Everything you need to know about sciatic pain

This term is usually used to describe pain that is located in the buttock, thigh, or leg but usually originates in the lower back.
It refers directly to the sciatic nerve. When our spinal cord leaves the vertebral foramen, it divides into nerve roots. The sciatic nerve comes from the union of certain lumbar and sacral roots (belonging to the sacrum, bone located below the lumbar vertebrae).

This nerve can be irritated, giving the pain that we know all along its route, from the buttocks to the feet. However, the origin of the problem is often the small nerve roots that leave the column.

Most sciatic pain is mild and is due to simple nerve irritation. They do not require an in-depth examination, injection or surgical treatment. Although the idea that a herniated disc is generally the cause of pain is widely held in the population, it is nevertheless a very rare fact. Just as it is very rare for a herniated disc, when present, to cause pain and disability.

However, herniated discs, which are mostly asymptomatic, frequent and rarely linked to any problem, are still the subject of many myths and false beliefs in the population.
Sciatic nerve irritations give a wide range of symptoms very typical of nerve irritations. They are distinguished from muscle or joint damage by the burning nature of the pain as well as the associated symptoms such as electrical sensations, tingling, tingling, drowsiness.

These irritations can be accompanied by strange sensations that some patients describe as light rays in the leg or a cotton leg sensation. These inconveniences are generally felt to be more intense, more annoying and more worrying than muscle or joint damage.

There are rarer forms of sciatic damage where the nerve is not only irritated but damaged. The symptoms will be very different: loss of strength, loss of sensitivity, loss of reflex and vesico-sphincter disorders (incontinence and sexual dysfunction).

Although this is usually the role of doctors, specialist physiotherapists at Uperform are also trained to recognize and
Highlight warning signs and refer you to the most appropriate care possible.

Some forms are not to be neglected and require urgent treatment! After an anamnesis (question-and-answer session with the patient in order to fully understand the problem and target the work to be done) and highly specific clinical tests, your Uperform specialist physiotherapist will establish a suitable treatment plan with you.

While it is important to learn to avoid certain positions that could irritate the nerve, it is also important to keep moving and avoid going to total rest. Neural mobilization exercises may be offered to you so that the nerve can circulate more freely and free it from any irritation caused by the adjacent joints and muscles.

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Cet article est inspiré des travaux du Dr Annina Schmid sur les neuropathies périphériques. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJvNBYOKf64&t=2s&ab_channel=FisioCamera