What are the symptoms of sciatica?

Sciatica has a great impact and trouble on our health and life. Patients often experience lumbar disc herniation or severe pain when bending over. Some may also cause pain to spread from the buttocks to the back of the thigh and the back of the calf, affecting normal activities and walking.

1. The onset of radicular sciatica varies depending on the cause.

The most common lumbar disc herniation often has an acute or subacute onset due to factors such as exertion, bending over or strenuous activity. A few have chronic onset. The pain often radiates from the waist to one side of the buttocks, back of the thigh, popliteal fossa, outer side of the calf and foot, and is burning or knife-like. The pain may be aggravated by coughing or exerting force, and is worse at night. In order to avoid nerve traction and compression, patients often adopt special pain-relieving postures, such as lying on the healthy side with hip and knee flexed when sleeping, and focusing on the healthy side when standing. Over time, this will cause scoliosis, which bends more toward the healthy side, and when sitting, the buttocks tilt toward the healthy side to reduce pressure on the nerve roots. Stretching the sciatic nerve can induce pain or aggravate the pain, such as a positive Kernig's sign (the patient lies on his back, first flexes the hip and knee to a right angle, and then lifts the calf. Due to flexor spasm, knee extension is limited to less than 130 degrees and there is pain and resistance); a positive straight leg raising test (lasegue's sign) (the patient lies on his back, extends the lower limb, and lifts the affected limb to less than 70 degrees, causing leg pain). There may be tenderness along the sciatic nerve pathway, such as the lumbar points, buttock points, midpoints, ankle points and plantar points. There is often numbness and decreased sensation on the lateral side of the calf and dorsum of the foot. The gluteal muscle tone is relaxed, and the extensor and flexor muscles are weakened. The Achilles tendon reflex is weakened or absent.

2. Dry sciatica:

The severity of onset also varies depending on the cause. If it is caused by cold or trauma, the onset is usually acute. The pain often radiates from the buttocks to the back of the thigh, the posterolateral side of the calf, and the outer side of the foot. The pain worsens with walking, movement, and traction on the sciatic nerve. The tenderness point is below the buttocks, the lasegue sign is positive and the kernig sign is mostly negative, and the scoliosis is mostly bent toward the affected side to reduce the traction on the sciatic nerve trunk.

Symptoms of sciatica in pregnant women

Sciatica in pregnant women can cause burning, stabbing pain from time to time, often on only one side of the body. You may also feel pain in your lower back and down the back of your thigh, extending through the back of your calf and into your foot. When you have sciatica during pregnancy, you may experience burning or tingling pain in your legs. You may also feel numbness or tingling in your legs or feet. Sciatica in pregnant women may cause pain in a small area or over a large area.