It often happens that for no apparent reason the back begins to hurt, and the pain spreads to certain parts of the leg.
Sometimes this pain is one-sided, strong and aching, and sometimes it is accompanied by lumbago.
In this condition, it is very difficult to walk, carry heavy objects, not to mention walking or running quickly.
Even if the patient decides to “wait out” the pain, the expectation can turn against him - most often, the unpleasant sensations may disappear for a short time, and then appear again.
The pain will not go away on its own; you need to contact a specialist to determine its true cause.
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The causes of such pain can be diseases of the lumbar and sacral spine, as well as accompanying damage to the tissues of the nervous system and the membranes of the spinal cord.
To establish the true cause of the pain, it is important to contact an experienced specialist for a complete examination of the condition of the spine and prescribe the necessary treatment.
Among the causes of pain radiating to the leg, there are several diseases. Let's take a closer look at them.
Radicular syndrome is a pathological condition associated with dysfunction of the nerve roots and provoked by a disease of the spinal column.
The disease manifests itself in a disorder of motor, autonomic and sensory functions.
Depending on the type of syndrome, several manifestations of the disease are distinguished:
Treatment of the disease should be prescribed by a doctor - in addition to the measures taken, hypothermia and heavy stress on the spine are not recommended. With the right approach to treatment and prevention, it is possible to avoid exacerbation of the disease and reduce pain. Similar recommendations are given for the following diseases, accompanied by back pain and radiating to the leg:
The cause of pain in the lumbar region is often a pinched sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body, which is formed as a result of the union of the lumbar and sacral nerve roots.
When a nerve is compressed during the progression of a spinal hernia, osteochondrosis, as well as between bone growths (osteophytes), a sharp pain occurs that spreads along the back of the thigh, lower leg and foot.
During the treatment of pinching, the main manifestations of the pathology – pain and muscle spasm – are first eliminated. Treatment should be carried out with the help of various medications (painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants), which should be prescribed by a doctor. Further treatment consists of physiotherapy and recreational physical exercises of increasing intensity.
In folk medicine, there are many recipes that will help get rid of back pain - before using this or that medicine, it is important to know the cause of the pain and deal with it.
Depending on the disease, recipes based on herbs, berries, dried flowers are recommended, but for the treatment of any disease with leg pain the following is prescribed:
Incorrect or untimely action can lead to temporary or complete loss of the ability to lead an active lifestyle.
When back pain radiates to the leg, this is a fairly well-known problem for many. In most cases, people believe that the problem is in the spine, and it is not very often that they are wrong in their assumptions. But osteochondrosis is not the only possible disease that causes such pain.
Osteochondrosis is the most common cause of back pain
In fact, osteochondrosis and its consequences are the most common cause of lower back pain. But it is not the only one, and ignoring such pain can cause serious harm to your body.
In particular, pain of this type may indicate urolithiasis. In this case, the pain can be very strong and not have a clear localization, so people often mistakenly believe that the problem is in the back. However, when it comes to colic, any doctor will quickly figure out the reasons. But in this case, you should still consult a doctor, since the pain is very severe, often simply unbearable.
There are many other diseases that cause back pain that radiates to the leg. For example, pyelonephritis, inflammation of the uterine appendages, cystitis, etc. Such pain can appear with problems of the prostate gland, if we are talking about men, and in women it simply accompanies menstruation. In some cases, an attack of acute appendicitis may also begin with back pain.
You shouldn’t wait for this type of pain to go away on its own - there is a risk of simply not waiting for this moment, causing yourself additional troubles along the way!
When back pain radiates to the leg, the cause most often lies in the spine. But such pain has several names. These names refer to various pain syndromes in which pain of this kind appears:
What should a doctor do in such a situation? Especially in those cases when you, in a tone that does not tolerate objections, demand from him strong painkillers in order to eliminate the pain that interferes so much with you in everyday life. What kind of reaction do you want from the doctor - for him to cure you, or give you the drugs that you require? Since attempts to convince you are usually unsuccessful, your doctor warns you that this is not an option. This is if the doctor is experienced and responsible. And a young and inexperienced doctor will simply give you the required prescription.
