Sciatica is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five nerve roots that give rise to the sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve itself.The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot.
In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg.
Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body.
May be there are many causes of Sciatica,but I want to share main Four Causes of Sciatica.
(1) Piriformis Syndrome :-
This is the common cause of sciatic pain and is created when pressure is placed on the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle.
Muscle imbalances pull the hip joints and pelvis out of place and this changes the positioning of the piriformis muscle, which then places pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Whatever the case, muscle imbalances will cause major problems and are the underlying cause of piriformis syndrome.
(2) Herniated Discs :-
Pressure caused by a herniated or bulging disc.
A herniation is when a disc protrudes out from between the vertebrae and this can either be caused by an event like a car accident, or, by months or years of uneven pressure due to muscle imbalances.
This can sometimes cause sciatic pain, but it is also important to note that many people with herniated discs don't even experience pain or symptoms, and many don't know they have the condition.
(3) Spinal Stenosis :-
Pressure caused by spinal stenosis, which is a decrease in the space between the vertebrae. This is primarily caused by uneven pressure and compression due to muscle imbalances.
(4) Isthmic Spondylolisthesis :-
Pressure caused by Isthmic spondylolisthesis which is simply when a vertebrae slips or moves. This can sometimes pinch the sciatic nerve but often times people who have this condition don't have any sciatic pain, symptoms, or even know they have it!
As you can see, there is a trend here, in nearly every case of sciatica, muscle imbalances are the primary cause of the pressure being placed on the sciatic nerve.
If you are not sure which one of the four is causing your sciatica, I recommend you start with the basics. Most cases of sciatic pain are caused by muscle imbalances so if you begin to work on correcting any muscle imbalances you have, you should start to see improvement right away, and likely eliminate your sciatic pain in a few weeks or less!
Sciatica comes about either due to a traumatic event, muscle imbalances, or a combination of both. The event scenario is most likely the catalyst for sudden onset of sciatic pain. So what happens? When there is undue stress on the Piriformis muscle that stress causes it to go into spasm and then you have pain due to the Piriformis muscle putting pressure on the sciatic nerve.