Sciatica Symptoms Can Be Sneaky
Sciatica is the name for a collection of symptoms that include pain down the path of the Sciatic Nerve. This can be felt as pain in the back, hip, and or down the leg.
Diagnosing Sciatica is relatively simple but knowing what is actually CAUSING the Sciatica can be troublesome. The reason for this is that Sciatica can have multiple causes including disc problems, bone spurs, spinal compression and lastly muscular compression.
The Sciatic nerve exits the lower back (Lumbar Spine) and travels through the hip muscles in the upper buttock. One of the muscles in the upper buttock is called the Piriformis muscle
and this muscle often will squeeze on the Sciatic nerve giving typical Sciatica symptoms.
Piriformis Is The Great Immitator of Sciatica because the symptoms it produces are almost identical to sciatica.
A dead giveaway for those suffering with Piriformis Syndrome is that they almost always have two things in common.
#1) Pain in the back of the hip/upper buttock
#2) Pain when sitting on any hard surface
Piriformis Syndrome is often overlooked in those that suffer from Sciatica largely because it isn't looked for. Knowing the CAUSE of your Sciatica symptoms is half the battle to getting the proper treatment/self care.
Dr. Ross Hanson
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