Symptoms of sciatica

Sciatica is a very common orthopedic disease. It is very common among adults, especially young and middle-aged people. The patient will have pain symptoms in the waist, buttocks, and feet. Sciatica can be divided into radicular sciatica and trunk sciatica. The most common one is lumbar disc herniation. The pain is unbearable for patients. Everyone should learn more about the symptoms of sciatica.

There are many symptoms of sciatica. Patients generally cannot have a normal posture, such as sleeping or walking. Only a specific posture can relieve pain. This disease is most common among middle-aged and elderly men. Learn more about its symptoms to see if you suffer from this disease.

The patient's buttocks are lower when standing. In order to relieve pain, patients often adopt a unique posture. When standing, they put force on the healthy side, lean towards the healthy side when sitting, and prefer lying on the healthy side with the affected limb flexed. There is pain in the affected lower limb when the leg is raised straight; there is tenderness when pressing the sciatic nerve trunk. The muscle tension of the buttocks and posterior thigh muscles is reduced, the muscles are loose, and there may be muscle atrophy. The heel reflex on the affected side is weakened or disappears; the lateral side of the calf or dorsum of the foot is hypersensitive or has decreased pain sensation. The patient's lower limb skin temperature may be lower or there may be less sweat, and the toenails may become thinner and dull, which are manifestations of autonomic nerve damage and nutritional disorders.

Sciatica can be diagnosed based on the location and radiation direction of the pain, factors that aggravate the pain, pain-relieving postures, traction pain and tenderness points.

1. Sciatica caused by lumbar spinal stenosis

Sciatica caused by lumbar spinal stenosis is more common in middle-aged men. In the early stages, there is often "intermittent claudication", with lower limb pain aggravated after walking, but the symptoms are alleviated or disappear after bending over to walk or resting. When the nerve roots or cauda equina are severely compressed, sciatica symptoms and signs may appear on one or both sides, and the course of the disease may progressively worsen. Treatments such as bed rest or traction are ineffective.

2. Sciatica caused by lumbar radiculitis

Lumbar radiculitis generally has an acute onset, and the range of damage often exceeds the area innervated by the sciatic nerve, manifesting as weakness and pain in the entire lower limb, mild muscle atrophy, and except for the Achilles tendon reflex, the knee tendon reflex is often weakened or disappeared.

3. Sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation

Patients with lumbar disc herniation often have a long history of recurrent low back pain or a history of heavy physical labor, and the disease often develops acutely after a low back injury or bending over during labor. In addition to the typical symptoms and signs of radicular sciatica, there are also lumbar muscle spasm, limited lumbar spine movement and loss of natural flexion, and obvious tenderness and radiating pain in the intervertebral space at the site of intervertebral disc herniation.

It is important to understand the symptoms of sciatica. Only by knowing this common sense can you make an early self-diagnosis. If you have lower back pain and it matches the symptoms of sciatica, you must go for a check-up in time. Patients should drink less alcohol, eat more vegetables, avoid irritating foods, and persist in recovery exercises.