Many times patients come into the office complaining of ‘leg pain’ or sciatica. This type of symptoms is usually quite painful and often is accompanied by sensations of numbness and tingling.
One only needs to looks at a neuroanatomy book to ascertain what is happening here. As spinal nerves (the ones that supply the legs) exit the spine they are particularly susceptible to injury of varying origin.
More often then not, there is lumbar disc involvement. This, along with becoming entrapped in the piriformis muscle, is one of the more common origins of musculoskeletal sciatic pain.
When disc involvement causes nerve root compression individuals may develope symptoms in the following distribution depending on which nerve root is involved:
Presentation of Lumbar Nerve Root Impingement
It’s important to recognize that although your symptoms might be in the leg the cause of this ‘referred’ pain is usually elsewhere.
MRI is useful in ruling out/confirming clinical suspicions of disc herniation.
If you’ve got sciatic like symptoms or leg pain it’s important that you be properly evaluated by a trained practitioner. Locating the source of your pain is critical to achieving a full recovery from your injury.
Dr. Sadovnik
sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the lower body so i wana to know how the nerve injure and caise
By: mohamed on July 22, 2009
at 11:32 am
Mohamed,
The nerve can be injured through various means. The most common of which is bulged or herniated disc. I suggest you find a qualified healthcare practitioner to evaluate your condition and help determine the cause.
Best,
Dr. Sadovnik
By: Dr. Sadovnik on July 23, 2009
at 9:54 pm
I had right lower back pain for about 6 weeks, during that time the pain was up and down my right side,buttocks,hip,leg,and calf. I have been to the doctors a couple of times but never was I referred to have a MRI, I was told I had a muscle strain is this the same as a herniated disc or is is sciatic? Would an MRI hurt me in the long run. Still recovering.
By: beverly jones on December 11, 2009
at 12:47 am
Beverly, sorry for the late reply.
However, if the pain is intense with numbness, tingling, shooting pains or any other altered form of sensation there may very well be some nerve involvement. In some cases, very rare – usually 15% or less, the sciatic nerve can course through the piriformis muscle and it may cause a pseudo-sciatica.
If your symptoms persist and MRI would be helpful in ruling out a disc herniation.
By: Dr. Sadovnik, Chiropractor on February 17, 2011
at 5:54 pm
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By: Sciatica Treatment and Relief Options, New York NY « DRX9000 Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression: Treatment of Herniated Disc in NYC on December 2, 2011
at 5:28 pm