What is Sciatica and What are the Symptoms of Sciatica Nerve Pain?
Sciatica has become synonymous to the characteristic pain that develops in lumbar spinal cord in the lower back and/or buttocks and which radiates down to the back of one leg to the knee and even up to the foot. However, sciatica nerve pain is not the only symptom that a patient could develop when the sciatic nerve (or “sciatica nerve”) is inflamed or a disc is compressed. Another symptom of sciatica is sciatica numbness.
Sciatica Nerve Pain Condition
In medical terms, “numbness” is defined as the decreased or absence of sensation caused by disorders of the nerves, which can later on cause back pain. It may also mean abnormalities in sensation, such as paresthesias.
In sciatica cases, aside from pain, patients may experience sudden numbness that radiates down to one lower extremity. The decreased or absence of feeling in the affected limb may make walking difficult. Some patients have been known to stumble and fall when sciatica numbness develops while they are mobile.
Another type of sciatica numbness is the “pins and needles” or tingling sensation that starts at the buttocks and shoots down the back of the leg to the soles of the feet. Numbness causes also tingling felt at the toes. Mobility is also hampered when this develops.
Sciatica numbness is one of the main symptoms of Piriformis Syndrome. A condition seen in a few patients wherein the sciatic nerve passes through the piriformis muscle, Piriformis Syndrome develops when the muscle contracts and compresses/strangles the sciatic nerve, causing pain and/or numbness. One could elicit symptoms similar to Piriformis Syndrome by sitting with a wallet on the back pocket for a prolonged period of time.
Medications for Sciatica Nerve Pain
Unlike sciatic nerve pain which could be relieved by medications, pain relievers do not have a beneficial effect on sciatica numbness. Patients who experience both sciatica nerve pain and sciatica numbness are prescribed medications that combine pain relievers and Vitamin B complex (such as Dolo-Neurobion) for a treatment. For those with troublesome nerve sensations, high dose Vitamin B complex preparations help in maintaining nerve health.
