When discussing the nervous system, you cannot omit the sciatic nerve. Essentially, this is the longest nerve that extends from your lower back to the back of the legs. The sciatic nerve helps you to have sensations in your low extremities. In addition, it is through this nerve that the muscles on your legs can help you move effectively. However, it becomes difficult for your sciatic nerve to execute the sensory and motor function optimally if you have sciatic pain. In that case, you should seek the necessary treatments for sciatica Houston. When anticipating the appointment, here are the myths you should stop believing about sciatica.
Sciatica Is a Diagnosis
You have probably heard some people claiming that sciatica is a condition, but this is not the case. Essentially, sciatic pain is a symptom indicating that there is something wrong with the nerve root within the lower back. Therefore, once you learn that you have sciatica symptoms, you should find out the cause of compression in your nerves.
All Individuals With Leg Pain Have Sciatica
Although leg pain is one of the sciatica symptoms, not every pain in the lower extremities qualify as a symptom. Some leg pain can occur due to cardiovascular concerns, cellulitis, and strains. You will know that you have sciatica if your pain radiates from your lower back to the back of your leg, passing through your buttock.
Bed Rest Will Help
Some patients think that spending all day in their beds will help improve the sciatica symptoms, which is not the case. Notably, when you rest for a long time, your muscles and joints become stiff, thus worsening the sciatic pain when you start moving altogether. Therefore, you should stay active and engage in moderate activities like walking. Always start slow and build your endurance as you progress with the activities.
Sciatica Cannot Trigger the Permanent Nerve Damage
Many individuals console sciatica patients that these symptoms matter about pain and have nothing to do with the nerve. However, the reality is that severe compression in the sciatic nerve can cause permanent damage. Consequently, the victims will experience muscle weakness which can cause immobility and bladder concerns.
Sciatic Pain Always Improves Without Reoccurring
In most cases, after the treatments, sciatica will recede after four to six months. However, this instance does not imply that the symptoms cannot occur again. Based on the severity and root cause of the sciatic pain, the discomfort can keep reoccurring for a lifetime, even after the medical intervention.
Surgical Procedures Are the Only Effective Treatment for Sciatica
While surgery can help you relieve sciatic pain, there are other treatment options that you can lean on to alleviate the sciatica symptoms. For example, epidural injections help to reduce swelling on the irritated nerve, thus improving the symptoms. However, your specialist will recommend surgery when your symptoms worsen, even after applying other treatment options.
Many people worldwide live with sciatica symptoms. Notably, sciatica pain interferes with the victim’s mobility, thus lowering the quality of their lives. If you are one of them, there are different treatment options that you can lean on to alleviate the symptoms. It is good to straighten the above misconceptions concerning sciatica when seeking treatments. For example, the claims that sciatica is a condition do not hold since it is a collection of symptoms. Besides, the excess bed rest will only worsen sciatica instead of improving the symptoms.
