What is sciatica? How is sciatica treated? What are the symptoms of sciatica? What are the causes of sciatica? What should sciatica patients pay attention to?
What is Sciatica?
Sciatic nerve is the nerve that emerges from the last vertebrae of the waist (4th and 5th vertebra). This nerve is a nerve that comes from the hip, behind the knee and foot, to the bottom of the foot. The exit point of the nerve is the lumbar region. If the nerve is compressed or damaged in the back area of the hip or knee, it is called sciatica.
Sciatica causes pain throughout. It causes pain in the hip, knee and ankle. Sciatica pain is generally a burning and electric shock-like pain. Sometimes it can cause severe pain, loss of strength, and difficulty in walking.
Damage to the sciatic nerve is not only related to a herniated disc; sciatic pain may be related to nerve compression in the hip area or sciatic nerve damage due to incorrect injections.
Once the type of sciatica is determined, the treatment is applied accordingly.
What are the symptoms of sciatica?
Sciatica is pressure in the hip area. It is called formation. Sciatica pain usually causes a radiating pain. It may be accompanied by:
- Numbness,
- Numbness,
- In later stages, weakness and even foot dragging stage called drop foot may occur. This phenomenon is only seen in secondary injuries.
It may cause pain and numbness radiating to the lower part due to nerve compression between the hips in the hip area or due to the pressure of the bones in the knee area. Sciatica can also lead to progressive pathologies that can prevent walking.
If sciatica continues for a long time, that is, if it becomes chronic, symptoms such as thinning and shortening of the leg and calf muscles may occur.
What are the Causes of Sciatica?
The causes of sciatica can be examined in three groups. The first region is due to compression of the nerve coming out of the lumbar region. When the sciatic nerve is compressed in the waist area, it causes radiating pain, that is, it causes the same condition as a herniated disc.
Sciatica may occur due to damage to the nerve in the hip muscles. . When there is a trauma to the back of the knee, an impact or a fall, it causes sciatica pain.
Since the sciatic nerve reaches the bottom of the foot, any injury anywhere causes the same picture as sciatica.
Injection injury. When it is intense, first cold treatment should be applied to reduce the edema there. For other reasons, hot application is more beneficial. Treatment varies depending on the situation.
To summarize:
- Reverse,
- Making sudden movements,
- Lifting heavy,
- Excessive weight gain causes sciatica.
How is Sciatica Diagnosed?
In diagnosing sciatica, the patient must first be examined and evaluated. makes. In this evaluation, the strength of the muscle locomotor system is tested, whether there is any decrease in the strength of the muscles, and whether there is any change in reflexes.
Apart from the examination, some laboratory methods are helpful in making the diagnosis. In recent years, the MRI method has been extremely helpful in showing the level of pressure on the sciatic nerve. Apart from MRI, methods such as computed tomography or direct radiography are also used.
Which pains can be confused with sciatic pain?
Sciatic pain is pain in the areas where the sciatic nerve passes. miscible. Since the nerve passes through the hip, knee and ankle, knee arthritis can be confused with meniscus tears. If there is intense calcification in the hip and there is any injury in the hip, it can be confused with sciatic nerve pain because it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve.
An EMG examination is performed to determine whether the herniated disc or waist problems are localized in that area or more localized at the bottom. mixing is prevented. When there is intense muscle spasm and cramp-like pain, this can cause pain similar to sciatica.
Who Gets Sciatica?
Sciatica is more intense in the hip area. It is seen in people who work sitting a lot, stay in a fixed position, or put excessive load on their hips in a sitting position. Therefore, be careful during periods of weight gain. and position changes should be made frequently. In addition, it is necessary to use soft supports for the sitting area.
Hard floor, staying in the same position, and keeping the ankle in the same position triggers sciatica. For this reason, frequent position changes are required, and it is necessary to use waist, back and hip support.
People who may experience sciatica:
- Obese people,
- It can be seen in people who perform daily movements incorrectly,
- Those who do excessive sports,
- Those who carry excessive weight,
- Those who do reverse movements.
What Should Sciatica Patients Pay Attention to?
Sciatica patients should be very careful, especially in situations such as lower back strain, heavy lifting, and sudden and reverse movements. Because straining causes the pressure on the sciatic nerve to increase and this increase in pressure causes the disease to progress.
The person must strictly comply with the given treatment. Because, even if the treatment is not performed correctly, it causes symptoms such as loss of strength in the leg, that is, mild paralysis, in the later stages.
We should place a stool under one foot while doing work while standing. When lying down, we should lie on our side, not on our back, and pull our knees towards our stomach. While working while sitting, we should place an elevation under our feet. We should use orthopedic chairs when working sitting. We should support the part with a hollow waist with a pillow. Floor cleaning should be done by bending the knees and squatting.
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