Pinched Sciatic Nerve

A pinched sciatic nerve is actually an anatomical impossibility if the cause is supposed to exist in the spine. This is because the sciatica nerve does not connect directly to the spine at all. The sciatic nerve is made up of 5 pairs of spinal nerve roots which exit the spinal cord at vertebral levels L4 through S3. It is generally one of these spinal nerve roots which is actually affected when the diagnosis of a compressed sciatic nerve is made.

Pinched Sciatic Nerve Condition

Spinal causes for a pinched nerve root can include:

* Herniated discs

* Osteoarthritis

* Spondylolisthesis

These are often targeted as the cause of a pinched nerve (meaning a spinal nerve root), but can not logically be implicated in pinching the sciatic nerve directly. However, if one of the spinal nerve roots which comprise the sciatic nerve is affected by radicular pain, this infringement will influence the function of the sciatic and might cause painful symptoms to occur in the lower extremities. Just remember that pinched nerves are diagnosed far more often than they actually occur and represent one of the most common forms of misdiagnosed sciatica.

Actual Pinched Sciatic Nerve

Piriformis syndrome is a condition which might actually compress the sciatic nerve itself, as the nerve passes through the greater sciatic foramen while leaving the pelvis. In about 15% of the population, the sciatic nerve passes directly through the piriformis muscle, rather than underneath it. In the controversial piriformis syndrome diagnosis, this muscle is theorized to constrict the sciatica nerve, usually due to some form of trauma, although the source or nature of that trauma can not usually be identified. Although this condition does truly exist, a far more plausible and logical explanation of the pain is explained by simple ischemia of the piriformis muscle and sciatic nerve, causing radicular pain in the nerve and muscular spasms in the piriformis.

Pinched Sciatic Nerve Advice

Remember basic anatomy when dealing with any nerve compression issue. Even assuming that one or more of the spinal nerve roots are being infringed upon by some structural causation, such as a herniated disc, studies have shown 2 factors which make chronic sciatica seem unlikely:

1. Very few spinal conditions cause long term pain. Most herniated discs resolve on their own and most osteoarthritic processes are not inherently painful.

2. In cases of verified continued nerve compression, the result is complete numbness, not pain. Sustained compression of a spinal nerve root will cause that root to stop signaling altogether. Lasting pain seems like an anatomical impossibility in these instances…

Learn the facts about sciatica and you will see that ischemia is clearly a more plausible explanation for most lower body pain syndromes. Additionally, ischemia is known to resolve when treated with knowledge therapy and knowledge therapy demonstrates excellent results for completely ending oxygen deprivation pain. Most traditional medical and complementary sciatica treatments WILL NOT cure ischemia and demonstrate generally poor pain relieving results. This is proof positive that ischemia is the leading cause of symptoms and knowledge therapy is the ideal treatment.

Pinched Sciatic Nerve to Sciatica Home
10/16/08 Revised 12/18/09