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Scary Sciatica 😰😰😰

Writer's picture: Dr. Danny XuDr. Danny Xu

Updated: Jun 10, 2024

It's moving day - You have a stack of boxes towering over you that you have to put into the back of the moving truck. You bend over to pick up a box from the floor and it feels moderately heavy. The first few trips felt good and your body feels strong. As you bend over to pick up the next box, you experience a sharp pain that runs across your back and electricity shooting down your leg. You visit your primary care physician and are referred to physical therapy for low back pain and sciatica.


Sciatica and low back pain are commonly used interchangeably. "Although sciatica is a commonly used term, it may also cause confusion because it has been used to describe any type of back or leg pain (1)." Clinically, "sciatica is referred to any pain that radiates downwards from the buttock along the course of the lumbosacral nerve roots (1)."


What causes sciatica?

Sciatica is caused by the compression of a lumbosacral nerve root. More often than not, the nerve compression is a result of a lumbar disc bulge and/or herniation. In rare cases, the cause of sciatica is a result of spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis. It is important to understand that sciatica is an umbrella term. A reason why your symptoms might not be improving with stretches you found on YouTube is because you are not addressing the root cause. No amount of figure-4 stretching will centralize your symptoms if the origin is at the lumbar spine. Your physical therapist will be able to accurately determine the root cause and get you on the path to recovery.


Symptoms of Sciatica

Signs and symptoms of sciatica include (1):

  1. Dominance of leg pain more than back pain

  2. Location of leg pain - to assess whether it radiates below the knee or whether it aligns with one or more dermatomes

  3. Paresthesia and/or sensory loss roughly in line with the dermatomes of the affected spinal root

  4. Weakness and/or reflex changes in a myotomal distribution

  5. Increase in leg pain with coughing, sneezing and/or taking in a deep breath

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, reach out to the Forward Physio team!


Dr. Danny Xu, PT, DPT

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