Causes of Sciatica.

Before we look at the causes of sciatica, I'd like to say that many clients I see with sciatica have been treating their pain symptoms instead of identifying, and addressing, what brought about the condition in the first place.

For example, if you were diagnosed with a herniated disc, instead of just treating the symptoms, it is necessary to find out what caused the disc to herniate to begin with. With that knowledge, we can prevent the reoccurance of similar problems.

Although many people feel their pain happened overnight - this is not true. Back pain does not happen overnight, it develops over time but the symptoms may happen quite suddenly although your "tracking" may have been out for months if not years.

You may ask why does the tracking go wrong?

The main reason you have back pain is because your body and spine have been pulled out of their normal position into "faulty" positions into what Physiotherapists call dysfunctions.

causes of sciatica

Most people move around and live their life without ever being aware of the position their muscles and joints are in. Poor movement positions repeated over time force your body into these movement dysfunctions on a permanent basis. I see this with my own client on a daily basis - sooner or later their body broke down with back pain symptoms.

An example of a sciatica movement dysfunction I often see results from a person sitting poorly over time and eventually this sitting posture becomes more fixed as the muscles adapt by lengthening and weakening to suit this position. This excessive curve eventually over-compresses the sciatic nerve and will result in leg pain commonly labelled sciatica.

If, however, you and your therapist only treat the impinged nerve without also addressing the postural muscle imbalances that have developed - then you are likely to have a re-occurrence even after the sciatica symptoms have been removed. Again my common theme - Diagnosis is the key to a longer-lasting cure.

So, ultimately when looking at causes of sciatica, it's worth pointing out that we create our own sciatica by developing poor postural movement patterns. Therefore, we also need to learn how to reverse our faulty creation! Back pain commonly begins with muscle imbalances due to poor posture - which over time creates a dysfunction.

Your body is then forced to work and move with this dysfunction and eventually this creates a symptom like a herniated disc or sciatica. The main symptom of sciatica is pain down the back or outside of the leg. So, muscle imbalances are the main cause of sciatica that I see in my practice - and this underlying cause needs to be addressed alongside the surface symptoms of your sciatica.

What exactly is muscle imbalance?

If one muscle group becomes stronger than its opposing muscle group you get an imbalance. If our muscles are out of balance the stronger group will pull a nerve, joint or disc out of position resulting in excess stress on the displaced structure which if left uncorrected will eventually breakdown, puncture and pain will result.

How does muscle imbalance cause Sciatica?

If muscle imbalance pulls a nerve, joint or disc out of position it may over stretch or compress the sciatic nerve causing it to pain.

Five main conditions causing sciatica:

Piriformis Syndrome - This is a very common cause of sciatica arising from a tension or tightness in the piriformis muscle pressurising the sciatic nerve as it passes through the buttock resulting in pain. Indirectly a tightened piriformis muscle will pull the pelvis and hip out of alignment which may indirectly put a stretch pressure on your sciatic nerve causing pain symptoms.

Herniated disc - Sciatica can also be caused by pressure being placed on the sciatic nerve by a bulging or herniated disc. Disc herniations causing sciatica can result from falls, whiplash injuries or most commonly result over time from poor posture and its associated muscle imbalances. A herniated disc is where a disc bulges out between two vertebrae impinging in the case of sciatica on the sciatic nerve.

Spinal stenosis - is where there is a narrowing in the spinal canal at a particular level in the spine. If this stenosis occurs at the lower part of your spine where the sciatic nerves exits the back sciatica may result. Spinal stenosis can be caused by the aging process, trauma or it can be hereditary.

Spondylolysthesis - is where one vertebra slips forwards relative to another. This, again, may cause sciatica as the bones impinge on the nerve. The cause of Spondylolysthesis may be hereditary, due to an injury or related to a type of bone disease.

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