Sciatica is a specific kind of pain caused by pinching or damage to the sciatic nerve. This nerve extends from the lower back, through the hips and buttocks, and splits down both legs. The pain sensation radiates across the nerve, but the frequency and severity varies.
Pain, especially neuropathic pain, is a common symptom in people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). It results from damage to the nerves of the central nervous system and can lead to burning or a sharp, stabbing sensation.
Understandably, people with MS who also experience sciatica may think it’s rooted in their MS.
But most of the neuropathic pain of MS is limited to the central nervous system, which doesn’t involve the sciatic nerve. Pain associated with MS also has different causes and mechanisms than sciatica.
Still, MS and sciatica can exist together. Some of the daily difficulties associated with living with MS coincide with suspected causes of sciatica. The current understanding, though, is that the two are mostly unrelated conditions.
MS is an autoimmune disorder in which your immune system attacks myelin, the protective layer around nerve fibers. This affects the pathways of your central nervous system that regulate feeling and sensation in the body.
MS can cause a variety of painful sensations, including:
- migraines
- muscle spasms
- feelings of burning, tingling, or aching in lower legs
- shock-like sensations traveling from your back toward your lower limbs
Most of these painful sensations result from short circuiting of the brain’s neural pathways.
Sciatica is a bit different. Its pathway isn’t an autoimmune response, but bodily stressors on the sciatic nerve itself. This pain is usually caused by lower body changes or habits that pinch or twist the nerve.
Herniated disks, bone spurs, and obesity can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. People in sedentary occupations who sit for prolonged periods of time are also more likely to show signs of sciatica.
The key difference is that MS causes dysfunction of the central nervous system’s signaling and pathways. In sciatica, the most common cause is pressure that pinches or strains the sciatic nerve.