And what will happen next? For some time you will be able to “numb out” the pain with another drug, firmly believing that this will relieve you of the problem. In fact, the opposite is true - you are simply trying to “hide” from the pain, and the disease gradually progresses .
In fact, in such a situation, anti-inflammatory drugs are mainly used, they are the ones that provide the desired effect - inflammation subsides and pain disappears. Otherwise, treatment can vary greatly and depend entirely on what caused the pain. Only massage and therapeutic exercises used in the treatment of almost all back diseases remain common.
So if you want to get rid of pain once and for all, then contact an experienced specialist and follow his recommendations, he knows best how to save you from such unpleasant pain syndromes.
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There are practically no people who have never had lower back pain in their lives. Sometimes such pains cause a lot of discomfort. The situation becomes especially unpleasant if the back pain radiates to the leg. In such cases, it is not uncommon to develop weakness in the legs and sensory disturbances. It is worth understanding this problem in more detail - what its causes are and how you can deal with them.
Usually, with such pain, a person is bothered by the lower back, which can “shoot in the leg,” as well as a feeling of numbness or crawling in the legs. Often a sick person has cramps at night and is worried about severe weakness, especially in the leg, where the pain radiates more.
You should pay attention to the condition of the blood vessels in the legs, because sometimes pain in the legs can be caused by their insufficient work, while the back aches on its own.
According to neurologists, the dominant cause of back pain is degenerative diseases of the spine, the first of which is osteochondrosis.
With this disease, gradual destruction of all structures of the spine occurs, including intervertebral joints, intervertebral discs, and the vertebral bodies themselves.
During the development of osteochondrosis, the height of the entire spinal column and its individual segments decreases. As a result of this, as well as the development of inflammation of the intervertebral joints, compression of the spinal cord roots, which are responsible for the work of the muscles of the whole body, sensitivity, and regulation of the functions of internal organs, can occur.
The image shows part of the spinal cord with a nerve root. Pinching it leads to pain and decreased sensitivity of some areas of the skin.
It is the inflammatory processes near the roots of the spinal cord that cause pain and decreased sensitivity in some areas of the skin. Sometimes there is a malfunction in the functioning of internal organs.
Almost always, pain leads to the development of muscle spasm, which further aggravates the degree of compression of the root and closes a kind of vicious circle: “compression of the roots – inflammation – pain – muscle spasm – increased compression of the roots.”
The development of pain and other symptoms depends on the location of the inflammatory process. If your back hurts and radiates to your leg, it means that the inflammatory process occurs in the lumbosacral spine, which is responsible for the function of the leg muscles, their sensitivity and some other functions.
In addition to osteochondrosis, a number of reasons should also be highlighted that can lead to compression of the spinal cord roots and the inflammatory process:
Causes leading to pain in the back, legs and not related to the spine are extremely rare. These include:
All these conditions can be easily excluded by undergoing an examination and passing a minimum of tests.
To determine the relationship between back and leg pain, an examination by a specialist is necessary. Even with the help of the simplest instruments, a neurological hammer and a needle, it is possible to determine the level of damage, identify sensory disturbances, involvement of joints in the pathological process, and much more.
After the initial examination, an x-ray examination of the lumbosacral region should usually be performed. However, for such a study, a complete cleansing of the intestines should be performed. The degree of clarity of radiographic images is inferior to modern research methods - MSCT and MRI, so at the moment they are preferred.
According to the examination data, it is possible to determine the presence of degenerative changes in the spine, the presence or absence of hernias and protrusions of discs, and identify the oncological process. A certain pattern of changes may indicate an infectious lesion.
If there is severe weakness in the leg, complete absence of sensitivity below a certain level, it makes sense to conduct an electroneuromyographic study. This will allow you to determine or exclude the presence of nerve damage at the leg level, which may be caused by trauma, trophic disorders, tumor and other reasons.
So what to do if your back and legs hurt? The answer is simple - seek help from a doctor. After undergoing the necessary examination and determining the cause of the disease, therapy should begin, affecting all symptoms of the disease. Also, if possible, you should begin to eliminate its cause.
