Causes of Sciatic Pain
September 5th, 2008An excerpt of an article about Causes of Sciatic Pain
Sciatic pain is chiefly due to inflammation of the sciatic nerve. This condition usually gives you pain from the lower back down to your knee. You can also feel tenderness in your leg and thigh. There are several causes of sciatic pain, and these should be carefully assessed to apply proper treatment.
When the nerve root found in the lower lumbar spine and lumbosacral area is irritated, compressed, or inflamed, sciatic pain results. Among the prevalent causes of sciatic pain include:
-Lumbar spinal stenosis - constriction of the lower spinal canal
-Degenerative disk disorders causing the vertebral disks to collapse
-Herniated or slipped disk in the lumbar area
-Spondylolisthesis - forward displacement of a vertebra
Lumbar herniated/slipped disk occurs when the disk’s nucleus pulposus extrudes through the annulus. Other terms for this condition include protruding disk, ruptured disk, bulging disk or pinched nerve. This condition is usually manifested by sciatic pain.
In lumbar spinal stenosis, the spinal canal in the lumbar area is constricted leading to sciatic pain. This medical condition affects mostly elderly people over 60 years old. This is generally due to soft tissue overgrowth, engorged joints, and swollen disks which apply pressure on the sciatic nerve roots.
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