Talk:Sciatica

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

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Comment

For 18 months, I was unable to walk from the car into the convenience store. The sciatica pain was about 8 on 1-10 scale. Increasing with every step. My livelihood was driving tours, sitting, To shop required an electric cart in a big box store. Sitting or lying down was my only reprieve.

I tried many doctors and chiropractors, physical therapists, cortisone, relaxers, etc. Nothing worked for more than a few hours. This one didn't respond to the usual push-type exercises and treatments. Doctors talked of surgery.

I was at my wit's end. Then one of my visitors told me about yet another chiropractor in Scottsdale. He said if anyone could fix it this guy could. He worked on me twice and it helped a little. But he said he was "seeing" a black belt. Sort of like a belt for support while lifting heavy objects. But different. He didn't know what it was, but that's what he saw.

A few days later I was again on that electric cart in the big box store, this time in the exercise section. There was a different sort of black belt. Designed to sweat off the fat. Well, I could surely use that, so I bought it. Tried it on around the waist, then at an angle. Lower in front, I am a large woman.

12 hours later, NO PAIN !!!! I was weak from sitting so much, but no pain! Each day I could walk further. Whoopee! I bought a 2nd belt for laundry day.

The doctor had told me there is a wedge shaped bone in my pelvis which is sliding downward, stretching the ligaments and tendons as it wedged the hipbones apart sideways. I do not have a tiny butt. He said the muscles were strong but needed the hip bones pulled in together to force that wedge back up. Occasionally I still need the belt for a few hours. It takes the pain away for days.

Thank You Doctor Shawn, I rode my new cruiser bicycle 5 Miles today! J:-D03:28, 1 August 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.124.34.122 (talk)

Nagi: I have had severe Sciatica (and now mild) for around 20 years - following a sports injury. I developed severe pain and numbness in my left buttock and down my left leg into my ankle.

The only thing that has ever worked was a Laminectomy.

[1]

This worked wonders!

I am OK now, however, I do get strange sensations in my buttock that keeps me awake, but it is better than being in pain!

First remarks

Though i was not the one who added acupuncture as the treatment method, but the fact remains it is an effective treatment method. This comes from someone who has seen it first hand. So I dont think that the removal was appropiate. vogon77 02:52, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

It's an ad. That's why I pulled it. The person who contributed the line is an alternative medicine practitioner (i.e. a quack) with something to gain from the phrase's inclusion. Now that being said, by you simply witnessing something firsthand doesn't mean anything; it's anecdotal evidence and of no value to the understanding reality based on empirical science. May I ask in what capacity you witnessed this event? I have an issue with the statement because the altmed treatment has not been proven to work. Now, I am willing to concede to leaving the line in, which I've done, but by qualifying it as a treatment that has yet to be proven effective. However, I fear that just leaves the door open for any hairbrained scheme of supposed treatment. Regardless, we'll see how it goes. TimothyPilgrim 12:57, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

Any expert in any field who edits Wikipedia to suggest that their field of study is relevant has something to gain from the small grain of added recognition that gives their field and is thus is in some small, obscure way guilty of advertising. Would you like to suggest that people not be permitted to post in their field of expertise? "Advertisement" is if they reference their own businesses website as a reference. Saying Acupuncture is effective in pain management is nothing but a useful addition to Wikipedia, as pain management was one of the first things western research actually did conclusively show Acupuncture to be quite useful for. Zakarria 00:30, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

I am a physician, and much as I would love to label alternative medicine as quackery, (though more out of ignorance than anything else) the fact remains that acupuncture works palliatively in refractory sciatica. -- vogon77 09:00, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

Pilgrim, what is your source for stating that acupuncture has only a placebo (or no) effect on sciatica? Anecdotal evidence from sciatica suferers is more valid than an unsupported claim. -- Jasna, sciatica suferer, Sep. 10th 2006.

