Sciatica
Written by Dr. David Howard – B.Sc. (Clinical Sci.), M.H.Sc. (Osteopathy), B.App.Sc (Human Movement) from Pascoe Vale Osteopathy located in Pascoe Vale, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than a specific diagnosis. The symptoms are generally buttock pain and a sharp pain down the back of the thigh and sometimes into the calf. Occasionally, when severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness and tingling in the leg.
The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in the body. It originates from 5 smaller nerves from the spinal cord in the lumbar spine (lower back) and passes through the pelvis, buttock and into the leg.
The symptoms of sciatica are produced by pressure onto the nerve which decreases its ability to function and causes pain. There are many different causes of sciatica as there are many different parts of the body where it can become compressed.
Here I will outline a few of these causes: