Is It Sciatica?

Sciatica is an extremely painful condition affecting the lower portion of the back and legs. This happens when the sciatic nerve becomes aggravated. Sciatica pain is usually felt on one side of a person's body. It not only is extremely uncomfortable but sciatica causes numbness in the region of the body that is affected. The sciatica pain travels from the lower back down through the thigh and then goes to the back of the calf making the whole leg stiff and numb. Sometimes, the pain will also go upward affecting the hip then back down to the foot. Many people feeling this type of pain find it difficult to perform common everyday chores.

What Happens With Sciatica?

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body and has a great range; it extends from the spinal cord all the way down the leg. At times the sciatica nerve will become irritated from pressure that is caused by a disk that has herniated. The pain can be triggered off by anything that either aggravates or inflames the sciatica nerve. This condition can come from infection along with pressure from bones in the area. Muscle spasms and injuries will lead to sciatica.

Sciatica and Pregnancy

Unfortunally sciatica is not uncommon during pregnancy because the added weight sometimes puts pressure on the nerve. The change in posture during pregnancy could well lead to sciatica.

In other cases in the late stages of pregnancy, there is tension in the muscles which often triggers off an attack of sciatica. It's easy for a doctor to recognize the symptoms of this condition if they are present. Finding out what exactly caused the sciatica nerve flare up in the first place is not always that easy.

For a diagnosis to be accurate and complete, the doctor must find out what caused the nerve to become irritated in the first place.  To correctly diagnosis this painful condition the doctor has to perform a medical examination and record the medical history of the patient along with what they do on a daily basis such as too much lifting of heavy objects or anything that would be considered hard on the back.

X-rays are a must to see if the disks in the back are herniated along with a CAT scan which is a computed axiel tomography along with an MEI which is a magnetic resonance Imaging scan. The correct diagnosis is very important, as this leads to a successful treatment if the cause of the condition is found out. Treatment may vary depending on the compression of the nerve.