As a massage therapist, I have helped to reduce and relieve the pain and disfunction of many sciatica sufferers with manual application of pressure to certain areas of muscle with a known tendency to contract excessively resulting in a phenomena known as referred pain. Acupuncture targets most of the same recognized areas. They both work very well. The efficacy of neither of these treatments is doubted by nearly any professional in the physical therapy/body work field. This includes acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, physicians, surgeons, etc. -Kevin. Pensacola, FL. 10/13/06. 8:15 p.m.

This statement: "Although sciatica is common, a 2008 review of clinical trials said there are no good treatments for it.[1]" is incorrect. If you look at the actual study this citation links to, it merely tests the effectiveness of two drugs on sciatica. This does not mean there are no effective treatments for it. This line should be pulled. Second, it's seriously disappointing to see the "behind the scenes" bigotry that exists on some of the discussion pages for what (in my opinion) should be a bastion of open-mindedness and factuality. Practitioners of alternative medicine are "quacks"? Anyone who can dismiss vast fields of non-mainstream medicine (what exactly are your credentials?) demonstrates an adherence to his own biases rather than a commitment to discovering and presenting the truth. If you would undertake the most rudimentary research into alternative medicine, you'd find that much of it is proven and supported by the World Health Organization. I submit that Timothy Pilgrim should be banned from any further commentary or manipulation of Wikipedia pages. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.99.207.207 (talk) 19:26, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

I myself am not a physician, nor have I any training in any field of medicine. I am 19 years old and just curious at the moment. After reading the article on Sciatica and processing it through my brain, I have come to the conclusion that this is very similar to a pinched nerve. It just so happens that this pinched nerve is a very important one near the tailbone. I do believe, as a person with scholeosis, that muscle massage does work very well with back pain. I have never tried, nor heard of someone using acupuncture as a pain reliever. Logically acupuncture goes a long the same lines as my parents would say. If I hurt my knee they will hit the other and that knee would no longer hurt. I would like somebody to actually explain WHY acupuncture works or doesn't. Thanks. Michael, 9:46 AM PST 08/13/2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.251.194.25 (talk) 16:46, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

This will be my first ever post to a "talk" page so bare with me. As a person who suffers from multiple nerve conditions, I believe that any form of relief from the pain is worth looking in to whether it is considered alternative or not. I have no external sources but only my own personal experience to go by. If you can find a method that offers some help than by all means use it. Predatorfan22. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Predatorfan22 (talk • contribs) 03:59, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Welcome to the otherside of wikipedia. Articles in Wikipedia can only include sourced content as defined under WP:V, WP:RS and others. If you find a source that meets the criteria please feel free to add it to the article or post it in my talk page if you need any help. Also, on talk pages you may want to check the dates of the topics you're responding to. This particular one is old so it would be helpful if you started a new section if you have comments on the current article.

Noformation (talk) 06:53, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Alcohol

I suffer from occasional sciatica. One peculiar thing is I always seem to get a nasty case following a night out binge drinking. Nothing in this article mentions the effects of alcohol. Is it a common thing or am I just a freak? --JohnO 07:48, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

One possible explanation: Myofascial trigger points (one known cause of sciatica) are exacerbated by a lack of hydration. Large amounts of alcohol dehydrate many tissues of the body. It could be that the already-strained areas of tissue are negatively effected by the drinking. But that's assuming that your case is resultant form myopathy. Does it also get worse after you perform rigorous physical activity (specifically walking, bending at the waste, climbing stairs and ladders)? -Kevin. Pensacola, FL. 8/13/06 8 :15 p.m.

Alcohol is a neurotoxin; that's one explanation. Another explanation is that someone who is inebriated tends to not move around as much in sleep which can result in prolonged nerve compression. - Kevin, Silver Spring, MD. 30 April 2010

Home remedy ok?