Drug treatment for spinal pathology consists of a set of measures:
All these measures are necessary if your back hurts, and now your leg suddenly hurts. They allow you to relieve exacerbations and quickly put a sick person on his feet.
In conclusion, it should be said that a person’s health is initially in his hands. The simplest preventive measures, periodic examinations, monitoring and timely treatment of existing spinal diseases will allow you to forget about what back pain is!
This type of pain makes it difficult not only to live, but even to walk. How is it that painful irritation originating in the back can penetrate the limb and lead to lameness? Although the source is located much higher, we feel its influence at such a great distance: our back hurts, but our legs go numb and drag. How does back pain radiate to the leg ?
This occurs due to the nervous reflex nature of the pain syndrome, its ability to spread along the entire length of the nerve emerging from the spinal cord. If this nerve is irritated somewhere, then a distant response occurs.
In the lumbosacral region there is a plexus of nerve fibers emerging from the vertebrae L4, L5 and S1 - S3. This plexus is called the sciatic nerve. Coming from the piriformis muscle, it literally branches out into the gluteal, thigh and ankle muscles and joints, being the most powerful and longest nerve in the human body.
Inflammation of the sciatic nerve is reflected in this way in the lower extremities. Pain that appears in the lower back and responds in the legs is called lumboischialgia . Usually one leg suffers (pains or pulls), on the side of the inflamed nerve, but there is also a bilateral reaction, in which both legs hurt.
Everything is not limited to pain, and the patient is haunted by other unpleasant sensations:
If the nerve is affected at the level of the sacrum, involving the muscles of the buttock and thigh, then the pain syndrome from the sacrum to the foot is called sciatica.
Very often people divide back and leg pain into two different categories and do not see the root cause. “My right knee hurts, my feet are numb. I can’t step on my foot or climb stairs,” they describe in detail the condition of their limbs, forgetting about the back pain that preceded it all. One is also surprised at the “incompetence” of doctors who, instead of treating arthrosis of the knee joint, suddenly begin to deal with the spine.
But it is the spine with its complex nervous, musculo-ligamentous and vascular system that is the root cause of lumboischialgia.
They are caused by disc deformations that affect nerve fibers and cause inflammation.
Tingling, burning, crawling, feeling of cold.
Such symptoms are called paresthesia .
If your legs no longer hurt, but only go numb, this may mean that due to prolonged compression of the nerve fibers, atrophic processes have begun in them
Based on their origin, all types of back pain that radiate to the extremities can be roughly divided into three main groups:
The first group is associated with the neuroreflex nature of the pain syndrome and pathological processes in the spine.
This can include all DDP (degenerative-dystrophic processes), due to which all metabolic processes in tissues and their nutrition are disrupted, as well as infectious, inflammatory diseases and congenital spinal dysplasia.
The threat to nerve fibers is twofold:
The second group is associated with muscle dysfunction in the back or legs
The reasons for this, in turn, are different. This:
Autonomic dysfunction is the third type of origin of lumboischialgia
Autonomic-visceral disorders are a huge symptom complex that includes all disorders in the functioning of internal organs and body systems associated with misregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)
The autonomic system is closely connected with the central system according to the principle of direct and feedback:
Especially often, problems with legs can arise with vegetative-vascular disorders in the lumbosacral region of the back.
Poor blood supply can lead to pain in the back and limbs, degeneration of the leg muscles and numbness..
Summarizing the above, we can conclude:
You can find out why your legs hurt, feel tight and go numb due to pain originating in the back only after a thorough diagnosis:
Treatment must be completely adequate to the causes of the disease.
Treatment of referred pain is always a long process, since they usually occur with chronic, long-standing diseases that affect the human nervous system
Therefore, if your back hurts, try to immediately determine the cause of the pain and begin treatment, without waiting for the moment when your legs begin to hurt, go numb or pull.
Video: If back pain radiates to the leg, exercises will help
This concept refers to pain in the lower back, in which the pain “radiates” to one or both legs. The cause is almost always increased physical activity or hypothermia.
The nature and location of the pain is not clear - the pain can be both strong and weak, burning or aching, it can be more pronounced both in the lower back and in the leg.
