Back Pain with Leg Pain

Back Pain with Leg Pain

Lumbar Disc Prolapse

Get long term relief from lower back pain that shoots down your leg!

Back pain with leg pain is commonly known as Sciatica. The most common reasons are Lumbar herniated disc (Lumbar Disc Prolapse), Piriformis syndrome and Spinal Stenosis.

Common symptoms associated with lower back pain with leg pain are:

Pain radiating from your lower spine down the back of your leg
Lower Back pain with front thigh pain
Lower Back pain with pain down both legs
Lower Back pain with Sciatica
Lower Back pain with leg weakness
Lower Back pain with Numbness in the leg
Pain in the Buttock shooting down the leg
Sharp jolts of pain in the affected areas
Burning sensations
Muscle weakness
Numbness
Trouble controlling your bladder or bowels

A complete long term relief is possible for people suffering from back pain with leg pain, whether it is caused by muscle strain, normal wear and tear of the body, or by a more serious condition.

It is important that you recognise your pain and take the necessary actions such as home remedies, medications or consulting a back pain specialist, to get proper relief from back pain with leg pain.

Back pain with Leg pain?

Feel free to talk to me. I will be happy to answer all your questions and concerns.

Make your appointment today!

0203 1500 259

secretary@spinesurgeon.london

What causes Back Pain with Leg Pain

Back pain with leg pain may be caused by various reasons such as muscle strain, bad posture, or sometimes by a serious condition such as sciatica or piriformis syndrome. Back pain with leg pain invariably means that there is pressure on your sciatic nerve that passes from the spine through the buttocks to one or both your feet.

Lumbar disc prolapse and spinal stenosis are the most commonest causes for back pain with leg pain. If it’s a simple muscle inflammation of the muscle, ligaments or tendons, it will soon heal with some rest & stretching.

If your back pain with leg pain persists for a longer period, it could mean the presence of one or more of the following conditions:

Sciatica

Often the result of a herniated disc, sciatica is a form of pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve. Your sciatic nerve extends from your lower back, through your hips and butt, and down your legs. If you experience sciatica pain, it will typically occur from your back, like a rope or string of pain down the back of the leg.

Common symptoms associated with sciatica include:

Pain radiating to back of your leg
Sharp jolts of pain in the leg
Burning sensations
Muscle weakness
Numbness in your feet and toes
Trouble controlling your bladder

Lumbar Herniated Disc

Disc Prolapse | Mangattil Rajesh | Spine Surgeon London |

A lumbar ‘herniated disc’ or a ‘slipped disc’ is a ruptured disc in your lower back. A ‘slipped disc’ occurs when the nucleus or “jelly” at the centre of a normal disc is pushed out through a tear. The disc therefore slips out of place. The ruptured disc puts pressure on a spinal nerve that can cause severe pain, numbness, and sometimes weakness.

Other symptoms associated with a lumbar herniated disc include:

Back pain worse with activity
Back spasms
Pain going down back of your leg
Leg muscle weakness
Numbness in leg or foot
Loss of control of your Bladder

Piriformis syndrome

The piriformis is a flat, band-like muscle found in your buttock near the top of your hip joint. The piriformis helps to stabilize your hip joint, and lifts and rotates your thigh away from your body.

Piriformis syndrome is a condition where this muscle presses on your sciatic nerve.

Common symptoms associated with piriformis syndrome include:

Pain extending to your lower leg
Tingling along the back of your leg
Numbness in your buttocks and legs
Nerve pain down the front of the leg

Diagnosis for Back Pain with Leg Pain

It is important to find the exact cause of your back pain with leg pain so that it can be effectively treated. The problem is that the symptoms for sciatica, slipped discs and piriformis syndrome are pretty much similar. Only an experienced Spine Consultant would know how to read the minute details and diagnose your condition precisely.

Your spine doctor will use one or more of the following diagnostic procedures to pinpoint the cause of your back pain with leg pain caused by a pinched nerve.