I know Wikipedia is not medical advice, but it would be nice to know if there are any dangers involved with doing massage therapy etc. at home (ex. Can stronger or specific types of massage be harmful? Are there things one shouldn't do?) Does anyone here have any sources they can use to answer this? --geekyßroad^{. meow?} 08:49, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm a PT and treat it repeatedly every day. This interesting research about piriformis syndrome also helps to explain why conservative (non-surgical) treatment, such as massage and stretching, can help many people with sciatica:

• NEW WAY TO DIAGNOSE SCIATICA MAY POINT TO A DIFFERENT CAUSE: MANY CASES OF SCIATICA NOT RELIEVED BY CURRENT TREATMENTS MAY NOW BE SUCCESSFULLY

-- Fyslee 20:14, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Added Lumbar radiculitis and radiculopathy

Hey everybody. Did'nt mean to interupt anything you might be doing, but I was looking to link lumbar radiculopathy to this article so I thought we should at least mention it. If there is a problem, please let me know. Thanks. --Dematt 23:20, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

i realy need help it comes and goes, for a few months i will be fine then one day i will feel it coming the doctors are rubbish to be fair! they dont recon its sciatica due to me being nineteen??? what do i do when i stand up my legs give way, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.196.68.47 (talk) 11:59, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Intro

The intro states that sciatica is leg pain... then says the pain is felt in buttocks, lower back, leg etc. This needs to be revised, please. I'm too tired at the moment to try it, might have a go in the morning. 203.54.133.231 12:59, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

It's done.

I think that the opening sentence "Sciatica is sometimes..." isn't the best encyclopedic form. An article should start with a clear statement of what something is, and if there is something about that topic that is only true sometimes, it should be excluded from the opening sentence/paragraph and mentioned later in the article. Steve carlson 03:57, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Radiculopathy

I don't think radiculopathy should be redirected here as it's a more general term that sciatica. Dougher 01:38, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Radiculopathy no longer redirects here. Please note Talk:Radiculopathy now. Root⁴(one) 13:14, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Acupuncture and massage

Acupuncture and massage never work for sciatica. Gantuya eng (talk) 13:47, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

I have restored acupuncture since I was given this as a fairly routine form of physiotherapy when suffering from this recently. My understanding is that there are different forms of sciatica and different forms of acupuncture. In my case, deep needling was used to encourage elongation of muscles which had been spasming and so relax the tension which was causing the nerve pain. The matter seems quite complex and so blanket statements are not appropriate. Colonel Warden (talk) 12:03, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

The citation given for Acupuncture leads to an article that is far from conclusive. From the abstract: "There was no significant difference between the [acupuncture and placebo] groups for any of the outcome measures at the end of treatment." This seems to me an inadequate source in support of the claim that Acupuncture is effective in treating sciatica. Jeff Wofford (talk) 16:03, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

There is no absolute answer to this. Results will vary from person to person. Flanker235 (talk) 13:06, 7 June 2016 (UTC)

Symptoms? Prognosis? Treatment?

As a Wikiepdia lover and part time hypochondriac, I am a little concerned that this page doesn't seem to follow the common Wikipedia format for 'illness articles'. Shouldn't we have a symptoms-treatment-prognosis sectioned article, like I normally see? Perhaps I am biased (as a part time hypochondriac), but I'm 30% of the way through the entry, and I still have no idea if I can obsess over having sciatica! This is a problem because it would be a welcome relief from compulsive thoughts of having ALS.

Seriously though, I notice that Wikipedia is often the first or second link when you do a search for just about any subject. Is the question we must ask ourselves: "Who is searching for this information?"? My guess is that most of the readers are people who are personally affected by the affliction, directly or indirectly, so before I volunteer to make any changes, I would like to ask: Why doesn't this article follow the common Wikipedia 'illness article' format? is this a problem? Should we make changes to the flow of this article? Provided I don't forget about this entry, I would be happy to donate some time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by FuriousJorge (talk • contribs)

hello fellow suferers, i just want to say that i have never felt any pain in my life{and ihad three children naturelly}as i have felt scince being diagnosed with sciatica.the pain takes my breath away....no really and the problem is you have good daya and bad so in my case no on belives me when i am relly bad off.twisting to the side and trying to reac for something recently sent me to the hospital for an injection.the vicodin is just a temporey fix so i dont take them much any more.i just try not to move in ways to up set the condition.i am depressed i have lost my nursing job being out 2years,cant do pt care,what if there was a code blue i cant get on the floor and do cpr.this is who i am started nursing in 1988,what can i do now this condition has ruined my life.and workmans comp they dont care.sex is painfull so my marrige is strained . i just feel really bad and i go to pt sometimes butits just temporery relieff ,all the drs do is give drugs my dr said i am not a canidate for surgery. thanks for letting me vent. k_boogie_xoxo@yahoo.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.189.104.149 (talk) 17:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

I would like to congratulate the editors of the current article for an exceptional effort to keep sciatica sufferers from getting their hopes up. In particular, maintaining that opioids have little chance of providing relief is a remarkable achievement. Who are we going to believe: you or our lying pain receptors? Even physical therapy's chances of success are pooh-poohed, proving, I suppose, that the editors are not just anti-pharmaceutical Luddites. Sadists perhaps, but not Luddites.128.187.112.11 (talk) 18:34, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Newts and harlequin frogs

Just watched a program called "Nigel Marven's Venom Hunters" which said that the venom found in certain types of newts and harlequin frogs, called "TTX" has numbing effects which is currently being researched as a painkiller for this ailment. Anybody got any more info on that?

NPOV

I believe there are multiple points of view on the effacy of different treatments for Sciatica. Our article states that Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Non-surgical spinal decompression, and Structural integration can be used to treat Sciatica. This is in dispute. That they "are" used to treat it is clear. That they have any effacacy is doubtful. While there is substantial documtary evidence that Anti-inflamatories, Non-surgical spinal decompression, Surgery and Physical therapy/Stretching work, studies on the others are few and far between. We should not be stating as fact that they "can" be used to treat. Hipocrite (talk) 22:34, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

sciatica is a set of symptoms

If sciatica is a set of symptoms it should be refered to as a syndrome. A colletion of symptoms resulting from a disease is usually refered to as a syndrome. Just a thought to take into consideration for anyone who wished to include this. I think it would simplify the introduction.

AriaNo11 (talk) 20:28, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

copied copyrighted material removed

Two paragraphs had been copied verbatim from the referenced web page on spineuniverse.com, which has a restrictive copyright statement, so I deleted them. I did NOT write a summary and retain the reference, because the referenced page did not appear to meet standards. The author of that page described two new treatments but gave no references at all. His statements flatly contradict the peer-reviewed article http://www.aafp.org/afp/2008/1001/p835.html which is probably the most reliable reference for the article and which describes newer treatments as highly experimental. In short, those two paragraphs appear to have been either inserted by someone who ran across that page and found it interesting, or by someone with a vested interest in the new treatments -- probably the former but I can't rule out the latter. Paleolith (talk) 05:15, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Lumbar fusion for piriformis syndrome - oops

I heard of a patient that underwent lumbar fusion based on his MRI, for symptoms consistent with sciatica. Unfortunately, the patient continued to have the same pain after as before the surgery. On further workup it was discovered that the patient had a piriformis syndrome that, once treated, resolved his symptoms. The lesson is to make sure, as best you can, that you are evaluated with a full history, physical exam, and appropriate imaging prior to agreeing to undergo moderately invasive surgery. Kevin, Silver Spring, MD. 30 April 2010. 66.69.87.153 (talk) 18:55, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

"Trigger points" - citation or editing needed

After briefly reading the main article on "trigger points" it's clear that it is a theory in the loosest sense of the term. The article presently states this theory as fact, with no citations. It needs proof or an edit to clarify that it *may possibly* be a cause rather than stating that it *is*. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.197.246.4 (talk) 02:53, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

heating pad harm sciatica nerve???

