What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is defined as an inflammation of the sciatic nerve. If you have ever suffered from the pain of pressure on the sciatic nerve, you know how excruciatingly painful it can be. It may manifest as a burning or tingling feeling followed by numbness. Sciatica does not just go away on its own. You must discover why the pain is there and how to relieve the condition that caused it. Sciatic pain can be treated with massage combined with stretching exercises to keep the area of the sciatic nerve from being compressed.
What causes sciatic pain?
The sciatic nerve is like a rope made up of several nerve roots stemming from the lower back and sacral area combining to make a nerve matrix as large as your thumb. This is susceptible to nerve compression. Since this nerve runs down the back of the thigh and lower leg it also causes leg pain. The pain can result from sitting in one position too long such as with secretaries or long haul truck drivers. Women who wear very high heels suffer from sciatic pain as well. Another well known cause of sciatic pain is a slipped or...
This led to the isolation of the sciatic nerve, found between the hamstring and heel on the lateral side of the thigh. Using fingers, the seams along the quadriceps and hamstring underwent a blunt dissection. In doing so, the glass-dissection probe was used to free the sciatic nerve embedded in the tissues. A four-inch string was inserted between the nerve and the tissue. Then the transducer was calibrated using a fifty-gram block under the “Frog Muscle” program.
Availability of nerve block therapy, chiropractic treatment and high dose of pain medicine which will promote numbness, reduce sciatic nerve pain, minimize fatigue and decrease pain sensation. Similarly, implanted pain pumps which delivers a medicine directly to the spinal cord and symptoms can be controlled by smaller dose than needed dose with oral medication.
Flaccid dysarthria results from damage to the lower motor neurons (LMN) or the peripheral nervous system (Hageman, 1997). The characteristics of flaccid dysarthria generally reflect damage to cranial nerves with motor speech functions (e.g., cranial nerves IX, X, XI and XII) (Seikel, King & Drumright, 2010). Lower motor neurons connect the central nervous system to the muscle fibers; from the brainstem to the cranial nerves with motor function, or from the anterior horns of grey matter to the spinal nerves (Murdoch, 1998). If there are lesions to spinal nerves and the cranial nerves with motor speech functions, it is indicative of a lower motor neuron lesion and flaccid dysarthria. Damage to lower motor neurons that supply the speech muscles is also known as bulbar palsy (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Potential etiologies of flaccid dysarthria include spinal cord injury, cerebrovascular accidents, tumors or traumatic brain injury (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Possible congenital etiologies of flaccid dysarthria include Moebius syndrome and cerebral palsy. Flaccid dysarthria can also arise from infections such as polio, herpes zoster, and secondary infections to AIDS (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Additionally, demyelinating diseases such as Guilian-Barre syndrome and myotonic muscular dystrophy can also lead to flaccid dysarthria (Pena-Brookes & Hedge, 2007). The lower motor neuron lesion results in loss of voluntary muscle control, and an inability to maintain muscle tone. Fasciculations, or twitching movements, may occur if the cell body is involved in the lesion (Seikel et. al., 2010). The primary speech characteristics of flaccid dysarthria include imprecise consonant production, hypernasal resonance, breathiness, and harsh voice (...
Gadsby, JG: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Chronic Low back Pain. Cochrane Review Abstracts. December 1997
Shin splints are a type of exercise-related problem which is usually associated with running and other intense physical activities involving your legs. Shin splints are described as the pain at the inner edge of your lower leg, specifically your shinbone or tibia.
Currently, I am involved in a prospective cohort study with other colleagues from King Fahad Medical City that aims to study the effect of a low back care educational program on low back pain prevalence among health-care professionals.
Depending on which of your joints is affected, you may find this pain spreads. For example, if you have osteoarthritis in your hip, you may have pain down the side or front of your thigh and into your buttock. This is called radiated pain.
