Lower back pain and sciatica are two of the most prevalent ailments that plague millions of individuals, but are usually interchanged. While both may hinder your daily function and cause discomfort, they possess different causes, symptoms, and treatments. Let’s examine the differences and how to gain relief.
What Causes Lower Back Pain?
Your lower back contains bones, muscles, ligaments, and nerves that all work together to stabilize your body and enable you to move. Due to this, it’s susceptible to strain and damage. According to experts, around 80% of adults will suffer from lower back pain at some stage in their lives.
There are numerous potential causes of lower back pain, such as:
- Muscle or ligament strain: This is commonly caused by bad lifting, rapid movement, or repetitive stress and can result in stabbing, pinpoint pain that is exacerbated by motion.
- Bulging or herniated disks: Disks are the shock-absorbing cushions between your vertebrae. When they herniate or rupture, they may put pressure on surrounding nerves, leading to pain that may shoot into your hips or legs.
- Arthritis: Osteoarthritis of the spine can lead to spinal stenosis, narrowing of the spinal canal, compressing nerves, and causing pain, tingling, or weakness in the legs.
- Degenerative disk disease: As we get older, the disks in our spine lose their elasticity and become smaller, which may lead to intermittent pain, often made worse with specific movements.
What Is Sciatica?
Sciatica is an individual condition that occurs when the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in your body, becomes compressed or irritated. It passes from your lower back down through your hips and into each of your legs. When it is disturbed, the pain that occurs can be stabbing, burning, or even stinging.
In contrast to nonspecific lower back pain, sciatica typically occurs in one leg, extending from the lower back down to the foot. It is most commonly caused by:
- Herniated disks: When the soft part of a disk bulges out, it may compress the sciatic nerve.
- Bone spurs or spinal stenosis: These can reduce the room around the nerve, compressing it.
- Piriformis syndrome: The piriformis muscle, which resides in the buttock, at times can inflame the sciatic nerve, leading to pain.
How Are the Symptoms Different?
Dr. Antimo Paul Gazzillo, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, describes that lower back pain is typically limited to the region around your waist, whereas sciatica tends to radiate down one leg. Lower back pain may make you stiff and restrict your motion, but sciatica can produce numbness, tingling, or weakness in the involved leg.
Finding Relief
For both, rest and not doing activities that aggravate the pain are required. Over-the-counter medications, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, may ease the pain. Alternating between ice and heat packs can also bring relief.
If symptoms are continuing or affecting your life, you may require professional attention. Some of them are:
- Physical therapy: Certain exercises that strengthen your back and increase flexibility can ease pressure on the nerves and alleviate pain.
- Chiropractic care: Spinal manipulations can alleviate compression of the nerves.
- Massage therapy: Relaxing tense muscles and enhancing blood flow, this can relieve lower back pain as well as sciatica.
- Injections: Corticosteroid injections can alleviate severe cases temporarily.
In unusual cases, surgery may be required, particularly if there is a risk of nerve damage or if other interventions are not successful. Interventions such as diskectomy or laminectomy can eliminate the cause of nerve compression.
When to See a Doctor
Most instances of lower back pain and sciatica resolve within weeks, but some symptoms should be seen by a doctor immediately. These are:
Pain that radiates down both legs or leads to weakness.
- Numbness or tingling that persists.
- Pain with fever, swelling, or sudden weight loss.
- New bowel or bladder control problems.
Knowing the difference between lower back pain and sciatica can assist you in making the best decision for relief. Whether you are treating the pain yourself or seeing a professional, treating these conditions early on can significantly enhance your quality of life.
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