Can sciatica affect the side of your leg?
Sciatica tends to affect the length of the leg, not just the foot. And most often, that pain radiates downward from top to bottom, Dr. Thomas says. Another clue: Sciatica usually strikes just one side.
How do you relieve sciatic pain in the front of the thigh?
Alternating heat and ice therapy can provide immediate relief of sciatic nerve pain. Ice can help reduce inflammation, while heat encourages blood flow to the painful area (which speeds healing). Heat and ice may also help ease painful muscle spasms that often accompany sciatica.
How do you know if you have nerve damage in your leg?
Pain that usually begins in a specific location, such as the buttock, hip, thigh, leg, or foot and gradually spreads to other areas of the leg. Numbness and a prickling feeling in the affected areas. Weakness in the leg muscles. Loss of balance, which may cause falls.
Do you have sciatica on one side or the other?
Most sciatica patients suffer nerve pain on one side or the other, while only a small number are afflicted with bilateral sciatica. Typically the same causes can be equally responsible for pain on the left, as well as right side sciatica . Unlike symptoms which occur in the torso,…
What kind of pain does sciatica cause in leg?
Sciatica rears its ugly head when something compresses the nerve. That pinch results in pain (and sometimes weakness) up and down the leg, usually just on one side. “People describe it in all sorts of ways — burning, tingling, numbness, radiating pain or electric shock sensations,” Dr. Thomas says. “Those sensations can come right out of the blue.”
Where does the sciatica nerve start and end?
Sciatica nerve is a very long nerve that starts from the pelvis and ends at the feet. When something irritates or even compresses the nerve, it causes pain that radiates out from the lower back to calf. It hurts the stomach and the range of pain can from mild to very powerful.
Why do I have pain in the side of my leg?
Pain down the side or front of the leg or thigh is not sciatic, and some pains in the right area may be due to referred pain from other structures such as spinal joints.
What happens If sciatica is not treated?
There are several issues that can arise from untreated sciatica. You may experience: Nerve damage – If you don’t seek medical treatment for your condition, then you run a very high risk of suffering nerve damage that may be permanent. If that happens, then the pain in the back and legs may only get worse…
Does sciatica cause leg swelling?
Sciatica is a general term describing symptoms caused by compression of the sciatic nerve which starts in the lower back and runs all the way down the leg. Leg swelling is more commonly associated with fluid retention and circulatory issues, not nerve compression, so it is not typically listed as a sciatica symptom.
What do you need to know about sciatica?
Sciatica is the word used to express the sensations of pain, tingling, numbness, and or weakness felt in the leg that originates from the lower back and transitions through the buttock and down the back of the leg via the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is an underlying issue within your lower back.
Does the sciatic nerve heal?
The pain from sciatica is the result of very real damage to your sciatic nerve. Usually, this damage is only minor and will heal once the pinched nerve is relieved. In all probability it will not result in permanent nerve damage, but the possibility does exist.