| Diagnosis of sciatica symptoms |
| Written by Administrator |
| Wednesday, 11 March 2009 09:22 |
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Each damage to a nerve has very specific consequences to the functions of our body. Modern medicine has managed to very exactly map the nervous system of our body and to allocate the functions of every nerve. Due to this knowledge the doctor can make a quick and safe diagnosis for sciatic problems. The next step most likely will be to establish the underlying causes. This is relatively easy in cases where the vertebrae or their cartilages are directly affected - there are modern imaging technologies where such damage can directly be seen. The most frequent of these cases is called spinal disk herniation: it happens when one of the cartilages is damaged and presses into the spinal canal. Another less common case is called spinal stenosis: here various defects of the bone cause the spinal canal, through which the spinal chord is running, to get narrowed and finally press on the nerves. A much rarer case is called Piriformis syndrome: in about 15% of the population the sciatic nerve takes an unusual course through instead of along the piriformis muscle. The piriformis muscle is a large muscle in the gluteal region (the buttocks). When this muscle suffers spasms or defects due to trauma, the sciatic nerve inside will be affected. As the piriformis syndrome does not involve any deformation in the bone structure, there is no really reliable way to diagnose it by means of medical imaging technologies. Piriformis syndrome is therefore a frequent diagnosis in those cases where sciatic problems cannot be found to be connected with any spinal causes. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 13 March 2009 03:00 ) |