The only relief I get from the pain in back and legs in very hot heating pad .Help

Clean up

I'm going to attempt some clean up of the article over the next couple weeks if time permits. It's not exactly written in a formal tone at all times, references aren't great (ref#5 is actually to another wiki article) and it's a bit longer than I think it needs to be. I'll try to add major changes to the talk page first but I get the impression that this article isn't paid too much attention. Correct me if I'm wrong! Noformation (talk) 21:07, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

First thing I'm doing is removing unsourced material unless I can find a decent source Noformation (talk) 21:07, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

I think after that I will attempt to condense the Causes section. Do we really need a paragraph from the article of each one of the causes? I think the article would be more efficient if it weren't a list but rather a brief description of the causes with links to the respective pages for more information Noformation (talk) 21:11, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

I removed the Trigger Points, Pregnancy and Habits sections. Trigger points was wholly unsourced since 2007, a pubmed search for pregnancy related articles came up with a couple studies stating that sciatica during pregnancy is associated with having had it before the pregnancy (i.e. not an acute cause) and the habits section violated WP:MEDRS because it was a link to a BBC article. I'm going to start rewriting the diagnosis section based on scientific sources instead of forum sources Noformation (talk) 21:36, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Diagnostics section done and now on to treatment. This is an interesting part to edit because it seems as though the sources I'm reading indicate that surgery is essentially the only option, finding that most of the medications that are used for sciatica are not actually efficacious! What a terrible disease to have I imagineNoformation (talk) 22:13, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm going to remove the prevention section in its entirety. The source is ok but I don't know if it's warranted in the article. Thoughts? Noformation (talk) 00:42, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

RE: treatment

• Physical therapy The best study I can find examining the efficacy of physical therapy is [2]. This systematic review found only 2 studies with regard to phyical therapy, neither were placebo controlled. One found that "physical therapy is less effective than epidural neuroplasty for the intermediate- and long-term outcomes of leg pain intensity" and the other study in the review found that "there is no difference between laser and mechanical traction, no difference between ultrasound and mechanical traction, and no difference between laser and ultrasound, for back pain intensity, leg pain intensity, or function at short- and intermediate-term follow-ups.". The concise conclusions here: physical therapy is not as good as epidural neuroplasty (one type of surgery), and is equally as good as traction. However, traction has not been shown to be effective [3], thus, I propose that unless some better support is found in the literature, physical therapy and stretching should be removed from the treatment section as well? Puhlaa (talk) 23:44, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
• Decompression Similar to that discribed above, decompression (traction) has no evidence of effectiveness according to cochrane review [4] and so perhaps should also be removed from therapy section? Puhlaa (talk) 23:48, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
• NSAIDs The latest cochrane review for NSAIDs suggests that they are no better than placebo [5], so perhaps this should also be removed?Puhlaa (talk) 23:53, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
• Spinal manipulation The latest systematic review of spinal manipulation for sciatica shows moderate level evidence that it is effective for acute cases [6]. Also, a very recent RCT (primary study) found that it was effective in chronic cases as well [7], however, we may want to wait till this is covered in a systematic review (secondary source) before it is included due to the controversial nature of chiropractic therapies?
• Surgery there is a source in the article for surgical therapy, but I have not read it, so cannot comment on its appropriateness or if it meets MEDRS. I assume that surgery is effective as microdiskectomy is currently the most common treatment for chronic sciatica.

Puhlaa (talk) 00:08, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

I just rewrote the section and it's a lot smaller than I would like. I would really like to get something in there from the primary source you mentioned on mytalk page but I haven't been able to find a secondary source yet. Think you might have better luck than me?

I'd also like to expand that section with some other stuff but the way it was written before was pretty poorly sourced as you pointed out and I think it's better not to have lists, but rather paragraphs. Any thoughts on my rewrite Noformation (talk) 00:42, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

I agree that the section was terrible before; a list of therapies, few of which were sourced, ony 2 of which were sourced to MEDRS compliant research articles. As such, it is much better now. I think that there is still room for improvement, particularly with some of the terminology. One such example is 'chemotherapy'. I do not believe that this is the correct term, 'medication' is more appropriate as chemotherapy is usually used to descibe cancer treatment or systemic treatment of infection. However, 'en mass', the section is improved in that it is more accurate and reads more like an encyclopedia now then it did as a list.Puhlaa (talk) 02:09, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Your addition looks good Noformation (talk) 00:50, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Initial clean up complete

