What is the cause of sciatica

Sciatica is a relatively common disease. There are many causes of this disease. For example, some office workers sit in the office for too long every day, lacking exercise and joint mobility. Over time, it may lead to degenerative lesions in the sciatic nerve, causing sciatica. In addition, long-term heavy physical labor is also an important cause of sciatica. For example, lumbar disc herniation is an important cause of sciatica, which is particularly harmful to patients. If you have this disease, you must seek timely treatment, such as physical therapy, massage, etc., which can achieve good relief.

1. Long-term bad posture

Long-term bad posture is an indirect cause of sciatica, not a direct cause. Bad posture does not directly stimulate and affect the sciatic nerve, but in the long run it will cause some diseases of the lumbar spine, such as lumbar disc herniation, lumbar bone spurs, lumbar muscle strain, lumbar spinal stenosis, etc. These lumbar diseases will further cause sciatica. Long-term sitting can easily make people feel tired, and they will unconsciously develop incorrect posture and hunchbacks, which will result in excessive local stress. If the sitting posture is not corrected in time, it will cause lumbar spondylosis over time, which will lead to sciatica.

2. Lumbar disc herniation

Once a person is in a sitting position, the pressure on the lumbar intervertebral disc will increase. If you do not pay attention to protecting your waist or office workers have a bad sitting posture for a long time, it is easy to induce the occurrence of lumbar disc herniation. When the lumbar disc herniates, the intervertebral foramen becomes narrow, which can stimulate or directly compress the nerve roots and the cauda equina entering the nerve root sheath, causing compression of the lumbar sacral nerves. The sciatic nerve is composed of two parts: the L4-5 nerves and the S1-3 nerves. Therefore, lumbar disc herniation will inevitably compress the sciatic nerve and cause sciatica.

Recommended reading: How to treat sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation [After lumbar disc herniation, it compresses the sciatic nerve root, causing pathological changes such as congestion, edema and even adhesion... The key to treating this symptom is to eliminate the compression of the protruding nucleus pulposus on the sciatic nerve.

3. Lumbar spinal stenosis

Lumbar spinal stenosis is relatively common in middle-aged men and is also one of the causes of sciatica. The main symptoms of this disease are intermittent claudication and pain and numbness in the waist and legs. When standing and walking, the pain will be further aggravated, the claudication will be more obvious, and there may be an inability to walk. After rest, the symptoms will improve. Due to the narrowness of the spinal canal, compression of the cauda equina or sciatic nerve will occur, causing pain.

4. Lumbar radiculitis.

Lumbar radiculitis is caused by a variety of factors, including infection, poisoning, nutritional metabolic disorders or strain, cold and other factors. The onset is generally acute, and the range of damage often exceeds the area that can be controlled by the sciatic nerve. Symptoms such as weakness and pain in the entire lower limbs and mild muscle atrophy will appear. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to it in normal times, and prevention is crucial.