Struggling With Sciatica?

Pain generated by sciatica varies greatly. Some individuals experience constant discomfort so severe that it incapacitates them. However, sciatica might also be merely an irritation that occurs from time to time.

Six underlying conditions are the most common causes of sciatica. A lumbar herniated disc occurs when the inner components break out of a disc and pinch a nerve root. Degenerated discs that develop in the lower back can irritate nerve roots. In patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis, slippage of a vertebra might pinch a nerve. Narrowing of a lumbar spinal stenosis patient’s spinal canal commonly results in sciatica. Sometimes the piriformis muscle irritates or pinches a nerve root. Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is a cause when irritation to the sacroiliac joint also irritates a nerve.

Less-common causes include pregnancy, epidural fibrosis, muscle strains, infections, fractures, spinal tumors, and ankylosing spondylitis.