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Sciatica: Signs, Symptoms, and Advanced Treatment
What is sciatica? Understanding sciatic nerve anatomy and its function:
The Sciatic nerve supplies your lower back down to your legs and foot. Your sciatic nerve starts its journey in the lumbosacral region of your spine. More specifically, it arises from the anterior rami of the lower lumbar (L4-L5) and upper sacral spinal nerves (S1, S2, S3). From here, it travels downwards through the posterior aspect of your thigh. Before it reaches the popliteal fossa—a shallow depression at the back of your knee joint—it splits into two large terminal branches: the tibial and the common fibular (peroneal) nerve. It provides both sensory and motor supply to your thigh, leg, and foot skin and muscles. Sciatica is caused by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve at your back.
Your body has two sciatic nerves running from your back to your feet. Sciatica typically affects one side but can impact both legs depending upon the underlying cause and severity of the disease. Sciatica disrupts the nerve supply to your thigh, leg, foot, and muscles, causing widespread discomfort.
How common is sciatica?
Sciatica can occur at any age, regardless of gender and race. It is often caused by compression in older individuals due to muscle spasms and other risk factors. In younger individuals, it can occur secondary to trauma. Moreover, 40% of people in the USA experience sciatica at some point.
Signs and symptoms of sciatica:
Sciatica has a wide variety of symptoms depending on the severity of the disease and the location of the nerve root affected by L4-S1.
- Pain in your back radiating down to your thigh, leg and foot can be mild, moderate or severe in intensity, depending upon the severity of the disease
- Paresthesia (feeling of heaviness of your legs and feet)
- Numbness (loss of sensory supply)
- Tingling sensation
- Decrease muscle power
- Foot drop
- Loss of reflexes
How does sciatica occur?
Sciatica can occur due to several reasons. It is the main nerve of your body supplying your lower back down to the thighs, legs and foot. According to Dr. Mikel H-G Hoff, it gives 100-1000 branches in your body. Moreover, inflammation of L2-L4 in your back can lead to sciatica because this nerve route is directly linked to your femoral nerve and sciatic nerve. The other causes of sciatica include:
- Trauma
- Weaken gluteus muscle that induces inflammation of the sciatic nerve
- Disc herniation
- Spinal stenosis and foraminal stenosis
- Spinal tumours
- Spondylolisthesis
- Hip joint or pelvis surgeries
- Piriformis syndrome
- Iliotibial band syndrome
Who is at risk of having sciatic nerve injury?
Several factors make you prone to this nerve injury. These factors include:
- High body mass index (obesity)
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Low metabolic profile
- Previous history of lower back pain
- History of trauma
- Degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis
- Occupation
Management of sciatica with ANF Therapy®️:
Diagnosis:
When you experience discomfort in your lower body, such as sharp pain, tingling, or numbness, indicates that your sciatic nerve is compromised. But before you jump to conclusions, it’s crucial to understand how your ANF Orthopedic Practitioner diagnoses sciatica.
History:
In history, your ANF Orthopedic Practitioner will ask some questions regarding your disease to make the diagnosis. These include:
- Your age
- Location and radiation of pain
- Do you feel heaviness in your pain?
- The feeling of a tingling sensation in your leg
- History of trauma
- History of diabetes
- Previous history of back pain
- Occupational history
Physical examination:
This examination often involves testing muscle strength and reflexes. You may be asked to perform specific movements, such as walking on your toes or heels, rising from a squatting position, or lifting your legs one at a time while lying on your back. Notably, pain from sciatica will typically increase during these movements.
Neurological examination:
In neurological examination, your ANF Orthopedic practitioner performs some tests to check the nerve status. It includes:
- Touching your leg and asking yourself if you feel it or not.
