If you have ever had sciatica pain, you know the frustration of trying to relieve that nagging, seemingly elusive shock down the back of your leg. It radiates down the sciatic nerve from your lower back to your hips, buttocks, and leg. Maybe the best way to prevent its return is understanding the common causes of worsening sciatica pain.
Common Risks Factors for Sciatica Pain
Sciatica pain occurs mainly from a pinched sciatic nerve that tends to start with symptoms in the lower back. It can be due to a pinched nerve caused by a herniated disc in the spine, a bone spur on the vertebrae, or sometimes due to a tumor compressing the nerve.
Typical risk factors include the following:
- Obesity, which increases the stress on your spine and triggers sciatica pain
- Age plays a role in sciatica pain as it leads to bone spurs and herniated discs
- A job that requires heavy lifting, twisting and lifting, or driving for long hours may cause sciatica pain
- Sitting for long periods of time
- Someone with diabetes risks nerve damage
Causes of Worsening Sciatica Pain
If you suffer from this condition, try to avoid these common causes of worsening sciatic pain.
Tight Fitting Clothes
Many people find that wearing tight clothing like jeans, underwear, and tight fitting pants can seem to trigger a bout of sciatica. Try to style yourself in more loose and flowy fabrics instead.
High Heels
We know ladies, that is truly a bummer. It’s terrible to think that those gorgeous stilettos are causing you such pain, but it’s true. When you wear heels, it causes your body to push your weight forward. In turn, this movement in your pelvis stretches the hamstring in the back of your legs. Unfortunately, the sciatic nerve runs along the hamstrings, so when you stretch them too much, too often, you can irritate the sciatic nerve.
Try wearing your heels less often or ditching them altogether.
Stress
Not all medical professionals accept this theory, but those that do say if you hold on to stress, it can induce sciatica pain. They believe emotions can play a large part rather in your lower back pain, and when we are stressed, our brain doesn’t get sufficient nerve oxygen, so we end up with painful symptoms of sciatica.
Carrying Things in Your Back Pocket
Carrying things like a cell phone or wallet filled with money and credit cards in a back pocket might not seem important, but apparently, it can lead to sciatica pain, and “nerve compression syndrome.”
The problem stems from sitting for a period of time with these items pressing against the piriformis muscle which is located on top of the sciatic nerve.
Stop Suffering and Seek Treatment!
If you have periodic sciatica pain, you might want to avoid these common causes of sciatica pain. Contact Spine & Scoliosis Specialists for an evaluation if you frequently suffer from sciatica pain.
As always, if you have any further questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please call 336.333.6306 or request an appointment online today!