- Sciatica - and if it will affect the spine?
- As shown
How does sciatica
Severe pain in the sciatic neuralgia experienced by many people. It is not always at the same time appealed to the doctor - if circumstances allowed, the treated independently, home remedies - grinding and poultices. And in vain: such pain can signal that a painful process that has affected the spine, and there is already some poultices will not get off.
What is sciatica and reasons for its occurrence
Neuralgia - is pain spreading along the nerve trunk or its branches, sometimes accompanied by impaired sensation and movement in the zone of innervation. Accordingly, sciatica (sciatica) - it's a pain along the sciatic nerve, which can be caused by different reasons. It may be inflammation (sciatica), trauma, various kinds of poisoning, infectious and allergic processes, metabolic disorders (eg, low back pain), tumor, congenital abnormalities of the spine, spinal diseases, and so on.
Most often, sciatica is the result of initial appearances herniated disc - a cushioning device between the individual vertebrae. Under the influence of various loads, injury, disease disc can lose their springy properties, flatten and go beyond the spine, compressing the roots (where they exit from the spinal cord), spinal nerves.
All these factors may affect differently on the barrel of the sciatic nerve, causing pain. The pain can occur on different segments of the sciatic nerve, so you need to provide its location. The sciatic nerve - the largest nerve of it in our body, it is formed by the merger of the lower lumbar and upper sacral spinal roots. After leaving the spinal nerve runs under the gluteus maximus, and then gets out of it and runs down the back of the thigh to the popliteal fossa, which is divided into two main branches: the inner and outer innervating the shin and foot.
Manifestations
When neuralgia
Neuralgia - the scourge of the elderly
sciatic nerve leading symptom is unilateral paroxysmal pain searing or shooting character, in typical cases arising spontaneously and completely disappear outside attack. Most often, pain occurs in the lumbar region and then spread along the nerve to the buttocks, the back of the thigh, leg and foot outer surface. At the same time violation of the sensitivity may occur along the nerve numbness and a feeling of "pins and needles" in the body (paresthesia), often in limited segments of the leg and foot.
Affected and muscle work, because the sciatic nerve
The sciatic nerve: how to avoid the excruciating pain?
It supplies the main part of the lower limb muscles. This is manifested mainly muscle weakness, but if the cause of pain are spinal lesions, it may appear as paresis and paralysis (temporary or permanent immobilization).
Another equally characteristic feature of sciatica is a forced position of the body, bending the spine forward and to the side of the patient, because of the protective muscle tension in the area. There are forced posture when lying, sitting, lifting from the floor.
The attack of neuralgia can be triggered by physical or emotional stress, hypothermia, any abrupt movements (eg, coughing, sneezing, laughing, and so on).
Treatment of neuralgia of the sciatic nerve
Severe pain in the sciatic nerve require their withdrawal. For this purpose today are generally used non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, such as indomethacin, Nice, ibuprofen and others). Currently available formulations of this series of long action, which are sufficiently taken once a day. But while taking these drugs need to be careful: these they irritate the stomach lining and long-term uncontrolled admission may cause ulcerative process. In some cases, severe and persistent pain when their cause is inflammation, appointed corticosteroid hormones, which reduce inflammation and swelling, thereby reducing pain.
Since the patient is suffering from the pain, he prescribed painkillers. Most often this purpose prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - diclofenac voltaren
Voltaren - relieve inflammation and pain
, Nimesil, ketorol and so on. It is also recommended warmly to the most painful areas of the body - mustard plasters, compresses, dry heat in the form of a bag of sand or salt, and so on.
If pain is very strong, sometimes prescribe a short course of steroid (glucocorticoid) hormone (prednisolone, dexamethasone, etc.), which quickly relieve inflammation and swelling of the tissues, so the pain goes. Like NSAIDs and glucocorticoid hormones have many contraindications, so they may appoint a doctor.
Widely used in sciatica physiotherapy treatments that reduce inflammation, swelling and pain - UHF, ultraviolet irradiation, electron and phonophoresis with painkillers, magnetic paraffin and ozocerite applications and others.
In some cases, persistent, does not removed pain in place exit the spinal nerve roots (the epidural space) administered steroid hormones - it allows you to quickly and effectively eliminate pain.
Further treatment depends on what caused the sciatica if it is an inflammatory process, prescribed anti-inflammatory medication if herniated disc - best help surgery or spinal traction, and so on.
If, despite intensive medical treatment, improvement does not occur, and the pain is increasing, then the cause of sciatic neuralgia remove surgically: remove disc herniation, growths on the spine and so on.
Sciatica should be treated, otherwise it will go into neuritis
Neuritis - nerve damage
, Which is much harder to treat. Pain along the sciatic nerve - this is just a sign of a disease that need to identify and treat.
Galina Romanenko
