Center for Pain Management

Lumbar Radiculopathy / Sciatica

The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg. The vast majority of those with sciatica get better with time and find pain relief with non-surgical treatment. For others, however, sciatica can be severe and debilitating.

The clinical diagnosis of sciatica is referred to as "radiculopathy", which simply means that a disc has protruded from its normal position in the spinal column and is putting pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the low back, which ultimately forms part of the sciatic nerve.

Important to note is that sciatica is merely a symptom of a problem—of something compressing or irritating the nerve roots that comprise the sciatic nerve—rather than an actual medical diagnosis or medical disorder. This is an important distinction because it is the underlying diagnosis that often needs to be treated so that sciatic nerve pain can be eliminated. Common causes of sciatica are spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, lumbar herniated disc or spondylolisthesis.

Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Most often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica.  Sciatica tends to develop as a result of usual wear and tear on of the lower spine and its structures.