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What is sciatica?
Gemma Happe • Feb 24, 2023
What is sciatica?
Sciatica is a common and debilitating set of symptoms which often accompany low back pain in which the patient may experience shooting leg pain and/or impaired lower limb sensations such as numbness, pins and needles, tingling and/or burning pain. The symptoms associated with sciatica can have a sudden or slow onset and can vary from mild to severe and often follow a forward bending and twisting injury to the low back.
What are the common symptoms of sciatica?
Sciatica can have a broad range of symptoms, these may include:
- low back pain and/or buttock pain
- nerve type leg pain, which patients often describe as feeling worse than their low back pain
- a change / or alter in sensation in the leg or foot
- muscle spasms in the back / buttocks, stiffness and reduced mobility
- a weakness in the leg or foot
A change in feeling in the leg or foot can include:
- pins and needles
- numbness
- hot or cold
- burning sensations
- shooting sensations
- sensations that can be hard to describe and vague in their location
What causes sciatica?
Sciatica can be caused by irritation and/or compression of the nerves which travel from the lower spine down into the legs. This can be from inflammation and/or direct compression of the nerve roots usually from a disc injury and/or degenerative age-related spinal changes.
How will your osteopath diagnose sciatica?
In order for sciatica to be diagnosed appropriately your osteopath will take a full and detailed case history and will ask you questions about your back and leg pain / symptoms and will also perform a thorough physical examination including neurological evaluation.
Your osteopath in active discussion with you may sometimes need to onward refer you for further examination / investigations to rule out other possible health related conditions.
How will your osteopath help you recover from sciatica?
Sciatica usually improves and people will fully recover within 12 weeks with a combination of time, modifying activities, pain medication, manual therapy and exercise prescription. However, this can vary significantly between individuals and it is important to remember that lots of things can influence your symptom progression such as stress, poor sleep, occupational hazards and emotional and physical well-being.
Non-invasive treatments and advice your osteopath will offer you to help control and relieve your sciatica for sciatica and low back pain include:
- Self-management strategies, advice and information tailored to your needs and capabilities.
- Manual therapy including spinal manipulation, mobilisation or soft tissue techniques such as massage to help manage your low back pain and sciatica.
- Exercise prescription to improve and restore mobility, flexibility and reduce levels of pain and leg symptoms.
Chertsey Osteopathic Clinic would like to wish Billy Allington the best of luck on Saturday 18th of February, where he is fighting for the British Super Lightweight Title!
Exercising For Osteoarthritis Pain Relief
If your car broke down you’d call a mechanic, if you had a leaking pipe you’d find a plumber and if your laptop stopped working, you’d seek the help of an IT specialist. When it’s comes to your musculoskeletal system, don’t wait for a full blown break down, call the Osteopath when the warning lights come up on the dashboard. Get an appointment booked sooner rather than later. This will allow the injury to heal quicker and it will also mean fewer visits! Less pain for the patient and purse!
Congratulations to Billy Allington, who won his fight on Saturday 12th of February and is now the English superlight weight champion!!
Chertsey Osteopathic Clinic would like to wish Billy Allington the very best of luck. He is fighting for the English title on Saturday 12th of February..
Welcoming George Durden to the “Chertsey Osteopathic Clinic” team!
On Saturday 11th of September 2021 Billy Allington won the Super Lightweight Southern Championship.
Chertsey Osteopathic Clinic is proud to sponsor Billy Allington.