Herniated Disc, Sciatica, Spinal Stenosis, Scoliosis: What's the Difference Between These Common Cau

Herniated disc, sciatica, spinal stenosis, scoliosis. Each of these conditions can lead to low back pain, which affects about 90% of the general population at least once, and often repeatedly during your lifetime.  

As both spine experts and pain management specialists, the team of board-certified physicians at Apex Pain Specialists, including Dr. Naveen Reddy and Dr. Maziar Massrour, is well versed in low back pain and its many causes.

To help you determine what might be happening in your back to cause you pain and discomfort, we will outline key characteristics of the different types of back issues.

Sciatica and herniated discs

To make this discussion easier to understand, we will group two of these conditions together: herniated discs and sciatica.

Your spine contains 33 vertebrae that are separated by 23 intervertebral discs that provide cushioning, support, and mobility in your back. These discs, which are made of a tough cartilage outer layer and a gel-like interior, can break down over time, a condition called degenerative disc disease (DDD).

This type of wear and tear tends to occur in areas of your spine where the discs work harder, such as your lower back where your lumbar spine has more mobility.

When a disc in your lumbar spine succumbs to wear and tear, it can herniate or bulge, which can compress nearby nerve roots. One of the biggest nerves in your lower extremity is your sciatic nerve, which is formed from nerve roots in your spine.

So, a herniated disc is the leading cause of sciatica, which affects about 40% of people. In fact, it’s a good idea to think of sciatica as more of a symptom than a condition.

Regardless of terminology, sciatica can cause a significant amount of low back pain as well as pain that follows the sciatic nerve down into one side of your buttocks and/or legs.  If you’re dealing with one-sided pain that’s shooting down into your legs, the odds are high that you're dealing with a herniated disc and sciatica.

Spinal stenosis

Now, let’s discuss spinal stenosis, which is a common issue that can lead to low back pain. With lumbar spinal stenosis, degenerative changes in your spine, such as thickening ligaments, can crowd the spinal canal and press into the nerves that run through this space.

This nerve compression can lead to low back pain, as well as pain that shoots down into your buttocks and legs. This pain is often remedied when you bend forward, which relieves the nerve compression in your low back.

 Nerve compression related to spinal stenosis can also cause numbness, tingling, and weakness in your legs.

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a condition that isn’t often confused with the others we mention here since it’s much different. First, scoliosis, which affects between 6 and 9 million people in the United States, can be a congenital issue as well as a degenerative one.

Scoliosis is often diagnosed in adolescence and it describes abnormal curvatures of the spine, which can lead to pain, depending upon the extent of the curve.

Finding relief from your low back pain

Now that we’ve gone over some common causes of back pain, we want to assure you that, no matter how your pain developed, we have solutions. From epidural injections and Discseel® disc repair procedures to neuromodulation and radiofrequency ablation, we offer an extensive treatment toolkit that addresses most every type of back pain.

To figure out which type of back pain you’re dealing with and which solution would work best, we invite you to call our office in Chandler, Arizona, at 480-820-7246 to schedule a consultation. You can also book an appointment online.