Can sciatica present like this?

[whatsnewpussycat34]

Ive been diagnosed with an irritated sciatic nerve but I don’t seem to have the pain I expected. I thought it’d be deep within the muscle or near to the bone but all my sensations are on the skin?

It kind of feels like hot oil being spat at the back of my leg and then maybe like an icy burn? I can’t really describe it.

Has anyone else had sciatica present like this or am I being fobbed off my my GP?

Hopeful bump

When my sciatica was at its worst it felt like someone was pouring boiling hot water down my leg. The sciatic nerve coveys sensation from the skin of the leg/thigh up to the spine and thence the brain. So when it's unhappy, the brain desperately tries to make sense of that by telling you what it thinks must be happening to the skin.

@nocoolnamesleft thank you for your comment. I feel like it’s on the road to feeling how you describe. At the moment it’s like droplets of searing hot water or oil.

Is there any that helps you?

I ended up on a cocktail of painkillers for months. TENS machine also helped.

Chronic sciatica suffered here. Sciatic pain is weird, sometimes it feels like a deep dull ache, other times sharp shocks or tingles on my skin. I have had cold water sensations too. Nerve pain is wild

Is it Piriformis Syndrome?

Mine felt like numbness, but at the same time oversensitivity - if anyone touched it I’d hit the roof. It also felt like burning on occasion.

it look years to go away but it has.

I have weird pain and sensations but not got a definite diagnosis yet, could be sciatica, could be SI joint pain. I get pain in right lower back, around right side of pelvis, deep in buttock, down back of right leg and IT band, calf cramps, pins and needles and occasional numbness in right foot, and very occasionally a feeling like someone has poured warm water down my leg. Its not hot or burning or painful, just weird. MRI is normal.

I've had really mixed messages from a few different physios/osteopaths. Seeing a physio at the hospital tomorrow so hoping to get some answers!

I've had the more typical middle of buttock, shooting downwards pain and numbness but sometimes the pain flits in and out and is intense and I can't be clear on exactly where it is as it's more surface level on my thigh.

Fortunately I can usually gently walk it away and to reduce it I lower my working chair to my feet are firmly on the floor and not hanging at all (reducing pressure on the back of my leg). Downward dog pilates stretching seems to help in the longer term.

I felt it as a burning sensation on the skin of my thigh.

I had a sharp constant pain buttock to ankle in my left leg mostly down the back, mostly aggravated by driving my then small manual car and sitting for too long , too ages to go but the two most key reasons it went was changing to an automatic car and loosing weight ( several stone ) it may well have been a coincidence the pain went but I really think it was a better car seat , auto transmission and weight loss , I used to get out of the car and not be able to move , once I had managed a few steps it eased up and I would become more able , was with me probably 18-24 months

It can present in many ways. I'm in week 4 of a flare up. Usually I can feel it coming on and keep it at bay in my buttock with stretches etc. This time it travelled straight down my leg and was so painful trying to walk I'd be nearly in tears. Also, for the first time, lost all the power in my foot. It was just floppy and I couldn't get it to move or wiggle my toes. Have fallen down the stairs, tripped over so many times as my foot felt like it was just dragging.

You need a physio thats gonna manipulate L4 or L5 in the spine...... it made so much difference so quickly. But had to wait two weeks as he was on holiday!! Im still limping but the searing pain is now only in my lower back/buttock if I move/twist funny.

@YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME I’m really not sure because it does go all the way down my leg but it has affected my vulva on occasion too, which is apparently more likely piriformis related.

@CombatBarbie I have a physio appointment next week so hopefully they will be able to mess around with my back and give me some relief!

I'd also see your GP to get a scan etc. Physio can work the best with making sure any medical/ortho intervention that can be done, is looked at. There might be a need for further scans, etc or at the very least there are some good prescription gels, that can help with swelling etc and pain.

Also physio is a long-term option, and can take months of consistency and slow progress. So definitely do it but it can be a long process and definitely worth it to investigate whether something more serious is also doing that.

Yes - they initially thought I had a dvt and did an ultrasound on my leg but then diagnosed sciatica

I'm not sure about the sciatic irritation but I do know nerves can do really funny things and nerve pain/sensation can often be burning/cold/wet.

Just wanted to follow up on what a pp had said - I would be really wary of anyone offering manipulation or massaging or popping a disc back. That really is not how discs/nerves work!

Total foot drop/numbness and inability to move toes is is a sign of nerve compression and in most cases that would warrant an MRI to look at the extent of nerve compression or disc herniation and damage and can sometimes need surgery. Often the disc will move off the nerve in its own time but the compression can take ages to recover (in my case I have some permanent loss of feeling)

Physio is really important at this stage to build strength and proprioception and massage might help but it definitely won't push a disc back into place!! I'd be pretty dubious of any physio claiming that.

Does your GP have a muscular skeletal therapist (MSK)? The one I’ve seen worked wonders with my sciatica - which sounds similar to yours.