Your Health

Is Walking Good for Sciatica?

Sciatica is a condition that irritates the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body. It starts at the spinal cord and travels through the buttocks and hips before diverging to each leg. This nerve plays an important role in the ability to feel and control the legs. When sciatica occurs, you may feel moderate to severe pain in the legs, buttocks, and back. There would be also numbness and weakness. This condition may indicate that you have an underlying injury in the sciatic nerve or surrounding area. [1]

Signs, Symptoms and Causes of Sciatica

Sciatica is characterized by a shooting pain from the lower back to the buttock and in the lower limbs. In addition, there are other symptoms caused by nerve damage. These include:

– A tingling sensation in the feet or toes

– Pain that becomes worse when moving

– Weakness, burning, or numbness in the feet or legs along the sciatic nerve

– Inability to control the bowels or bladder, also known as incontinence [2]

Sciatica happens when the sciatic nerve is inflamed and irritated. Nevertheless, it can be challenging to diagnose a single cause of this condition. Pain would be caused when a disk herniates or slips and increases pressure on this nerve. The disk plays an important role in ensuring spine flexibility and cushioning the spinal vertebrae. Other possible causes of sciatica include spinal injuries, spinal tumors, an infection in the spine, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, or cauda equina syndrome. [3]