Have you been struggling with persistent back pain and been told it’s because you have sciatica?
Does your pain travel down your leg? It can be challenging to understand when it seems like even the medical community disagrees with what to call your condition. Fortunately, at FYZICAL, we can clear it up for you and set you on the right path for relief!
As many as 80 percent of adults in the United States struggle with back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain can start for a variety of reasons. Being in a car accident, bending to pick something off the ground after a long car ride, and for some, just waking up in the morning seems to be the cause.
Unfortunately, up to 90% of low back pain diagnoses are non-specific. This means that not only do people suffer from back pain, but the exact cause may be difficult to identify. Confusion about the source of pain is complicated enough, but some of the confusion is in the diagnosis terminology.
To clarify what you need to do to alleviate your pain, your physical therapist can categorize your pain, so you understand what is happening and, more importantly, what to do about it! Call FYZICAL today and schedule an appointment with one of our spine experts to get the answers you need to get back to the life you want to live!
Understanding the difference between back pain and sciatica
Being educated about your back pain can help you make the right choices to overcome it as quickly as possible. One of the biggest problems with back pain is that it persists. One day it is here; the next day, it is gone. Not understanding why it comes or how to make it go away will lead many people to deal with back pain for years on end without seeking help.
Back pain is pain that is felt in the lower back and buttocks. Typically, back pain develops as a result of strain or sprain, prolonged postures, or sometimes for no apparent reason. The different mechanisms do not change the essential characteristic defining lower back pain; it is felt in the lower back and/or buttocks.
Often people are told they have sciatica when they experience pain in the buttock, but sciatica is a different classification and has its characteristics. Sciatica is often a debilitating condition that is a result of compression or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. The condition most commonly is associated with pain radiating down the leg. It can be so severe that people struggle to do everyday activities.
Sciatica pain develops in the nerves that exit the spinal canal and travel into the legs, and so while the pain itself technically starts in the back, the experience of the pain is felt in the leg(s). What’s more, sciatica pain doesn’t always develop like pain in the traditional sense. Sciatica can be tingling, numbness, and weakness in the leg(s).
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