Lower back pain affects nearly 70 percent of the population and is a common cause of disability in industrialized nations, reports the World Health Organization. One of the reasons for this debilitating condition is a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It starts in the lower back, branches out, and travels deep into the buttocks and down each leg.
Sciatica is a term used to describe the symptoms of pain, weakness, tingling, burning, or numbness along the path of the sciatic nerve. The pain may be felt in the lower back, hip, and leg, sometimes extending down to the foot. Only one side of the body is usually affected.
There are a number of causes for this painful condition, including degenerative disc disease, a slipped or herniated disc, tightness in the piriformis muscle located deep in the buttocks, a narrowing of the spinal canal from spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis. Factors that exacerbate sciatica include age, weight, diabetes, sitting for extended periods of time, and occupation.
