Any time that you have a back problem that affects the discs in your spine or the muscles in your lower back, you run the risk of sciatica. Thus, sciatica is a “secondary condition,” which means it has a cause. Any time that an injury occurs, the muscles in your back can pinch your sciatic nerve or you can also have a bulging disc that presses up against it. This can cause a great deal of pain, even to the point in which it becomes difficult to walk.

If you’re not sure what the sciatic nerve is, it is a large nerve that runs from the lower part of the spine and continues into the pelvis and down the backs of both legs. When this nerve is compressed, a person experiences pain and can even suffer from an inability to walk. When the nerve is compressed, the areas that seem to see the worst troubles are the buttock area and the back of the thighs. There are even instances in which the pain can continue into the ankle and the foot. This is strange to the patient, because even though the legs hurt, the origin of the pain is actually much further up the nervous system.

Sciatica is not something that can occur on its own. In other words, you don’t just wake up with sciatic pain for no reason. Something has to be irritating the sciatic nerve for there to be pain. It’s also important to remember that not every shooting pain down the leg is sciatica. There are other issues that can cause this kind of pain. Nevertheless, it is important to see a doctor if you’ve tried the typical remedies, like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), heat, and massage therapy, because if disc bulge or another spinal issue is the problem, you have to have that resolved so the issue doesn’t become more severe.

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