worse over the course of time. 

In severe cases - sciatica can even lead to loss of bowel and bladder control. 

As discussed earlier, Sciatica occurs as a result of impingement of sciatic nerve which basically occurs because of following reasons –

Most commonly the Sciatica starts because of herniated disk or muscle tightness/spasm. Your vertebral bones consist of round shaped, flexible, cushioned disk made up of connective tissues. Over the years of degeneration or as a result of injury the disk material i.e., nucleus pulposus comes out which impinges the sciatic nerve. 

The sciatic nerve originates from the lower back and splits towards the hips, buttocks, legs and the feet bilaterally. Sciatic nerve is the largest nerve of the body which supplies both the lower limbs till toes.

The narrowing of the spinal stenosis or a bone spur creates pressure on the sciatic nerve arising the symptoms. This impingement causes lots of issues all the way down to the course of nerve distally i.e. towards toes.

The most typical sign of sciatica is pain which radiates from lumbar region to the back moving to the side, buttocks and the legs. The nature of pain varies from mild, sharp to severe pain. Some sensory deficit can be felt like – Tingling, numbness & weakness along the course of sciatic nerve. 

The first thing your doctor as you is about your symptoms. Then about the type & nature of pain and other associated sensory symptoms Like – Numbness and tingling which bothers you the most. Ask about the aggravating positions and relieving factors.

We will ask you about the your lifestyle, your sitting posture, your job profile – whether sitting or standing or about the activities of your daily life.

After getting the relevant details from your side, the next step comes to the physical examination where the physiotherapist will observe your posture, look for any signs of swelling or redness moving ahead towards the examination part where you will be instructed to perform few exercises which will aggravate your pain or irritation at the course of your nerve to pin point the diagnosis. These aggravating exercises may include – Toe walking, heel walking, squats or raising your leg when you are lying down.

Then only to conclude the diagnosis a radiographic finding can be asked just like – X-ray, CT scan or MRI depending on the requirement to look for degenerative changes, disk herniation, bone spur or any other finding. In advance cases EMG – electromyography may be asked to rule out the compressed nerve nd the region of compression.

Once the diagnosis is confirmed at MAKINO HEALTHCARE our team of experts make a customized rehabilitation plan for you to bring you back to your activities of daily life without any pain.

Along with the conservative treatment under our guidance we recommend our patients to do some good stretching exercises at home that puts a little stretch on the structures inside which the nerve passes. And to compensate pain or DOMS-delayed onset of muscle soreness because of muscle stretching we may recommend you to use- cold pack or hot pack as per the detailed assessment and the progression.

Few books or researches suggests for absolute bed rest but the concept has totally changed now. We recommend you to take relative rest i.e. Rest for a short interval of time and keep doing the movement. Even if you sit still the inflammation may increase causing a increase in nerve irritation rather to reduce inflammation doing movement is necessary.

Now it’s time to get complete relief and Let the sciatica run from you. Contact us and start getting relief from today.