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It shouldn’t be terribly shocking to know that the way a person walks and carries their body throughout the day can really play an important role in determining a person’s physical health and well-being. Bad posture can cause uncomfortable physical symptoms, such as neck cramps. As anyone with sciatica pain knows, sometimes it seems that the smallest change in the body can trigger a lasting episode of pain and discomfort of the sciatic nerve.
In this article, we will answer the question, “can bad posture cause sciatica?” And if it can, then we will look at some of the reasons why your bad posture can cause sciatica. Also, we will consider how a chiropractor can help correct your posture and treat your discomfort.
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica describes the pain felt along the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back, through the buttock, hamstrings and lower leg. It describes pain along the path of the sciatic nerve from the lower back, through the hips and buttocks, and from the back of the legs to the feet.
Sciatica usually affects only one leg, but it can be felt on both sides. Sciatica can range from mild discomfort to severe pain and may include numbness, tingling, burning, and weakness. Some people experience greater pain while standing, while others experience greater pain when sitting.
Sciatica pain occurs when something blocks the sciatic nerve. That is, sciatica the pain is caused by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve, usually in the lower back, but sometimes it originates in the hip/buttocks. It can be a bone, a spinal disc or a muscle that is in an incorrect position and now irritates the sciatic nerve. In other words, the cause of sciatica is simply bad posture.
How can bad posture cause sciatica? Continue reading to know!
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This is why learning to walk, sit and move in a good posture can really make a big difference to improve pain, stiffness and the general level of discomfort of the sciatic nerve in your body due to sciatica pain.
When a person’s body has learned from muscle memory to adopt an incorrect posture, they begin to form and take unhealthy patterns of walking and sitting, which can really irritate the sciatic nerve. Bad posture can lead to the development of herniated vertebral discs, which can undoubtedly cause spasms, which cause sciatica or even damage to the sciatic nerve.
Sciatica is often misdiagnosed, which can lead to a slow or non-reactive treatment. Leg pain can come from many sources. It may be a local leg injury or it may even come from the lower back. Effective treatment for sciatica should always focus on finding and repairing the underlying cause of sciatica. This means determining why a herniated disc or why a person has degenerative disc disease. It can also mean determining why a person has muscle spasms.
How can bad posture cause sciatica? Continue reading to know!
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Causes of Sciatica
The pressure exerted on the sciatic nerve by a herniated disc usually causes sciatica. Otherwise, joint inflammation, nerve compression due to bony arthritic growths, or a locked facet joint in the lower spine can usually cause sciatica.
An injury that irritates or pinches the sciatic nerve can cause severe leg pain known as sciatica. You are most likely to have sciatica when you are 30 to 50 years old. This can happen due to the effects of general wear and tear, as well as any sudden pressure on the discs that cushion the vertebrae in your lower (lumbar) spine.
Although there are many causes of sciatica, the most common are:
- Bulging lumbar disc
- Degeneration of the spine
- Facet joint injuries
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Other sources include:
- Piriformis syndrome
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis
- Sacroiliac dysfunction
Symptoms of Sciatica
Sciatica causes pain that usually begins in the lower back and extends through the buttocks, legs, calf and sometimes the foot. The pain can range from dull, painful or burning sensations to sharp pain.
Sciatica can also cause tingling, numbness or muscle weakness in the affected leg. It is very important to consult a doctor in these situations since long-term nerve compression can permanently damage the nerve and its function. In these cases, your symptoms may become permanent.
One or more of the following sensations may occur due to sciatica:
- Back or leg pain that worsens when sitting
- Burning or tingling in the leg
- Weakness, numbness or difficulty in moving the leg or foot.
- Constant pain on one side of the calf
- A sharp pain that makes it hard to get up.
Diagnosis of Sciatica
Sciatica is a clinical diagnosis based on the description of your symptoms, the behavior of your pain and a thorough physical exam.
Although the diagnosis of sciatica is reasonably straightforward, the main cause of your sciatica may require further investigation to rule out or confirm its origin.
Your physical therapist will examine you, paying special attention to your spine and legs. In addition to asking if you have pain in the lower back that extends to the leg and calf, your physiotherapist will evaluate you for muscle weakness, sensory deficits and impaired reflexes in the leg or foot.