Okie so I've made some major changes across the article and I'm just opening this up for comments. I think a bit more needs to be done but I will admit that sciatica is not my area of expertise. As far as the opening and causes section does anyone see any issues? Noformation (talk) 01:00, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Overall I believe that your changes are an improvement. I will go through it and make minor changes where I think I can add some value, feel free to revert or open discussion on any changes I make that you object to.Puhlaa (talk) 15:26, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

It all looks good. What do you think of the line "MR neurography may help diagnose piriformis syndrome which is another cause of sciatica that does not involve disc herniation.[citation needed]?" That sounds true but I can't tell if it really adds anything to the article and it's currently unsourced evidently. Noformation (talk) 20:19, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

It might be worth keeping as part of the discussion of piriformis syndrome if a citation can be found. Puhlaa (talk) 23:52, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

cause

I think that there may be room for changes in the 'causes' section, however, I am not certain of the value of these changes I am considering and I would need to find some sources. Research is suggesting that many radiculopathies are not actually caused by mechanical compression of nerve roots, but rather from inflammatory mediators (cytokines, chemokines, substance P, etc) altering the physiology and activity of nearby nerves. This new theory has resulted from years of imaging studies that have shown many people with visible compression of nerve roots with no radicular symptoms, and similarly, many people with no contact of disk on nerve root having severe radicular symptoms. As I said, I will need to find some references if this is to be included, and I am not sure the value of this information....any thoughts? Puhlaa (talk) 15:41, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

That's pretty fascinating and might help explain why the available treatments are not so efficacious. Are they thinking autoimmune or infection? If you can find a good source I'd say that definitely should be in the article. By the way, just wanted to say thanks for the help and input, I figured this would be a solo venture since it doesn't seem like the page gets much traffic Noformation (talk) 20:19, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

No, it is not related to infection or autoimmune disease, it is likely just the natural inflammatory reaction to micro/macro trauma of the structures surrounding the nerve roots. In fact, the intervertebral disk is still considered the cause in many cases, just not because of direct mechanical pressure of the disk on the nerve roots. Rather, a damaged disk (like any other damaged structure) initiates a cascade of inflammatory processes, and the resulting inflammatory mediators are thought to be in part responsible for an alteration in nerve function and subsequent radicular pain. A person with a slight tearing of anular fibers, but with no nucleus pulposus protrusion or visible contact to nerves, can thus have the same radicular symptoms as a person with a complete protrusion of nucleus pulposus that actually contacts and displaces nerves. This helps explain why 30% of asymptomatic people have bulging disks on MRI, yet many people with sciatica show no disk bulge at all. This is also one reason why medical imaging is said to be counter-productive for alot of patients (to many false positives), and why most medical guidelines do not recommend imaging unless the symptoms progress beyond pain (eg: cauda equina), or if attempts at conservative therapies have all failed. Puhlaa (talk) 00:09, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

The inflammation can be autoimmune if a natural component of the nucleus pulposus, such as chondroitin sulfate, extrudes from a herniated disc into the spinal canal where chondroitin can cause inflammation of the cauda equina, ligaments, and facet joints, even though chondroitin causes no such inflammation in the disc. Conservative therapy, to cause the disc to heal, would include a weight-loss diet that reduces pressure on the disc. Greensburger (talk) 02:52, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Any chance you could MEDRS that? It would be a nice addition to the article I think.

Noformation (talk) 02:32, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Pregnancy

The wiki on "Sciatica"

I wanted to contribute to the wikipedia article on Sciatica, but was unsure how to word it. One of the "causes" of sciatica that is not listed, yet should be, is pregnancy. below is a sample article I have written: [edit] Pregnancy

Sciatica may also occur during pregnancy. This is often the result of the Fetus applying pressure to the sciatic nerve at the bottom of the spine by either sitting, pushing, or extremity spasms. While most cases do not directly harm the Fetus or the Mother, the indirect harm comes from the numbing effect on the legs. This numbing often leads to loss of balance and falling, which will directly cause harm to both Mother and Fetus. There is no standard treatment for pregnancy induced Sciatica, outside of bed-rest and application of heat.

