What does sciatica feel like in both legs?
Sciatica pain is typically felt like a constant burning sensation or a shooting pain starting in the lower back or buttock and radiating down the front or back of the thigh and leg and/or feet. Numbness. Sciatica pain may be accompanied by numbness in the back of the leg.
Can you get nerve pain in both legs?
Common causes of pain in one or both legs include: Spinal nerve compression or irritation. Inflamed, irritated, or compressed nerve roots in the lumbar or sacral spine may cause radiculopathy or nerve pain, commonly called sciatica, in the leg and foot.
How do you treat sciatica in both legs?
Alternating heat and ice therapy can provide immediate relief of sciatic nerve pain. Ice can help reduce inflammation, while heat encourages blood flow to the painful area (which speeds healing). Heat and ice may also help ease painful muscle spasms that often accompany sciatica.
What causes sciatica in both legs?
Sciatica most commonly occurs when a herniated disk, bone spur on the spine or narrowing of the spine (spinal stenosis) compresses part of the nerve. This causes inflammation, pain and often some numbness in the affected leg.
What helps nerve burning pain in legs?
Treatment options for burning legs
- Drugs like aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), naproxen (Aleve), or ibuprofen (Advil) can relieve pain. Shop online for acetaminophen, naproxen, or ibuprofen.
- Lose weight if you’re overweight.
- Wear loose-fitting clothing.
- Physical therapy can build leg strength.
What happens if your sciatic nerve goes untreated?
If left untreated, sciatica can cause permanent nerve damage that worsens back and leg pain. Over time, the pain may extend to other parts of the body. In some cases, patients stop responding to pain medication, thereby developing chronic pain that cannot be remedied.
What does sciatica on both sides mean?
Bilateral sciatica. Bilateral sciatica occurs in both legs together. This type of sciatica is rare and may occur due to degenerative changes in the vertebrae and/or the disc at several spinal levels, or from serious conditions such as cauda equina syndrome.
How to get rid of burning sensation in legs?
Soaking your feet in cold water, but not ice-cold water, can bring relief from burning sensation in the feet. The cold water provides instant comfort from the tingling, numbness, and swelling of the feet. Fill a foot tub with cold water. Soak your feet in it for 10 minutes. Give your feet some rest and then soak again.
What’s causing your leg pain, burning and numbness?
The cause of leg numbness in spinal stenosis is due to pressure on the nerves in the spine. It may also be accompanied by tingling, burning and pain. Transverse myelitis (TM) is caused by inflammation in the spinal cord. It often occurs following viral infections.