Causes and Symptoms of your Sciatic Pain

El Paso’s chiropractor, Dr. Alex Jimenez addresses the symptoms associated with sciatic nerve pain and its causes. Sciatica is best known as a group of symptoms instead of a single condition. The pain experienced by a person with sciatica is most commonly located in the lower back, hip, buttocks, and outer side of the leg. An increased number of the population suffers from a condition causing low back pain throughout their lifetime but the causes for their sciatic nerve pain may vary.

The symptoms of sciatica consist of constant pain reaching from their lower back down to the leg, followed by numbness and a tingling sensation as a result of compression, irritation, or pressure of the sciatic nerve roots. Sciatica symptoms will occur once a pinched nerve develops as a result of a degenerative disc disorder, such as an osteoarthritis bone spur or a herniated disc. A herniated disc develops when the cushion that separates a vertebrae of the spine ruptures and begins pushing against the space of the nerve, pinching the sciatic nerve root, resulting in sciatica.

A bulging disc also causes pressure and irritation against the sciatic nerve roots. A person with a bulging disc will experience lower back pain that extends into the leg and often times, the pain will even extend down to the toes. The inflammation of the muscles due to a degenerative disc disease may also add additional stress against the sciatic nerve, leading to increased pain and discomfort.

According to research, low back pain has been the biggest cause for global disability than any other condition. Degenerative disc diseases begin to develop in people over the age of 55 from natural wear and tear and overuse and as the population of the elderly continues to grow, sciatica and its symptoms are becoming more globally common. The body’s degeneration is inevitable, for some people being faster than others, but with a healthy balance of stretches and exercises, the compressed sciatic nerve roots and the sciatica symptoms can be eased and relieved.