Leg Pain Sciatica 

Leg Pain Sciatica

Slipped disc... an analogy 

Leg pain sciatica usually, like the common cold, starts insidiously. Ignored, a cold may go through this process:Cold > Influenza > Bronchitis > Pleurisy > Pneumonia > Death

The process can usually be stopped at any stage with the appropriate treatment. Neglected, the disease process marches remorselessly on.

In the lumbar spine

In the lumbar spine, every case is different, yet the same:

Low Back Pain, LBP >>>

> LBP + tingling in the leg

> LBP + leg pain 

> LBP + neurological signs, like a foot drop

> The true hernia: no or very little back pain + severe leg pain, and possibly in extreme cases loss of bladder control. 

Research shows that 5% of sciaticas proceed to intractable pain within six months. Please don't assume you will be in the 95%! Tracking the progression of leg pain is done using the slump test for sciatica.

TIP:

You can and perhaps should always consider home treatment for lower back pain, but if it goes down your leg... then it's time to find a good chiropractor. Find a good Chiropractor ...

There are two kinds of antalgias: you may lean towards the painful side, or away . They are quite different.

Those who lean "towards" the painful side, if they are smart and listen to their chiropractor, will get better much quicker, but the chance of relapse is greater if they will not accept that, like the "away from" type, the disc will take 6-8 weeks to heal.

If the man in the picture had pain on the LEFT SIDE, and he is leaning towards the RIGHT SIDE, then he has the 'away from' kind. They take longer to come straight, but have a better chance of complete healing.

Antalgia is serious. It is often the prelude to a nasty leg pain sciatica that wends its way down the weary leg. Follow your doctor's instructions, but my advice is to stay at home at least until you can stand up straight. Don't sit, alternate between lying (with a cushion under your knees) and walking. Move onto your side as your back dictates, with the cushion between your knees. During the day, get up at least every hour and walk around. Research shows that too much bed rest is not helpful.

If you've come to this website because you're a bookworm, then you may enjoy this short story from Frog in my Throat. This story is all about an antalgia, in an amusing setting.BIG TOE ... Meet Jack!

But a neglected antalgia often leads to a leg pain sciatica, with tingling and pain spreading down the leg.

Tip

Bernard Preston's rule is: If you are in the Pisa sign then you shouldn't be at work. Don't sit, don't bend, and try very hard not to sneeze. A quick nose blow will usually stop a sneeze.

Depending which disc has been effected the leg pain sciatica may go down the back of the leg to the side of your foot, or down the side of your leg and over the big toe, or onto the top of your thigh.

Classically, there are four important grades. I add a fifth.

1. Back pain only.
2. Back pain spreading down into the leg.
3. Back pain, leg pain with first increased sensation and if neglected, ominously, numbness.
4. Back pain, leg pain with crippling weakness.
5. In the true hernia, there is less back pain, but the leg becomes a fire of pain. The bladder may be affected.
I could add a sixth.

6. Death. Balderdash you say. Sensationalism. I have a close relative who died after her seventh lower back and upper leg pain operation, aged 42. It happens. (She never consulted me!)