- Checking the power and tone of the muscle
- Checking all the lower limb reflexes
Application of ANF Devices:
Dr. Mikel H-G Hoff states that the application of these devices on the affected will significantly reduce your symptoms. These devices are placed on certain areas of your body as recommended by your ANF Therapists. They will use different types of ANF Devices. These are:
Anti-inflammatory Devices:
Dr. Mikel H-G Hoff states that anti-inflammatory devices are designed to remove the active and chronic inflammation in your body, which is the key factor in causing sciatica. They not only reduce inflammation but also remove the cause of inflammation. These devices are applied over the gluteus muscle and around your knee joint.
Antioxidant Devices:
These are AGL (glutathione) and ACA (carnosine) devices that are applied along with anti-inflammatory devices to remove the harmful free radicals from your body that cause inflammation.
To learn more about ANF Devices, you can visit www.anftherapy.com
Expected outcomes:
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Prevention of Sciatic Nerve Pain:
You can prevent sciatica by following:
Regular Exercise and Stretching
Regular exercise, particularly exercises that strengthen the core and lower back, can keep the spine healthy and reduce the risk of pressure on the sciatic nerve. These include exercises like swimming, yoga, and pilates. Before starting any exercise regimen, consult an ANF Therapist to ensure the routines are safe and suitable for your needs.
Proper body posture
Maintaining proper posture while sitting, standing, or lifting heavy objects can help prevent undue stress on the lower back, which could lead to sciatic nerve pain. Ergonomic furniture, like supportive chairs and standing desks, can help promote proper posture, particularly for people who spend a lot of time at a desk.
Healthy Weight and Diet
Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of conditions like herniated discs, which can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. A healthy diet filled with anti-inflammatory foods can support overall nerve health.
Regular Check-ups
Routine check-ups with a healthcare provider can help identify potential issues before they become serious problems. This can include regular screenings for conditions that may impact the sciatic nerve, such as spinal stenosis or lumbar disc herniation.
FAQs:
Can you live a normal life with sciatica?
Living with sciatica varies based on its severity. If the pain is mild, you can generally continue normal activities with some preventive measures recommended by your ANF Therapist. However, severe sciatica may significantly impact your daily routines, and you need to consult an ANF Therapist immediately.
Can sciatica leads to paralysis?
Yes, if sciatica remains unaddressed for long periods of time, it can lead to complete nerve injury, resulting in paralysis of the affected part.
Why does sciatica worsen at night?
Sciatica pain often intensifies at night due to the body’s inflammatory processes ramping up. Additionally, lying down can put direct pressure on your spine, exacerbating the discomfort.
Does walking help sciatica?
Absolutely! Engaging yourself in regular walking not only boosts your endorphin level (natural pain relievers of your body) but also helps reduce inflammation.
What is the best sitting position for sciatica?
It’s crucial to maintain good posture to minimize sciatica discomfort. Sit up straight with your shoulders rolled back and your shoulder blades down. This position helps alleviate pressure and effectively reduce pain.
Can sciatica affect your both legs?
Yes, sciatica can involve both legs but in rare cases. It frequently involves only one leg characterized by pain, numbness, tingling sensation and paresthesia.
Can weight gain during pregnancy cause sciatica?
Yes, weight gain during pregnancy can increase the likelihood of sciatica. As the body accommodates the growing fetus, added weight places additional pressure on the spine and can lead to compression of the sciatic nerve. This anatomical change can trigger discomfort and pain along the nerve pathway, affecting the lower back and legs.
Does ANF Therapy®️ help in treating sciatica?
About ANF Therapy®️
ANF Therapy®️ uses circular ANF Devices, which are applied directly on the skin after palpation and assessment by a trained ANF Therapist following the ANF Therapy®️ Method, Patented Model no. U202030252, ES1259974.
The ANF Therapy®️ purpose is the alleviation of injury and pain within minutes.
Our aim is that the patient experiences a reduction of pain and swelling, an increase in range of motion, and an improvement in quality of life related to health. Non-transdermal, non-invasive device, NO needles or chemicals are used.
Do you need help with your health issues? Have you been experiencing symptoms of sciatica?
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