Sciatica Foot DropSciatica Foot Drop Diagnosis
Besides for direct patient complaints about the affected area, foot drop is typically diagnosed by a pronounced change in normal gait. This basically means that the way a person walks has changed in response to the inability to raise the front of the foot. Many patients find that they stumble or stub their toes often when trying to walk normally, so they develop a shuffling or sideways gait instead. Heel walking is one of the tests used to diagnose foot drop. Patients with the condition will have a difficult time walking on their heels. Additionally, they will typically demonstrate an exaggerated gait on the unaffected side to compensate for the difficulty walking. Neurological testing and other tests, such as an MRI, are needed to diagnose the exact reasons for foot drop. Sciatica Foot Drop CausesDiagnostic testing will rule out non-sciatica related foot drop syndromes. For the remainder of affected patients who do have sciatica, the actual source of symptoms is usually diagnosed as stemming from a lumbar spinal nerve root compression problem at L5. The usual diagnoses include herniated discs and spinal osteophytes enacting foraminal stenosis at the L5 level. Spinal stenosis virtually anywhere in the spine can also cause foot drop symptoms and is sometimes the cause, even when L5 foraminal stenosis is present, but is coincidental to the symptoms experienced. This can make structural diagnosis difficult. Additionally, ischemia is a lesser known and rarely diagnosed source of most long term sciatica syndromes. This is the same condition which plagued me for so long and I always advise patients to consider this possibility, especially when a variety of therapy options have failed to bring them lasting relief.Sciatica Foot Drop AdviceFoot drop is occasionally misdiagnosed as coming from a structural issue, when all along the symptoms are enacted by regional ischemia of the L5 nerve root or the entire sciatic nerve. Psychogenic ischemia is a mystery to doctors, since they do not generally practice mindbody medicine and are puzzled by the reasons why the mind might create physical pain. That being said, there are some medical care providers, such as the world renowned Dr. John Sarno, who have elevated knowledge therapy from a little known technique to a widely practiced and extremely effective treatment modality for a vast assortment of psychosomatic disorders. If you have been unable to find relief from your sciatic nerve pain and complete or partial foot drop, I advise you to think about oxygen deprivation and how it may just be the real reason why your symptoms won’t go away…Sciatica Foot Drop to Sciatica
|
Sensei Adam Rostocki
Mission Statement
Editorial Board
Legal
Privacy Policy
Site Funding Disclosure
Source Material