Hello and welcome to another episode of Health Matters. My name is Dr. Michael Culemi. And today I'm going to be taking you through a journey of demystifying sciatica. We're going to understand the symptoms, the causes, and the treatment options. In today's episode, understanding

sciatica is such an important topic because it's a condition that affects millions of

adults at some point in their lives. Pretty much anybody you know at some point in their lives.

Pretty much anybody you know at some point in their life had some form of sciatica.

So we're going to dive into the latest medical knowledge.

We're going to try to give you this knowledge to have you have a better, happier, healthier, and pain-free life.

So we're going to really break down the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment options, from non-invasive treatment options to medical interventions.

Our goal is to provide you with comprehensive information that can guide you towards effective,

pain-free lifestyle.

Okay, so what is sciatica?

The term sciatica, ooh, big scary term. No, sciatica is

referring to pain that is along the pant of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve branches from

your lower back, goes through your buttocks into your hip and down your leg.

Typically, sciatica affects one side of your body.

Ciatica is typically caused by a herniated disc, a bone spur, or narrowing of the spine, which is called spinal stenosis.

That's compressing part of that nerve.

That's what that is.

So when you compress part of a nerve, this causes inflammation, pain, and numbness

along that leg.

sciatica is generally considered a condition rather than a diagnosis.

So what that means is when someone says, oh, I have sciatica, that's not a diagnosis.

That's really a condition.

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