Sciatic nerve pain is pain caused by trauma or pressure to the sciatic nerve. This tends to result in pain and numbness in the back, which can often travel down the legs and affect anywhere from below the knee to around the buttock area.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the human body, beginning in the lumbar spinal cord (located at the lower back) and travelling all the way down to the lower legs. This is why irritation to the nerve can cause pain that radiates out in this way.
Those suffering with sciatic nerve pain will generally experience similar symptoms. However, there are actually many different causes for this discomfort and many different ways it can come about. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of those potential causes and how they might vary.
1. Herniated Disc
The discs are the cushions that are between the vertebrae in the spine. Between each disc is a ball of gel and if this gel should rupture outside of the disc, it becomes what is known as a ‘herniated disc’. Herniation can lead to pressure on the surrounding nerves and tissue, in this case resulting in irritation to the sciatic nerve and to all the symptoms of tingling and pain that we discussed earlier.
