What is Sciatica?

Bizarre Communication Process

One of the most bizarre things that occurs in medicine, is the desired intention of the clinician, with whom the patient presents, to talk to the patient in a foreign language.

It is bizarre, because one of the most important elements in regards to the patient / clinician interaction is communication. If the patient understands the causation of his or her symptoms and can similarly understand the diagnosis and also the prognosis, then the patient will, most often, get better much quicker, than if they are left in the dark.

Using the same Language

In all aspects of life, speaking to someone in a language that is foreign to them, will most probably leave them in the dark and uncertain and will, generally, add to their levels of stress, solely because they do not understand what is being said to them.

One great example of the levels of poor communication, between a clinician and his / her patient is the use of the term “Sciatica”. However, if the clinician just spoke in English, or the respective language that is common to both parties, and used the appropriate word in that mutual language, then the patient would be so much better informed.

Sciatica = Leg Pain

All that “Sciatica” means medically, is “leg pain“, nothing more and nothing less, just “leg pain!”

Causes of Leg Pain

Now, there are numerous causes of leg pain, the greater percentage of which are due to muscular aches, ligamentous or tendons sprains and strains, joint dysfunctions, misalignments of the pelvis, issues with the hip, osteoarthritis in the low back, and a number of other causes.

Irritation of the sciatic nerve is only one of the reasons for leg pain. However, because of the similarity of the words “sciatic nerve” and “sciatica“, most patients naturally believe that when they are told that they have sciatica, they have damaged their sciatic nerve in some fashion.

Damage to the sciatic nerve resulting in leg pain (sciatica) is one of the least common causes for leg pain, but is the one that, very often takes much longer to improve, and can be the most painful. Thus, it is better that the clinician does not cause the patient to believe that they are suffering from one of the worst causations of their leg pain, with the one of the worst prognoses, just because they used a word that the patient does not understand.

Dictate Use of the Language you Understand

The bottom line one should probably take from the above, as a patient, is that whenever you are confronted with a clinician, who is attempting to assist you, in understanding what the causes of the symptoms you are presenting to him / her with are, you should probably start by asking them to talk to you in a language you understand. This will usually assist your comprehension of the problem, and most often, by understanding what is being said to you, mitigate and minimise most of the concerns you have about your symptoms.