They will also want to know if you have had an injury, fever, bowel or bladder control problems, previous cancers and if you have lost weight without trying. The answers to these questions are important because if these symptoms are present, the cause of sciatica could be a serious condition, such as a broken bone, an infection or cancer.
Your physiotherapist or doctor can send you x-rays or arrange a CT scan or an MRI scan to check for problems with the spine that can irritate or compress the sciatic nerve. Most cases of sciatica affect the L5 or S1 nerve roots.
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How Can Bad Posture Cause Sciatica?
If you have bad posture and also have pain in the sciatic nerve, it is safe to say that these two problems are more than likely related to each other. Even if you do not have pain in the sciatic nerve, if you have bad posture, you may end up having negative health problems. You may even end up developing pain in the sciatic nerve later if your posture remains uncontrolled.
How Your Bad walking Posture Can Cause Sciatica
Walking right is something that most people take for granted. In fact, it would never have occurred to the average person that he is not walking in the correct way.
Sciatica occurs because something (bone, disc or muscle) is getting in the way of the sciatic nerve. When we walk and stand properly, we align our bones more efficiently. This will create a much better path for sciatic nerve flow.
Our walking and standing posture determines the path of the sciatic nerve. Bad gait patterns basically erect obstacles along the way, allowing constant skeletal misalignment and improper use of muscles.
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Effects of Poor Posture On the Body
If the sciatic nerve touches any of these obstacles, such as slipped or herniated discs, or a piriformis muscle in spasm, the likely result is sciatic pain.
Bone and nerve Network
Our bones support us while our muscles make us move. The nerves send messages that move the bones through the muscles.
For this to go well, the body must be correctly aligned. The legs must be under the pelvis and the spine aligned directly on the pelvis. When this happens, and, to be honest, it rarely happens, nerves can circulate freely throughout the body.
Walking correctly is basically the act of falling forward and catching yourself, again and again, all day. As the body is propelled into space, the brain will tell the hind leg to move forward to prevent us from falling. This is how it should happen.
But, for some reason, most people tend to lean back slightly with their legs moving before the trunk. Hence, the rest of the body must be dragged to catch up.
If the legs move forward first, the pelvis is placed in a folded position. This shortens or compresses the piriformis muscle and flattens the lumbar spine. These two factors increase the likelihood that the muscles, bones or disc reach the sciatic nerve.
This bad walking posture can cause sciatica.
How can bad posture cause sciatica? Continue reading to know!
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Effects of Bad Posture on the Muscular and Skeletal Systems
How Your Bad Sitting Posture Can Cause Sciatica
Since the pinched or irritated sciatic nerve is the cause of sciatic pain, poor posture can contribute to this irritation. Even if you treat the underlying cause of sciatica, if you feel bad and put pressure on the nerve, it can trigger a sciatica attack. If you learn to sit in a good posture, you can relieve some of this pressure and feel less pain and less thrust.
If you sit cross-legged or tucked up under the chair, reduce circulation and exert excessive pressure on the lower back. Sitting in the correct posture reduces pressure on the spine and prevents nerves from compressing.
A good sitting posture does not mean that you should sit rigidly straight. When you sit down, your abdominal muscles and the muscles of your back work together to keep you upright. When you lean forward or bend over, these muscles cannot do their job and can get tense. If your muscles cannot keep your spine aligned, it can cause sciatic nerve irritation.
This simply shows that a bad sitting posture can cause sciatica.
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Summary and Recommendation
Now you know that bad posture can cause sciatica. It can negatively affect your blood circulation and spinal alignment. Since sciatica is a symptom of a major problem, you should talk to your doctor to determine the main cause of your sciatica pain. Once you know what causes it, you can take steps to reduce pain and, hopefully, reduce its impact on your daily life.
In addition to seeing your doctor and remember to always have a good posture. For those that sit for a long time, you should get up and move around every twenty minutes. Walking and gentle stretching during the day are excellent ways to keep the spine flexible and healthy, reducing the chances of irritating the sciatic nerve.
Fortunately, chiropractic care can help treat sciatic nerve pain while correcting the posture. These subluxations often cause inflammation and stiffness in the body and can worsen the pain in the sciatic nerve. Using manual manipulation techniques, a chiropractor can gently correct these misalignments in his spine so that, over time, you can experience greater pain relief and an even more stable posture.