Clinical differences in pain syndromes in the lumbosacral region
Pain in the lower back can vary in form, and each of these forms has its own clinical manifestations:
This is one of the many types of radiculopathy. With this disease, the sciatic nerve is damaged, which is why it is characterized by the presence of back pain radiating to the posterior surface of the buttock and lower leg (but the pain does not reach the toes).
Painful sensations are often accompanied by a feeling of chilliness or heat. It should be noted that pain always appears suddenly, most often it is provoked by staying in one position for a long time or, conversely, by awkward movement or lifting something heavy.
The pain can be of different types: increasing, aching or burning.
Lower back pain radiates to the upper part of the leg - this is a typical prolapse syndrome or protrusion of a lumbar hernia. Similar pain in the sacral region occurs with tumors of the sacral plexus and spinal cord.
Bursitis of the gluteal muscles cannot be excluded, which can be confirmed by sweating disorders, or vasculitis-neuropathy of the sciatic nerve, which is ischemic in nature.
A dull ache in the lower back, back, or back of the leg. Neuropathy is quite likely - piriformis syndrome, when the sciatic nerve is pinched and inflamed.
The pain is usually located in the piriformis muscle, where the nerve exits, and is localized along the entire back of the thigh to the foot. If the sciatic nerve is compressed due to severe decompression, atrophy of the buttock area may develop.
With all the variety of forms and localization of pain, the cause is almost always the same - lumbosacral radiculitis, which appears as a result of osteochondrosis. Often such lower back pain is preceded by attacks of lumbago, lumbodynia and lumboischialgia.
Common etiological factors include:
Pain in the knees and lower back indicates the presence of a disease associated with the hip joint.
In addition, lower back pain with characteristic radiation to the legs can be observed with muscle strain, inflammation of the nerves, and even during pregnancy. To more accurately determine the cause or exclude the possible development of the disease, please contact our doctors for an online consultation.
A common cause of the pain in question is lumboischialgia, which develops with the assistance of factors such as:
You can’t let such pain radiate to your legs. This disease gradually becomes chronic, expressed by exacerbations and incomplete remissions, affecting performance.
Depending on the type of pain, three forms of lumboischialgia are conventionally distinguished, which can be combined with each other:
The nerve roots are affected and cause pain when intervertebral hernias prolapse and discs are displaced. Awkward movement or improper load leads to such consequences. After five to seven days it spreads and spreads to the legs. The nature of the pain is varied:
Treatment of radicular syndromes should be carried out by a qualified specialist. You can learn more about further actions using an online consultation with a doctor.
What is the cause of these pains? The bottom line is that a similar condition with pain in the back and leg is characteristic of inflammation of the sciatic nerve. Being the thickest, longest, and, accordingly, the most powerful in the human body, the sciatic nerve is easily vulnerable. Originating from the roots of the lumbar and sacral spinal nerves, this nerve can become thickened due to swelling and inflammation with subsequent entrapment at the intervertebral foramina.
In all these conditions, due to pinching of the sciatic nerve, a person experiences pain in the lumbar and sacral areas. And back pain radiates to the leg for the simple reason that the sciatic nerve runs through the gluteal region, the back of the thigh, branches and descends along the back of the lower leg to the plantar surface of the foot.
And the localization of pain strictly follows the course of the affected sciatic nerve.
Pain in the lower back (according to medical terminology - lumboischialgia) can manifest itself in different ways. In addition to the pain itself, there may be numbness and decreased sensitivity in the lower extremities, unpleasant sensations in the form of cold, heat, and crawling. Depending on the predominance of certain symptoms, there are three main clinical forms of lumboischialgia:
The muscular-tonic form of lumboischialgia is accompanied by spasm of the lumbar muscles
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system are caused by a variety of reasons. These could be injuries, infections, degenerative processes.
Many diseases are similar in their symptoms to each other, but only professional diagnostics can indicate the correct diagnosis. The main diagnostic methods are:.
Treatment should be selected in full compliance with the cause of the disease. After all, some means may be completely incompatible in different cases. Therefore, proper diagnosis is the key to successful recovery.
