Is the pain in your buttocks getting on your nerves?

I think most of you have heard of sciatica and the sciatic nerve and how it can affect the way your everyday life. It is after all the most common nerve pain complaints that I would see affecting the lower back and legs, but it's certainly not the only one. Sciatic pain is usually in the lower back, buttock and back of the leg. So what about pain in the front, inside or outside of the leg?

The Effect and Some Cause

If we are talking about a musculotendinous or ligamentous structure affecting the nerve, we call this an entrapment. The structure is said to be affecting the natural “glide” of the nerve as it moves between them. Whether it pins it down or rubs against it is up for debate, but there is an affect on the nervous tissue at this point.

So What are The Nerves involved?

We have spoken about the Sciatic Nerve but there are another 4 nerves which are common suspects when it comes to nerve entrapments around the hip.They all have a range of symptoms, from burning and numbness, to sharper pain and loss of strength in the leg.These are the Obturator Nerve, Pudenal Nerve, Femoral Nerve And Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve. Both the Obturator and Pudenal Nerve tend to produce altered sensation and motor control on the inside of the leg, the Femoral Nerve on the front of the leg, and the Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve on the outside of the leg.

So How Do We Treat Them?

Often these problems are complex and not just an entrapped nerve. So it goes without saying that a proper clinical assessment needs to be completed covering subjective, objective and functional testing.

Massage, dry needling and cupping are all great interventions as they tend to treat isolated muscle areas as well as functional lines to get you moving with less pain or better movement. Between treatments nerve mobilisation exercises and taping techniques are really important tools to reinforce those treatments. As they are often complex “presentations” with movement deficits, corrective exercises form a vital part of the overall rehabilitation process.

Does myotherapy sound like an interesting way of treating these conditions?

You can make an appointment with Ian by calling (02)5310 6259 at Body and Spine Solutions in Orange NSW or booking online at www.centralwestmyo.com.au

Ian