Reasons for Lower Back and Leg Pain

Low back pain shooting down your leg is a common issue with a lot of potential reasons. Your symptoms may look a lot like a friend or family members problems but you are actually having a very different issue. If you are not treating the correct source of your pain then you are not going to have a lot of progress in recovery. Correctly diagnosing the source of your pain is going to push you down the most helpful treatment pathway. The treatment for a disc herniation may make lumbar stenosis worse and vice versa. If we can figure out how to classify your pain then we can move forward with recovery using exercise based Chiropractic care. 

Low Back Pain

There are many different reasons why someone might experience pain shooting down their leg. Sciatica is frequently blamed but a true sciatica is not actually as common as people think. Sciatica is when the sciatic nerve gets entrapped by a muscle and creates constant pain down the leg. That same pain can also be caused by a disc herniation, lumbar stenosis, a spondylolisthesis or even inflammation. Figuring out which of these diagnoses is causing your pain may change your treatment method and recovery. Matching each persons pain to the correct pathway is how you are going to make changes and avoid a unwanted surgery. 

Disc

Disc issues are typically the most common causes of shooting leg pain. They are a lot more variable than the other conditions and can frequently cause other nerve symptoms such as weakness or loss of sensation. They can happen from acute injury but also may develop more slowly over time. Recovery can typically be much quicker with this type of issue. 

Sciatica

A true sciatica is typically caused by the Piriformis muscle in the hip tightening up and pinching down on the nerve. This presentation typically come with less low back pain and more hip and leg pain. The symptoms are much more consistent. 

Stenosis

Lumbar Stenosis is a common condition in the elderly population. It is similar to arthritis

in that it develops over time as we age. The canal in the spine that the cord lives in gets smaller with age and can cause some irritation of the nerves. These people often get pain or a ‘zapping’ sensation down both legs that is worse with standing and walking and feels better with sitting. For these people the recovery is typically slower. 

Spondylolisthesis

A spondylolisthesis is when there is slippage of a vertebrae that causes it to move forwards or backwards. The presentation is similar to stenosis but comes from a much younger population and is common in athletes. 

Inflammatory

The last one is inflammation of the nerve. This can come from an infection or some other inflammatory response. This pain is constant and will flare up very easily. Seeing your medical doctor for medications can speed up recovery for these people. 

There are other reasons why you may experience pain shooting down your leg but these are some of the most common ones. Each needs to be managed differently and if you are not making recovery steps then you are going to need to see different specialists. Just because you have a friend or co worker that had success with a treatment strategy does not mean that they same will be the case for you. If you are feeling lost reach out to book a visit for one-on-one Chiropractic care and I can help you sort through it all and figure out a treatment plan that makes sense for you.