Sciatic Nerve Help

The "Sciatic Nerve Anatomy" (sometimes called ischiatic nerve or ischiadic nerve), is a large nerve fiber in humans and in animals. It starts out at the lower back (lumbosacral plexus), and runs down through the buttocks and along the pelvic girdle, down the hip, and thigh, all the way to the toes. It originates from the spinal nerves L4 through S3. It contains nerves and fibers from both divisions of the front and rear lumbosacral plexus. Sciatic is the longest and widest nerve in the human body, or in an animal. In humans it can sometimes be up to an inch wide, in animals even larger than that. This nerve supplies almost all the muscles in the back of the thighs, and the skin of the legs, and feet.

Sciatic nerve path

Sciatic nerves are, to some extent, a continuation of the spine throughout the legs. Near the lower limbs and spinal chord, the lumbar region of the spine, primary spinal nerves expand to form the sciatic nerve on both sides of the spine. One sciatic nerve then travels down the right leg, and the other nerve goes down the left leg.

This creates the paths of motor and sensory perceptions by both sciatic nerves, from the brain through the spinal chord, and then back from the lower limbs up to the brain through the sciatic nerve and the spinal chord Each sciatic nerve is divided into joint muscle branches that allow different actions to be performed. The nerve branches to control muscles in the entire track down one limb to the knee, all the way to the feet, thanks to the branching of Sciatic nerve into the tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve.

Trapped sciatic nerve

Damage to the sciatic nerve is caused by compressing the nerve and restricting the blood from flowing normally, this causes swelling and inflammation. Pain ranging from gentle numbness or tingling in the legs or buttocks, to severe cramps and spasms, and inability to stand or walk.

Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular disease that happens when the sciatic nerve compressed or gets otherwise irritated from the Piriformis muscle, which causes numbness and tingling or sharp pain in the buttocks and/or along the sciatic nerve path descending to the back or the lower thigh down the leg. Diagnosing the sciatica is often difficult due to the diagnostic validity of some standard tests used today.

Although the Piriformis muscle shortens or spasms due to trauma or overuse, it can sometimes strangle or compress the sciatic nerve in the muscle. Such conditions become trapped nerve or entrapment neuropathies, known as Piriformis Syndrome or better known as sciatica. About 25% of the population has the sciatic nerve pass through the Piriformis muscle and not under it. It has been reported by some uncontrolled studies that these people have a higher incidence of sciatica than the general population. In addition a small percentage of women experience sciatica in early pregnancy, making it harder to deal with the nerve pain and pregnancy at the same time.