The attending physician may prescribe:
If your back hurts, your leg hurts right down to your foot, or there is tension in the lower abdomen, the doctor will refer the person for a comprehensive examination. The following examinations are most often prescribed:
In any case, only a doctor can make a final diagnosis. Based on the results of the surveys conducted. The most informative of them are:
Successful treatment of back diseases depends on a person’s faith in his recovery, as well as the correct treatment regimen, which is prescribed by a doctor and consists of:
It is carried out in exceptional cases, only when conservative treatment does not give encouraging results. During it, defects of the vertebrae and discs, pressure on the nerve roots and other pathologies are eliminated.
Until recently, laminectomy was considered the standard operation for removing intervertebral hernia. The method has significant disadvantages, such as high trauma and difficult postoperative recovery, and there is a high probability of relapses.
At the moment, less traumatic techniques have been developed, in which the trepanation window is reduced as much as possible. Inlaminar hernia removal is considered the most acceptable method of surgical intervention.
Further improvement of methods follows the path of microsurgical removal with a reduction in the size of the surgical injury.
Most people suffering from back pain that radiates to the leg resort to treatment at home.
What can alleviate the condition?
As soon as pain appears in the back area, you should immediately stop exercising. You can’t carry heavy weights, overexert yourself or exercise on exercise machines. When the first pain appears, you must ensure complete rest and do not put strain on your back and legs.
Healthy foods and healthy foods will help strengthen the body and saturate it with vitamins and nutrients. Even if this does not directly affect recovery, it will allow the body to quickly cope with the disease.
At the time of exacerbation of lower back pain, radiating to the left, right leg or buttock, treatment is primarily aimed at relieving the pain reaction. For this it is recommended:
The use of medications alleviates the patient’s condition and relieves inflammation in the lower back. Based on their mode of action, medications used in these situations are divided into the following groups.
Women during pregnancy should pay special attention to the use of medications, as contraindications are likely.
Only a doctor can recommend taking medications. When using them, you must strictly observe the dosage and carefully follow the instructions for use.
As additional supportive measures, if a person has lower back pain and radiates to the leg, a system of procedures is used. They are necessary to reduce painful reactions, improve blood flow, and restore metabolic processes. In the absence of contraindications, it is recommended:
A course course of any of these procedures is required; a repetition of the course is usually prescribed after 2-3 weeks.
For lower back pain on the right or left, wearing a bandage often helps. Elderly people also wear a warming belt for the same purpose.
It can be made from a regular scarf or shawl. They also rub the sore spot with special means that have a warming effect, they remarkably reduce pain.
Read a detailed article about left lower back pain
In addition to the above measures, physical therapy complexes are often used. A specially selected system of exercises can reduce or even completely eliminate lower back pain. This is possible by observing the principle of regularity and compliance of exercises with age and physique.
Be sure to watch the video that shows exercises for the lumbar region.
In the most difficult cases, the patient may be offered a solution to the problem through surgery.
Official medicine treats lumboischialgia with general and local medications. In this capacity, anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, drugs that stimulate metabolic processes and improve blood circulation in affected areas are used.
Pharmacological drugs are used in various dosage forms - tablets, ointments, injection solutions.
In order not to endure severe pain, and after treatment not to worry that the discomfort will ever return, engage in prevention.
It consists of medicinal methods (taking chondroprotectors - medications that block degenerative processes and help the functioning of intervertebral discs) and moderate physical activity (swimming, yoga, physical therapy, taking courses of acupuncture and massage).
We also recommend that you get acquainted with exercises to strengthen your back, since therapeutic exercises have proven their effectiveness.
Among the risk groups are people involved in
physical labor, especially in cold weather conditions, athletes, older men and women (after 40 years). Prevention is easier than cure, so following these simple rules will help you stay healthy and save you money:
Sometimes the pain becomes unbearable and deprives a person of sleep and active life. Therefore, it is beneficial for you to prevent the appearance of alarming symptoms. And if you have already developed a similar disease, do not delay diagnosis and treatment, because in the early stages there is a chance to get rid of the disease without a trace.
During the remission stage, doctors recommend an integrated approach. This may include the following measures.