 Sciatica occupies the first place in all kinds of internal neuralgia, which is a common disease. But sciatica is only a symptom of the disease, which itself is not an independent disease. The onset of the disease stands in the age of 20 ~ 60 years old and it is most common at about 40. The disease is rare among the people who are before 20 or after 60 years old. According to the 1982 National Survey in six cities, the disease prevalence rate is 121 .8/100,000.
The onset of sciatica often follows the trauma, physical labor and catching a cold or it recurs because of the things above. Most cases get the pain in a side; some individuals get the pain in two sides. The typical symptoms of sciatica include the pain of the waist and hip in one side that radiates to the posterior of thigh and lateral of leg and lateral of foot. Walking and changing the body posture can aggravate the pain, and raising the ill leg is limited when keeping recumbent.
If you are having back pain with any of the following; you should consult your doctor as soon as possible:
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History of trauma – e.g. a fall or car crash
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Aged younger than 20 or older than 55 when you first experienced back pain
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Prolonged use of Steroid medication
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Unremitting pain
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Fever
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Bowel or bladder incontinence (inability to control the bowel or bladder)
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Progressive weakness or loss of sensation in the legs
If weakness or numbness is present, the nerve may be damaged and it is important to seek attention from a health care professional.
Signs and symptoms of sciatica:
Sciatica can cause both sensory and muscular abnormalities in the legs and thighs. Common symptoms of sciatica include:
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 Pain. It's especially likely to occur along a path from low back to buttock and the back of thigh and calf. The pain can vary widely, from a mild ache to a sharp, burning sensation or excruciating discomfort. Sometimes it may feel like a jolt or electric shock. Usually only one lower extremity is affected.
Sciatica causes pain, a burning sensation, numbness, or tingling radiating from the lower back and upper buttock down the back of the thigh to the back of the leg. The result is leg pain.
While sciatica is often associated with lower back pain (lumbago), it can be present without low back pain.
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Numbness or muscle weakness along the nerve pathway in leg or foot. In some cases, the fellow may have pain in one part of leg and numbness in another.
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Tingling or a pins-and-needles feeling, often in toes or part of foot.
 These symptoms may worsen with squatting or coughing. Sitting or standing for long hours at a stretch could also aggravate the pain further. This is because prolonged sitting or standing exerts pressure on the nerve, which irritates it further. This leads to increased pain. The person may also have to deal with increased pain after standing up from a low sitting position. For instance, many sciatica sufferers deal with increased pain after they stand up from a toilet seat. Lifting also typically causes irritation of the nerve roots in the lower back.
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Severe sciatica can make walking difficult if not impossible.
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The pain relief by changing positions can be partial or complete.
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In some instances, flexion (bending) of the lower back can increase pressure on the discs and cause prolapsed disc material to aggravate adjacent nerve roots. This means that any bending forwards, such as when putting on or taking off shoes, will typically irritate the problem and lead to a worsening of the Sciatica pain. It is not just bending forwards that can aggravate the problem.
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A loss of bladder or bowel control. This is a sign of cauda equina syndrome, a rare but serious condition that requires emergency care. If you experience either of these symptoms, seek medical help immediately.
Long term effects:
In the long course
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The ipsilateral buttocks become smaller; the legs become thinner because of the atrophy of the muscles.
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There will be the abnormal feeling in the painful parts;
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Individual patients may also get the skin of the ill lower limb cool, dry and less sweating or much sweating.
Classification of Sciatica:
According to the root cause Sciatica can be classified in Root Sciatica and Stem Sciatica.
The Root Sciatica:
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In early stage of the disease, its performance is not typical, and many cases include lower back pain in a side, waist tingle, fearing cold that in deep position. This low back pain often appears after activities and disappears after a rest.
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The back pain aggravates gradually later to transform into the persistent pain.
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The pain is aggravated after activities, which radiates to the buttocks, thigh posterior, posterolateral leg, foot lateral, accompanied by numbness or paresthesia.
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Coughing, sneezing, feces can aggravate pain,
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Most patients describe the pain is in the form of current, which radiates from the waist along the sciatic nerve running to the distal.
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Patients walk on the body tilt forward to the healthy side, lying off with crooked knees and hip, as it can ease the pain.
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Most patients have marked tenderness point in the lower waist next to the affected side. When oppressing this point, the pain often radiates from the local part to the side leg.
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Sometimes there is tenderness in central parts of the affected side, and the sciatic nerve under the buttocks has little tenderness. Such patients get a positive result in a chest chin test (i.e. the patients keep supine and crook the head forward passively to make the chin touches the chest wall; the lower extremity pain appears or it is aggravated), and they get a positive result in the test raising the leg straight.
The Stem Sciatica:
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The pain is in the parts of the buttocks, posterior thighs, posterolateral legs and feet. The pain is persistent and paroxysmally intensified, sometimes it is burning or knife-like, it is aggravated at night and after activities.
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Coughing and sneezing movements will not aggravate the pain.
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The sciatic nerve traveling region get obvious tenderness, but the lumbar spine gets no tenderness. The patients get a positive result in the test raising the leg straight, i.e. the patients keep supine with two legs extended to maintain the affected limb in straight extended knee, the pain will appear in less than 70 degrees (normal people can bend the hip joint for 90 degrees).
Treatment for Sciatica |
Sign Symptoms of Sciatica