sciatica
Understand your sciatica.
Sciatica can cause pain, tingling or numbness that travels from the lower back or buttock into the leg, sometimes with weakness in the leg or foot. Explore common symptom patterns and causes to better understand what you may be experiencing.
Where do you feel your symptoms?
Click or hover over an area to see common symptom patterns.
Select an area
Choose a highlighted area to explore common sciatica symptom patterns.
Related conditions will appear here.
These are examples of common symptom patterns associated with sciatica. Symptoms can vary depending on the nerve root involved, and location alone cannot confirm the cause or diagnosis.
Common causes of sciatica
Explore some of the common conditions that can irritate
or compress nerves in the lower back and cause symptoms into the buttock or leg.
Lumbar Disc Herniation
A disc in the lower back can bulge or herniate and irritate a nearby nerve root, causing pain, tingling, numbness or weakness that may travel into the leg.
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Narrowing within the spinal canal can reduce space around the nerves and contribute to back or leg symptoms, often aggravated by prolonged standing or walking.
Foraminal Stenosis
Narrowing of the openings where spinal nerves exit the spine can irritate or compress a nerve root and produce radiating pain, tingling, numbness or weakness.
Spondylolisthesis
A vertebra that shifts relative to the one below it can reduce space around the nerves and, in some people, contribute to sciatica or other nerve-related leg symptoms.
Degenerative Disc Disease
Age-related changes in the spinal discs can reduce disc height and contribute to narrowing around nearby nerve roots, sometimes producing sciatic-type symptoms.
Lumbar Osteoarthritis / Bone Spurs
Arthritic changes in the lumbar spine can lead to bone spur formation and narrowing around the nerves, which may contribute to nerve irritation or compression.
Other causes or conditions we consider: deep gluteal/piriformis-related symptoms
Sciatica can feel different for everyone
You might be experiencing
Pain travelling from the lower back into the buttock or leg
Sharp, burning or electric-shock pain
Numbness or tingling in the leg or foot
Weakness in the leg, ankle or foot
Pain aggravated by coughing, sneezing or prolonged sitting
Difficulty standing or walking
Seek emergency medical care for new difficulty controlling or emptying your bladder or bowel, numbness around the groin or saddle area, or rapidly worsening weakness in both legs.
