Can back problems affect your legs?
Back pain is the most common symptom of degenerative disc disease, but the changes in the health of your discs may also cause pain that radiates to your legs. Or, in the case of nerve root damage, leg weakness or foot drop.
What causes your lower back and legs to hurt?
Lower back and leg pain are common symptoms that often result from sprains and strains or poor posture. However, severe or recurring pain may indicate an underlying medical condition, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia.
Can back problems make you feel off balance?
When vertebra or discs push against those nerves, it can interfere with your body’s movements – including your ability to balance. Low back injuries and conditions that affect with your sense of balance include: Compression fractures. Degenerative disc disease.
What does it feel like when your sciatic nerve is acting up?
The pain can vary widely, from a mild ache to a sharp, burning sensation or excruciating pain. Sometimes it can feel like a jolt or electric shock. It can be worse when you cough or sneeze, and prolonged sitting can aggravate symptoms. Usually only one side of your body is affected.
What back problems cause leg pain?
Sciatica is a shooting pain that begins in the lower back, radiates into the buttock and down the back of one leg. The pain is often caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve from a herniated disc, bone spurs or muscle strain (Fig. 1). You play an important role in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of leg pain.
Can a pinched nerve in back cause balance problems?
Pinched nerves can cause headaches and a loss of balance. As the bones degrade, dizzy spells become more and more frequent.
How do you relax a sciatic nerve?
Stretch 1
- Lie on your back with both of your knees bent and your feet on the ground.
- Lift one leg and cross it just above your knee.
- Hold the thigh of the leg with the foot on the ground and pull up to your chest until you can feel the stretch in your buttocks.
- Hold for 10 to 30 seconds.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
How do you relieve lower back nerve pain?
Home-based remedies
- Rest. You may find that certain seated positions or activities that cause you to twist or lift make your pinched nerve worse.
- Ice and heat. Applying ice or heat for 20 minutes a few times a day may reduce pain and muscle spasms.
- Frequent movement.
- Sleeping position modifications.
What does it mean when your back and legs hurt?
Sciatica is a sharp, burning or stabbing pain in the lower back that radiates through the buttocks and down into the back of the legs. A person may also experience a tingling sensation, numbness …
Why does my leg hurt when I sleep at night?
Pain in your legs and feet at night, or when trying to sleep, is often a symptom of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Peripheral artery disease leg pain can occur anywhere in your leg, but the most common places to feel pain are in the muscles of your calf, thigh or buttocks.
What to do for lower back and leg pain?
Treatment typically involves a combination of medications, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes. A doctor may recommend surgery for people with severe joint damage. A person can often treat back and leg pain at home with rest, OTC medications, and gentle exercise or stretching. Consult a doctor if the pain:
What does it feel like to have sharp pain in your lower back?
Sciatica is a sharp, burning or stabbing pain in the lower back that radiates through the buttocks and down into the back of the legs. A person may also experience a tingling sensation, numbness, or weakness in the legs.
What causes pain in the back of the leg?
The most common type of radiculopathy involves the sciatic nerve (formed by the L4-S1 nerve roots) and is called sciatica. 1 Sciatica is typically felt as shooting pain that starts in the back and radiates through the back of the leg into the foot. Other radiculopathy symptoms can include leg weakness, heaviness, and/or loss of function.
What are the symptoms of lower back pain?
Pain in the lower back. Cramping in the legs. A heavy feeling in the legs, which may lead to trouble walking. Increased pain going downhill. Symptoms that get worse with activity.
Why do I feel like my legs are giving out?
A feeling of sudden leg weakness, causing your legs to give out or buckle can be alarming. Weakness in your leg(s) may occur from problems in the nerves and/or muscles in your lower body and is usually treatable. Rarely, the underlying cause may be a serious medical condition requiring immediate medical attention.
How to know if you have tingling in your lower leg?
If you’re experiencing a tingling lower leg, you may also experience: 1 Numbness 2 Pain in the leg (s) with or without activity 3 Weakness of the affected leg (s) 4 Aching in the leg (s) relieved or worsened with movement 5 Trouble standing or sitting upright 6 Back pain that may or may not shoot down the leg (s)