Misunderstanding on Sciatica
Many medical instruction manuals, advertisements and science readings usually consider sciatica as a disease like lumbar disc herniation, lumbar spinal stenosis, acute sciatica strain and chronic lumbar strain. However, orthopedic professionals think it is necessary to correct this inexact and misleading understanding for sciatica.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in human body; it runs from the root of lumbar spinal cord, through piriformis of the buttock, down the leg and foot, with the function of commanding muscular movement and conducting skin sensations. Normally one has two sciatic nerves on each lateral side of his legs. Among five lumbar vertebras, the last two lumbar vertebras are easily to become cataplasia and aging for burdening or moving too much.
Chronic and acute lumbar strain may cause the lumbar disc herniated, which makes the sciatic nerve compressed and leads to a series of pathological changes such as congestion, dropsy and adhesion. Sciatica pain starts from the herniated lumbar disc, radiating through the buttock and the back of the thigh, down the lower leg and foot, with sensation of numbness sometimes. Pain would be made worse by coughing. Just as fever, which is related to cold, encephalitis or meningitis, sciatica is only a symptom caused by pathological changes like lumbar disc herniation or lumbar spinal stenosis.
Among many causes of sciatica, lumbar disc herniation is the most common one, especially herniation of the last two discs or between the last disc and sacrum. In most cases, sciatica is probably lumbar disc herniation. In orthopedic department, we have found there are many diseases which could also cause sciatica besides lumbar disc herniation, such as lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar spondylolisthesis, pyriformis syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis and intraspinal tumor, ect. Sometimes, non-professional orthopedists hurriedly make a diagnosis for sciatica patients and give a blind treatment without finding out the deeper pathology. Such a practice is not scientific and responsible.
Therefore, orthopedists should give a detailed physical examination to patients who go to the orthopedic department, with X ray film, CT and MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) as assistance. Only by making a rational diagnosis for pathology can orthopedists give the symptomatic treatment, which will indeed eliminate patient’s pain. Jointly developed by Japanese expert team, high technology product (Lumbar Spine Recovery) has made an incredible breakthrough on sciatica cure and fundamentally solved the problem that sciatica is hard to recover and easily to recur. It is honored as “a major surgery without operating” by the medical community.
However, it should be pointed out that the symptom of lumbar disc herniation is not completely shown as sciatica. There are five lumbar vertebras in human body, with five corresponding lumbar nerve roots. Sciatic nerve consists of part of the fourth and the fifth lumbar nerve root, and the first, second and third sacrum nerve root. However, the second and third lumbar nerve root and part of the fourth one only take part in the composition of femoral nerve which is distributed in the anterior thigh. Compressed symptom of femoral nerve would be caused by the first two discs, the second and the third disc and the third to the fourth disc herniation. Patients usually feel weak to raise legs and have abnormal sensitivity in the anterior or inside skin of the thigh. Patients who suffer from sciatica caused by the fifth disc and the first sacrum herniation may never experienced sciatica pain. Some people just feel the lower back pain in the early or the whole occurrent stage; some intermittently hobble for miles, feeling sour, swell up and powerless. Only after a rest or crouching for a while can they continue to walk on. Some just feel cold of the limb, but those with severe sciatica may cause paralysis or gatism.