What Triggers Sciatica?  

Sciatica is pain that presents along the stretch of your sciatic nerve. From the lower back, the inflammation branches to your buttocks, hips, and down to the legs. The illness typically distresses one side of the body. Its symptoms include:

• Loss of bladder and bowel control.

• Mild to severe pain in the buttocks, lower back, and legs.

• Paresthesia in the toes, legs, or feet.

• Weakness or numbness in your buttocks, legs, feet, or lower back.

• Pain that increases with movement. It may result in complete incapacitation.

There are several triggers of this disease. Some include medical conditions and lifestyle issues. They are:

Osteoarthritis or Diabetes

Osteoarthritis increases the risk of injury to the nerves by damaging your spine. Bone spurs can form in the spine as you age. These compress the nerves in the lower back. Diabetes is a disease that puts you at risk of nerve damage.

Both illnesses have close relations with aging, an inevitable part of life. The shifts in ligaments, bones, and disks that occur as you get old tend to increase the chances of nerve injury.

Herniated Disks

Slipped disks are the most common cause of sciatica. They are shock absorbers that lie between the vertebrae in your spinal column. Additional pressure on them can make the gel-like pads at the center of the disks herniate or bulge. The reaction presses on the sciatic nerve, resulting in sciatica.

Spinal Tumors and Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is the natural depreciation of vertebrae that narrows your spinal canal. The narrowing process can put pressure on the sciatic nerve roots. Tumors growing around the spinal column can trigger sciatica in rare cases. As they grow, they can compress nerves that run from the spinal cord.

Degenerative Disk

The wearing of disks between the vertebrae that make up your spine causes this disease. It shortens their height resulting in spinal stenosis. In the end, it pinches the roots of sciatic nerves leaving your spine.

Piriformis Syndrome

The tightening of the small muscles deep in your gluteus maximus can cause this condition. Piriformis syndrome compresses and irritates the sciatic nerve, prompting symptoms of sciatica. Women are more prone to this disease than men.

Piriformis can also affect men who prefer to carry fat wallets in the rear pockets of their trousers. Doing this for a long time puts pressure on the muscle aggravating the sciatic nerve.

Lifestyle Habits

Excessive bad habits can increase your risk of developing sciatica. Being active is good, but frequent heavy lifting can trigger problems in the lower back. Sitting for long periods may have the same consequences. Sciatica can affect people who are physically fit. Improper strength training exercises and weight lifting can be worse than good.

Being overweight is another issue. Your spine is a vertical crane that needs your muscles as the counterweights. The more you weigh, the more the back muscles must work, leading to back strains and pains.

Sciatica also affects pregnant women, though the reason is not the additional weight. Certain hormones that come during pregnancy may loosen the ligaments holding the vertebrae together. The loosening causes disks in their spine to slip, triggering the condition.

Smoking and Vaping

Tobacco consists of nicotine that is detrimental to the lungs and your back. It weakens your bones, damages spinal tissue, and exacerbates the depreciation of vertebral disks.

For more on what triggers sciatica, call Frame Chiropractic & Acupuncture at (419) 573-0077 to reach our office in Toledo, Ohio.