Sciatica from Arthritis

Sciatica from arthritis is a common diagnosis linked to the osteo form of the condition. Osteoarthritis is generally a normal and asymptomatic part of the spinal aging process from every human on this planet. While it is possible to experience sciatic nerve pain in some rare instances, most cases of osteoarthritis are nothing more than scapegoats on which sciatica symptoms are typically blamed.

Sciatica from Arthritis Diagnosis

The most common reasons for sciatica to be associated with osteoarthritis include bone spur (osteophyte) growth and facet joint changes. Bone spurs are usually implicated in causing foraminal stenosis, when they grow near the foramen openings in between the vertebrae. In these instances, the osteophytes are suspected to cause a pinched nerve condition as the nerve roots exit the spinal column. Facet joint syndrome is the other major source of suspected arthritis pain. However, facet joint pain is also rare and is diagnosed far more often than it occurs. Even when facet syndrome exists, the pain is generally mechanical and not neurological, making sciatica an unlikely possibility at best.

Sciatica from Osteoarthritis

Medical science has many treatment options for sciatica due to osteoarthritis. However, most of these therapies are illogical when the suspected cause of pain is analyzed. Short of surgery, no other treatment option will do anything to reshape the spinal anatomy and relieve structural arthritic changes. However, this does not prevent countless millions of people from being enslaved into long term symptomatic treatment programs including chiropractic and pain management drugs. It is no surprise that these poor souls rarely find a real lasting cure, since their pain is often misdiagnosed to begin with or treated symptomatically, even if the diagnosis is correct!

Sciatica from Arthritis Advice

It is possible for advanced cases of spinal arthritis to create serious symptoms, including sciatica. However, these instances are rare and do not represent the average person diagnosed with sciatica due to arthritis. Most of these diagnosed patients do not demonstrate any unusual changes in their spines and are clearly suffering from some other type of pain. Most commonly, ischemia is misidentified as a structural condition and blamed on normal spinal degeneration, such as osteoarthritis. If your pain has not resolved, despite a variety of attempted treatments, I urge you to consider oxygen deprivation as the real source of your agony and leave the arthritis scapegoat behind…

Sciatica from Arthritis to Sciatica Home
10/14/09 Revised 12/12/09