Physical Examination:

Specialist physical assessment of your spinal joints, ligaments & muscles helps Mr Rajesh understand where the pain is. He will be able to assess the cause and extent of your back pain with these examinations. He may also want to know:

Severity of your back pain
How often it flares up
How far does pain travel down your legs
Which particular area in the leg
What relieves the pain
When & how it started

You may need other tests:

MRI Scans:

Consultant Spine Surgeon Mr Rajesh will need magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to look at your back muscles, soft tissues, ligaments, black disc, disc prolapse and spinal stenosis. This information along with your story will help Mr Rajesh decide and recommend the best plan of action.

MRI scan is the best investigation to get information on the soft tissues.

X-Ray:

Standing X-rays from your front and the side will give Mr Rajesh a good assessment of your spinal alignment, if there are some spinal curvature, scoliosis or fractures.

CT scans:

Computerised Tomography (CT) is not needed routinely as it brings in the risk of significant radiation. But it is very useful to look at the extent of damage to your bones in your spine. It therefore gives valuable information of the structure and shape of the spine.

Blood tests:

Blood tests are not routinely needed in the investigation of low back pain. These are useful if the you have fever, infection or suspicion of inflammation.

Diagnosing the underlying cause of your lower back pain at the right time is essential to start your ideal treatment plan!

Treatment for Back Pain with Leg Pain

Spine specialist Mr Mangattil Rajesh prefers using a conservative approach for the management of lower back pain with leg pain, for long term relief.

Be it sciatica, slipped disc or piriformis syndrome, conservative treatment for back pain with leg pain involves one or more of the following:

This back and leg pain treatment plan involves one or more of the following:

Medication:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to help relieve back and leg pain and reduce inflammation on the sciatic nerve. These are:

Paracetamol
Codine
Naproxen

Muscle relaxants like diazepam are also prescribed in some cases to treat muscle spasms and ease nerve-damage pain.

Physiotherapy & Exercises:

Mr. Rajesh believes in treating most of the back pain issues through non-surgical ways such as lifestyle correction, exercises, and physiotherapy as part of his comprehensive lower back pain treatment in London.

Spine injections:

Mr Rajesh prescribes epidural or a nerve root steroid joint injections for some cases to give immediate relief from acute lower back and leg pain.

Spine Injections relieve back and leg pain instantly for cases where extreme pain and discomfort are debilitating. This also helps the patient heal quickly from the condition causing their back and leg pain (sciatica). This is a very safe and minimally invasive procedure that gives excellent pain relief for months. It also provides an opportunity for people with lower back and leg pain to break the cycle of pain and heal completely.

Spine specialist Mr Rajesh takes a multi-disciplinary approach to back pain treatment in London. He believes in treating and healing his back pain patients without surgery in most cases.

In some instances, if there is a herniated disc that is causing pressure on your nerves after spine steroid injections, Mr Rajesh might suggest a Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery:

Surgery is rarely indicated for lower back and leg pain. Mr Rajesh will consider surgery only if your back and leg pain does not settle with an adequate trial of medications, physiotherapy and spine injections. He would always suggest minimally invasive surgery for less tissue dissection & a faster recovery. Mr Mangattil Rajesh is a skilful practitioner of minimally invasive spine surgery.

Minimally invasive spine surgery helps to release pressure on the sciatic nerve caused by disc prolapse or or your nerves trapped in the spinal canal.

Some of the most common minimally invasive surgical procedures for back and leg pain are:

Lumbar Microdiscectomy: It is the gold standard procedure for minimally invasive removal of herniated discs causing sciatica.

Lumbar Spine Decompression: This procedure is used for spinal stenosis where a piece of bone is removed from the spinal canal to release the pressure.

One of London’s best-reviewed spine surgeons, Mr Rajesh has treated thousands of patients with severe lower back pain successfully over the years. He forms a comprehensive lower back pain treatment plan personalised for your requirements. This is a combination of medication, exercises, spine injection and surgery wherever required.