As I am neither a member, nor am I particularly skilled at articulating the point. I believe that this is important to add. My concern for this is personal. My Girlfriend whom is currently pregnant, is suffering from Sciatica directly tied to her pregnancy. I have enclosed a link so that this may be verified.

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/sciaticnervepain.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.241.209.40 (talk) 03:57, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

I just edited and added your contribution to the article. The reference you cited refers to "Mayo Clinic Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy Harms, Roger W., M.D., et al, Part 3" which would be a better citation. What is the web address for this Mayo guide? Greensburger (talk) 17:09, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

A personal experience

I suddenly developed severe sciatic following an (in hindsight, very foolish at my age (56)) participation in a game of soccer. Ibuprofin or other NSAIDS combined with Paracetamol gave me several hours of relief during the day. Fortunately, there was no pain at night, so I could sleep without drugs. But clearly a more lasting solution was needed.

The report on the CT of my lumbar spine said, in part, "At the L5/S1 level there is a left lateral disc bulge with compression on the left S1 nerve", "slight disc space narrowing at the L5/S1 levels" and "facet joint overgrowth between L5/S1 bilaterally". All relevant doctors agreed that this was the main cause of my very painful sciatica.

It was suggested that I have a cortisone injection guided under ultrasound to the Left L5/S1 nerve root. This was duly done, and it was far less painful than I expected. The worst was for a fraction of a second when the sharp steel tip of the needle touched the nerve root, and brought on the usual pain. The doctor giving the injection was apologetic, saying that he understood that this was painful, but it was necessary to make absolutely sure that the injection was going into exactly the right spot.

I am happy to post the CT images and/or the injection ultrasound images. The radiology clinic has no copyright claim on these images. They are mine to use as I wish.

Moving on, improvement was immediate. During the usual 3-4 weeks that a cortisone injection takes to do its thing, the pain slowly went. Completely. Zero. Nada.

Why is this cortisone treatment not mentioned in the article? Apparently it is a well-accepted mainstream medicine practice in the "right" kind of sciatica.

Also, given the amount of controversy on these pages, a question naturally emerges: should I have have done something else instead?

144.131.87.30 (talk) 10:42, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Sentence that doesn't make sense

An email to OTRS (ticket 2013012310013176) pointed out that this sentence makes no sense:

Sciatica due to compression of a nerve root is one of the most common forms of radiculopathy and is often postural caused by, is most often referred pain from damage to facet joints in the lower back and is felt as pain in the lower back and posterior thighs.

It'd be great if someone who knows something about medicine could rewrite it or copyedit it. I've added a copyedit section banner to flag this up. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:39, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Done as you requested. Greensburger (talk) 19:24, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Epidemiology

1.6 to 43 percent? That's crazy. Can someone take a look at the articles and see if there is a number that is most commonly agreed upon. 1-43% is completely unhelpful. --1000Faces (talk) 03:25, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Back pain

Two and half years ago I had complete hip replacement of my right hip due to a fall on the concrete garage floor. Recovery was excellent, except I had "drop foot", and since then I have had to wear a brace...I can live with that, and I can live with the tingling and numbness in my foot and my leg from my knee down, but the pain I am having in my back is really causing my life to be totally miserable. My back feels fine when I am sitting or lying, but the moment I stand up until I sit again, the pain is terrible...doing simple tasks such a cooking and/or washing dishes wipes me out. Please give me some guidance...my GP dr. has prescribed gabopitin---been on it a week---cannot tll that it is helping me. Any advise will be appreciated...I am 76 years old, but relatively healthy and not ready to give up. Thank you.

Copied material

Most of this Wikipedia article seems a near-verbatim copy of the published summary of the article referenced at footnote 5. As such, this Wikipedia article seems the opposite of comprehensive. Wbkelley (talk)

User:Wbkelley Which parts are verbatim from which source? I have looked briefly at ref five and do not see anything obvious. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 17:28, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

NEJM

Review from Ropper and Zafonte doi:10.1056/NEJMra1410151 JFW | T@lk 10:35, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

90 percent

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.berh.2009.11.005 is used to support the claim of cause being herniation about 90 per cent of time.

