Pinched sciatic nerve: how to recognize and what to do

This is the largest nerve in the human body, which begins in the lumbosacral region and passes along the entire spine along the entire length of the limbs. For this reason, its pinching simply cannot go unnoticed, because it causes serious pain and discomfort. We will tell you in this article how to recognize a pinched sciatic nerve, why it happens and how to treat such an ailment. 

Symptoms of a pinched sciatic nerve

The first thing that comes when the sciatic nerve is pinched is pain. It can be paroxysmal, intensify with physical activity, or occur exclusively when moving or walking. During a visit to the doctor, patients describe the pain as stabbing, sharp and burning. It’s interesting, but if you listen to your body, you can clearly trace the movement of pain that passes from the lumbar region, then moves to the buttock and, passing through the thigh, reaches the lower leg or foot. But not only pain is a sign of a pinched sciatic nerve; the main symptoms include:

• Change in gait. Due to pain in one side of the body, a person tries not to load it, transferring the entire load to the other side, so changes in gait cannot be avoided.
• There is muscle weakness on the affected side.
• The affected part of the body may experience numbness and a burning sensation.
• On the side where the pinching occurred, loss of sensitivity occurs, and in some patients, on the contrary, sensitivity worsens to such an extent that even a very light touch causes discomfort.

Remember, when an illness appears, all of the above symptoms do not necessarily have to be present, although this also happens; sometimes the body signals about pinching only through pain. The pain itself may be absent when the body is at rest, but when you begin to move, it can be felt.

Causes of pinched sciatic nerve

Modern medicine believes that pinching of the sciatic nerve occurs against the background of other diseases or due to other problems in the functioning of the body. So, the most common causes of pinching are:

• Spinal stenosis in the lumbar region. In such a situation, the lumen of the canal where the spinal cord is located narrows. Often this diagnosis is made to older people, those over 60. This disease occurs due to the expansion of the facet joints and the resulting pressure of the intervertebral discs, where a hernia or protrusion develops, on the nerve roots. The result is neuralgic pain.
• Intervertebral hernia. This is the most common cause of pinched sciatic nerve. A hernia appears that puts pressure on the nerve roots, which causes pain.
• Piriformis syndrome. Here the sciatic nerve of the deformed piriformis muscle is irritated, because the first one passes just under it. In general, this is a controversial case and the problem does not lie in the sciatic nerve, which is absolutely healthy, and pinching and pain act only as symptoms.
• Problems in the functioning of the sacroiliac joint.
• Osteochondrosis. This disease is associated with the loss of the intervertebral discs of their shock-absorbing properties, which leads to compression of the roots from which the sciatic nerve is formed.
• When one or several vertebrae are displaced relative to others, pressure also occurs on the sciatic nerve. This disease is called spondylolithesis.

The most popular variants of the occurrence of the disease are listed here, but this is not a complete list. Less common, but still can be the starting point for the problem: tumors, infectious lesions, blood clots, abscess, etc.

Treatment of pinched sciatic nerve

The choice of treatment method directly depends on what exactly became the root cause of the pinching. Since this can only be determined by a specialist after a comprehensive examination of the patient, self-medication is useless; you can only waste time, and in the worst case, aggravate the situation. However, we can list medications that are almost always used.

These are primarily anti-inflammatory drugs, the main goal of which is to reduce the level of inflammation in a specific area, due to which the pressure on the nerve is eased and the pain subsides. However, the medications used in this case have many side effects, so using them without a doctor’s prescription is strictly contraindicated. But even with a prescription, use is strictly limited in time. If the pain is severe, the prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs may be of steroid origin, and the duration of use is no more than 14 days.

As for physical exercises, their effectiveness in treatment is extremely low, although it is possible to relieve pain with physical exercise. This situation is explained precisely by the fact that pinching does not occur as an independent illness, but as a symptom or consequence of other health problems.

Physiotherapy methods are also used to treat pinched sciatic nerves, which include:

• UHF. The action is directed directly to the source of inflammation using an electromagnetic field and high-frequency waves.
• Paraffin applications. The whole essence of the procedure comes down to long-term thermal effects on the source of inflammation. Exposure to heat helps relieve muscle spasms, normalize blood flow and lymphatic drainage, which helps reduce swelling and normalize metabolic processes.
• Electrophoresis is characterized by the introduction of special substances into the pathological area using electric current.
• Magnet therapy. The principle is clear from the name itself - the influence of a magnet on the problem area. This improves metabolic processes, relieves swelling and improves blood flow.

You can also try traditional medicine recipes for treatment, here are some of them:

• Grind 300 g of black radish on a fine grater and combine with half a glass of honey. Ideally, thoroughly beforehand take a steam bath. If this is not possible, then you can take a hot shower or bath. After this, put the prepared gruel on the steamed lower back and sore leg, leave for ten minutes and rinse with water. Next, you need to crawl under the blanket and sweat thoroughly; for this you can drink hot tea. If you follow the recommendations correctly, everything will go away after the first procedure.
• For treatment, you can use compresses made from fir oil. You just need to saturate the fabric with this composition and apply it to the problem area; simple rubbing is also allowed. Place cellophane and a heating pad on top. Prepare for the fact that it will burn very strongly, so to prevent burns, your lower back should be lubricated with vegetable oil. The duration of the procedure is one to two hours.
• If there is aloe, which is more than three years old, can be used for treatment. Take a leaf of this mature plant, chop it thoroughly, you can grate it, sprinkle with red pepper and mix well. Place the resulting pulp on the problem area, cover it with cellophane and bandage the lower back with a woolen scarf. This compress is best done at night. The duration of the course is about five to six procedures.
• Grate raw potatoes and mix them with a large spoon of honey. Place the porridge in cheesecloth. Rub sunflower oil on the lower back and apply the prepared compress. Lie on your stomach, apply a compress on top, put a heavy pillow and blanket. During this therapy, you cannot move, much less walk, just lie quietly for about an hour. Arrange such sessions every other day.

Exercises for pinched sciatic nerve

The video below shows an exercise that will help to effectively relieve pain when the sciatic nerve is pinched. By the way, if you do this exercise regularly, you can minimize the occurrence of acute pain.