Sciatica!

I have had many patients walking into my clinic being diagnosed by Sciatica! Sciatica is not a diagnosis, it’s simply a symptom. All Sciatica means is “leg pain”. So imagine walking into your doctor’s office telling him you have shooting leg pain and he “diagnoses” you with “leg pain”! I am not trying to disrespect any doctors or practitioners, but simply Sciatica as a diagnosis is not correct.

Sciatica = Leg Pain

What you need to know is: where this leg pain or sciatica is coming from? There are many reasons for shooting pain down the legs. In rare cases, it could be a sign of spinal tumour/cancer. I said in RARE cases, so don’t panic. Other causes can be spinal osteoarthritis which is usually a wear and tear of the spine due to age. But in many cases, the shooting pain can be from Disc Herniation, Muscle Spasm and your spine not moving the way it should, or spinal joint dysfunction. These conditions can be diagnosed by your chiropractic physician and require some orthopaedic and neurological exams.  

Piriformis Syndrome

The picture above, is an example of commonly seen disorder, called Piriformis Syndrome (go ahead, Wikipedia it!) The muscle shown, called Piriformis, when in spasm, will irritate the Sciatic nerve which causes shooting pain down the legs.

Again, please don’t diagnose yourself and don’t get diagnosed by your neighbour!

Dr. Ali Masoumi