What is lumboischialgia?
Lumboischialgia is not a disease, but the description of a symptom, the back pain that is transmitted into the leg. Lumboischialgia is composed of the terms lumbalgia = back pain in the lumbar spine and sciatica = leg pain transmitted via the sciatic nerves.
Herniated disc as the most common cause of lumboischialgia
Lumboischialgia can have various underlying causes. By far the most common cause of the disease is a herniated disc in the lumbar spine. The disc tissue prolapsed in the direction of the spinal cord through the herniated disc leads to chemical and mechanical irritation of the outgoing nerve roots and/or the spinal cord.
This causes nerve root pain (radiculopathy), which continues into the body along the affected body nerve (peripheral nerve). Since the lower spinal cord nerves of the lumbar spine unite to form the largest human body nerve, the sciatic nerve, the pain is transmitted in lumboischialgia along the sciatic nerve via the buttocks, the back thigh, the lower leg and into the foot. In the cause of lumboischialgia, there is a correlation between the intensity of nerve root irritation in the spinal region and the extension of the pain into the leg.
The stronger the irritation (stimulus) of the nerve root, the further the pain is transmitted along the sciatic nerve into the leg. Accordingly, very strong nerve root irritation leads to leg pain all the way into the foot, while less strong nerve root irritation leads to leg pain that can break off in the thigh or lower leg area. Typically, in lumboischialgia, the back-leg pain caused by a herniated disc is experienced by the patient more in the leg than in the back. If you suspect a herniated disc as the cause of your lumboischialgia, we recommend our topic: Herniated disc in the lumbar spine
Rarer causes of lumboischialgia
Less common causes of lumboischialgia are wear-related narrowing of the nerve exit holes in the spine (degenerative spinal disease), vertebral joint cysts or inflammation of the sciatic nerve itself.