It says either lumbar or sacrum.

I am wondering if anyone knows information about how the 90 is split between these 2 spinal areas.

In fact we could even get more specific like the number of each vertebrae if that is available. 64.228.90.129 (talk) 17:32, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

Ref needed

"There are no visible signs of this condition, and a person will present with no apparent injury or illness."

Yes their can be visible signs such as food drop and muscle atrophy. Often their is a minor injury or jar that trigger sciatica. This needs a ref. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 00:03, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

Text

We already say "usually caused by a herniated disc in the lumbar region of the spine" in the second paragraph. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:10, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

WikiProject Medicine Workplan

- Improve quality of current citations

- Add citations to already written but not cited information throughout article

- Expand pathophysiology, treatment, and epidemiology sections citing high-quality sources

- Add pertinent images and diagrams

Clskinner (talk) 17:48, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

Greetings from your colleagues! We have reviewed your article and overall it has been an excellent update to the Sciatica article. We have some mere nitpicks we have highlighted for you to change as you see fit. First, going over your objectives:

- Improve quality of current citations

- Add citations to already written but not cited information throughout article

- Expand pathophysiology, treatment, and epidemiology sections citing high-quality sources

- Add pertinent images and diagrams

All of these were clearly done in our opinion.

Next, our small suggestions for editing and comments:

- When discussing the epidemiology of sciatica in the fourth paragraph of the article, I would designate the ages as "the fifth & sixth decades of life"

- Your definition of sciatica is very clearly written and we are fans of how it is worded

- When listing risk factors, it may be beneficial to completely spell out how each risk factor affects the chance of developing sciatica - specifically age, gender, socioeconomic status - this sentence taken in isolation is ambiguous

- In your discussion of outcomes in activity vs bedrest conditions, we feel the sentence "between advice to stay active and recommendations..." is somewhat awkward and could use some restructuring

- In the Alternative Medicine section, we would add "for chronic sciatica, the evidence supporting spinal manipulation as treatment is poor"

- Your epidemiology section at the conclusion of the article is largely redundant - is there anything else to add here?

Thank you for your edits! They are of high quality and will contribute to public understanding of sciatica. Cheers.

As892 (talk) 00:39, 14 November 2018 (UTC)

Lyme

Not mentioned by either ref

"Lyme disease"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20227645

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25806916

Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 07:01, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Never mind see it here [8]

As a rare differential moving to the body of the text per WP:DUE.

Additionally shortened coverage of lyme a bit Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 07:04, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Foundations 2 2019, Group 1B Goals

I would like to improve this page with the following edits:

1. Clarify the "physical activity" section after "management". It is currently vague - what forms of physical activity are good for managing sciatica? eccentric/concentric exercises? what is the current data on how it helps? Also elaboration on what forms of physical therapy used would be very insightful.
2. describe the description of the pain associated with sciatica more elaborately than what is currently present.
3. there are two sentences that are not very smooth next to each other "disc herniation most often occurs during heavy lifting. Pain typically increases when bending forward or sitting and reduces when lying down or possible walking."
4. "The space in the vertebral column the spinal cord goes through" may be better for spinal stenosis.
5. condense the wording for pathophysiology to reduce verbage, i.e. "as an individual ages, the annulus fibrosis weakens and is more susceptible to tear. when this happens, ___"
6. Add "physical test" and "radiocontrast" as a subheading under diagnosis Catchen1 (talk) 20:43, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

205.154.255.137 (talk) 21:48, 30 July 2019 (UTC) catchen1 7/30/2019

Please make sure that other group members add themselves to the page before making their individual edits. Note the added editing tags, FYI. Using 4 tildes will give you an automatic signature and date stamp, FYI. Health policy (talk) 05:15, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

Help

Help 69.131.24.32 (talk) 21:30, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

With...? — Moops ^⋠T⋡ 21:34, 22 November 2022 (UTC)