Spinal fusion stabilizes the spinal vertebra by fusing the disk spaces between the vertebra. The purpose of Lumbar fusion surgery is designed to help create solid bone between the adjoining vertebra. Classically Autograft bone has been used for fusion. This case study demonstrates the successful use of a synthetic bone graft called Signafuse. Signafuse is a moldable bone graft comprising a proprietary combination of patented bioactive glass particles and biphasic mineral granules suspended in a patented resorbable polymer carrier.
Peripheral and central mechanisms involving nerve lesions and their input are substantial when perceiving phantom pain. Due to the impairment of peripheral nerves in the process of amputation, regenerative sprouting of damaged axons occurs and the activity rate of inflamed C-fibres and demyelinated A-fibres spontaneously increases (Flor, 2002). As a consequence of this nerve injury, a neuroma, which is a mass of pruned and tangled axons, may form in the residual limb producing abnormal (ectopic) activity (Katz, 1992). Flor, Nikolajsen and Jenson (2006) proposed that ectopic discharge from a neuroma in the stump illustrates abnormal afferent input to the spinal cord, which is a possible mechanism for unpro...
The big picture. Where the two schools of medicine differ is in philosophy. Doctors of osteopathy "treat people, not just symptoms," says Karen Nichols, dean of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. "The course list looks exactly the same, but the M.D.'s focus is on discrete organs. The osteopathic focus is that all of those pieces are interrelated. You can't affect one with out affecting another." That means paying more than simple lip service to the idea of the "whole" patient: It means that diagnosis and treatment rely on an examination of a person's environment and family and general situation as well as his or her body. Not surprisingly, about 65 percent of the nation's 52,000 licensed osteopaths (by comparison, the country boasts at least 900,000 M.D.'s) are primary-care physicians. The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine has a description of osteopathic training, as well as short profiles of 20 schools, at www.aacom.org. The D.O. programs and their contact information are listed in the directory section of this book.
Simple musculoskeletal back pain has symptoms of pain in the lumbrasacral area of the back (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). The upper thighs and knees are also known to be affected (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). This pain is usually described as a dull pain (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). Spinal nerve root pain is localised down the leg, and usually continues below the knee and into the feet (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). It has been d...
Bone diseases most directly influence the ability to walk or to move any part of the body--hands, limbs, neck, and spine. They are related to joint disorders--ARTHRITIS, COLLAGEN DISEASE, DISLOCATION of joints, and RHEUMATISM. The medical specialty pertaining to bone disorders is ORTHOPEDICS. Fractures are the most common bone disorders. They can occur as the result of an accident or be secondary to metabolic diseases.
Scoliosis is a disease that attacks the muscles and ligaments of the spinal column, causing a sideways twisting and rotation of the spine, ribs, and pelvis. Its is a C-shaped or S-shaped curvature of the spine. An S-shaped curve is created when a secondary curve counterbalances primary abnormal curve. It severely impairs the bodies neurological, hormonal, and nutritional systems.
According to the MediLexicon Medical Dictionary, muscular dystrophy is defined as a general term for a number of hereditary, progressive degenerative disorders affecting skeletal muscles, and often other organ systems (Staff). Basically what that means is that muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that is passed down that affects the skeletal muscles and other organs by slowly breaking them down. Since it is genetic, it is not contagious and you cannot catch it from someone who has it. MD weakens muscles over time, so children, teens, and adults who have the disease can gradually lose the ability to do the things most people take for granted, like walking or sitting up. Someone with MD might start having muscle problems as a baby or their symptoms might start later. Some people even develop MD as adults (Clark, 2010).
Tim is a 50 year old hill farmer experiencing low back pain radiating into posterior aspect (R) thigh, sometimes accompanied by P&N. It has been present for about 6 months. This pain is intermittent aggravated by walking and standing. He is currently experiencing difficulties at work (W 6/10) pain is relieved by flexing the spine or lying down. He has no Red flags, but some concerns about his future.