Besides pain, other symptoms of sciatica include:
- Tingling on the back of the leg: Tingling is an abnormal sensory impulse usually seen when a nerve is compressed against another structure. In this case, it is the sciatic nerve, and the effects can be felt on the back of the leg, the buttocks, and sometimes the foot.
- Numbness in your buttocks or legs: Numbness also results from abnormal sensory impulses. In this case, it reduces the sensitivity of the area, and it is sometimes accompanied by vascular changes as well.
- Lower limb weakness: The sciatic nerve may also contribute to motor function, and some patients experience weakness in the affected limb.
If you have these symptoms, your healthcare provider will perform a physical exam to see what is causing the pain and rule out sciatica. Your doctor may ask you to walk normally or do the same on your heels. He may also lie you down and raise your straight legs with his hands. This provides a handy sign when it triggers pain and may provide an understanding of where the lesion is located.
Your doctor may also find valuable signs of disease in diagnostic tests such as:
- X-rays, especially to find disc problems, tumors, fractures, and other physical or mechanical causes of pain
- Magnetic resonance imaging, or a computed tomography scan when they need to evaluate soft tissues or the nervous system
- Electromyography and nerve conduction velocity tests to evaluate how far nerves are conducting electrical impulses because an obstruction reduces the nerve impulse timing