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Chronic back and leg pain may be a symptom of a more serious condition.
It is advised that you visit the doctor if you suffer from back pain
that lasts longer than the normal two weeks to two months.
Here
are some of the more common causes of back and leg pain:
Lumbar
Spine Stenosis
This is a degenerative disease of
the lumbosacral spine, affecting up to 90 percent of the U.S.
population, most of them belonging to the middle aged or elderly age
group. The disease is a major cause of morbidity, disability and lost
productivity.
In lumbar stenosis, the cauda
equina roots, a type of nerve found inside the spine, are entrapped
within the dural sac, causing excruciating and incapacitating back and
leg pain. This entrapment of the cauda equina roots is a result of
progressive hypertrophy of any of the osseocartilaginous and ligamentous
elements, soft tissues that surround the spinal canal.
Additionally,
the degenerative changes or trauma could rupture or heniate the
intervertebral disc, which is composed of a gelatinous, centrally
located nucleus pulposes and a peripherally located annulus fibrosus.
Lumbar
stenosis mostly affects men and the middle aged to the elderly, although
it could also occur in women and younger patients. Back and leg pain is
the earliest complaint of this condition, which is often treated with
some of the self-care methods available. This results in delay in
diagnosis.
Sciatica
Sciatica is a condition affecting the
sciatic nerve. Since this nerve travels from the lower back through the
buttocks and into the leg, the pain often occurs in any of these
affected areas. Back and leg pain as a result of sciatica can be more or
less severe and is caused by a herniated lumbar disc.
The
degeneration (herniation) of the disc causes it to compress onto one of
the contributing roots of the sciatic nerve, causing sharp back and leg
pains to shoot up. Often, the pain in the leg, posterior thigh, or foot
can be much worse than the accompanying lower back pain. At the onset,
the patient usually experiences severe pain in the buttocks which runs
all the way down through the legs or foot. In some cases, there is even
no accompanying back pain.
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