‘Shooting’ pains in the leg may be indicative of sciatica. Sciatica is the term used to describe a set of symptoms caused by any one of a number of conditions, including disc problems, spinal stenosis, or trauma to the lower back. Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation, located in Red Bank, NJ, provides comprehensive and multi-disciplinary programs of pain management for the issues that cause sciatica symptoms. We are committed to providing the very best in care so that patients can experience relief and a return to normal movement without surgery or long-term drug use.
Sciatica is generally described as pain in the left or right leg—this pain may be minor or severe. For many patients, sciatica pain is a ‘shooting’ pain similar to electricity. It may be felt as a ‘burning’ sensation or even numbness or tingling. These abnormal sensations are sometimes similar to the feelings experienced when your leg ‘falls asleep,’ and are, for some sufferers, completely unbearable. Others live with mild symptoms that are merely annoying.
Because the sciatic nerves travel from the lower back, under the buttocks, and down the legs, symptoms may affect any of these areas. Muscle weakness also occurs in some patients.
The symptoms of sciatica are caused by the compression of one or more of the five sets of paired nerve roots in the lower back that give rise to the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is a condition known as a lumbar radiculopathy, a type of neuropathy (a condition whereby one or more nerves is negatively affected and can no longer work properly). A radiculopathy affects the nerve at or near the root.