Get in touch with him today. Mr Rajesh and his team would be happy to help you with your lower back pain treatment in London!

Recent Google Reviews of Mr Mangattil Rajesh

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Exercises for Back Pain with Leg pain

Mild exercises & stretches loosen your tense back and leg muscles. This helps release some pressure on the sciatic nerve and also strengthens other muscles to help you move. It is advisable to take each step gently as any stretches that cause more strain on your back pain or leg pain can cause damage to your muscles.

Start with simple stretches with gentle forward bending, backward bending and mild twisting of your back within the limit of your back pain. Once you get used to it, slowly and gently move on to the following exercises.

Spine surgeon and Consultant Mr Rajesh recommends these 6 quick stretches as the best exercises for relief from low back pain :

1) Hamstring Stretch

2) Pelvic Tilt

3) Extension Curl

4) Trunk Rotation

5) Pelvic Bridge

6) Sciatic Stretch

Perform these stretches as per the instructions in the below image and you’ll feel instant relief with your back pain and leg pain. These pain-relief exercises recommended by Mr Rajesh helps relieve the tension in your back and leg muscles.

Quick Stretches for Sciatica | Mangattil Rajesh | Spine Surgeon London |

Remember to breathe in and out slowly and deeply during these lower back pain-relief exercises. Also, stop whenever you feel any discomfort during the exercises.

Always be gentle & be aware!

As part of your personalised comprehensive lower back and leg pain treatment plan, London back pain specialist Mr Mangattil Rajesh will guide you with more specialised physiotherapy and exercises to get complete relief from low back pain.

Call Spine Specialist Mr Rajesh at 07956 318 383 today, for your effective low back pain treatment in London!

Back Pain with Leg Pain after COVID

Body aches and pain are also among the most frequently reported symptoms of COVID-19. The lower back is one of the most common places people with COVID-19 report feeling pain. General body aches, muscle pain, or joint pain are common symptoms of COVID-19 and other viral infections. It’s thought that back pain is part of the ‘flu-like’ symptom that is commonly seen in COVID.

Back pain often appears in the early stages of the disease, but it can also be a long-haul symptom that persists for weeks or months after infection. Back pain can have many possible causes. It’s impossible to know if your back pain was caused by COVID-19 unless you also had a positive COVID-19 diagnostic test. COVID-19 infection can stimulate the release of pro-inflammatory molecules called cytokines by the viral attack on your immune system.

Back pain caused by COVID-19 is often described as a deep pain instead of a sharp or stabbing pain that may accompany a sudden muscular injury. Pain caused by viral infections is also less likely to be eased by changing your posture than the pain caused by muscular injuries.

Some people with COVID-19 develop symptoms that last weeks or months after the original infection. These persistent complications are called long-haul symptoms. Joint & back pain is one of the most common long haul symptoms of COVID-19.

Patients with any concern about their lower back pain should not hesitate to seek evaluation. It is always better to be reassured & start with pain relief measures that will stop the development of any long term pain/damage.

Have you started feeling persistent pain in your lower back after recovering from COVID-19? Feel free to contact the trusted back pain specialist in London Mr Mangattil Rajesh’s secretary on: 0203 1500 259 0r email: secretary@spinesurgeon.london

Frequently Asked Questions about Back Pain with Leg Pain

Is it normal to have lower back pain and leg pain?

Lower back pain and leg pain are very common in people who work desk jobs. They are symptoms of strain due to poor posture or injury. But, if your lower back pain and leg pain is severe and recurring, it may be an indication of a serious condition in your spine. It is advisable to consult your spine doctor to avoid long term pain and damage.

Can Covid cause back and leg pain?

Muscle pain and body aches can be felt in the upper and lower back by people who have COVID-19. It is said to be because of the body’s inflammatory response. Some people report long term symptoms of back and leg pain after recovering from COVID-19, commonly referred to as long haul symptoms. It is better to consult your spine doctor if you experience back and leg pain for a long time after recovering from COVID-19.

Can I get pain-relief from sciatica without any surgery?

Yes. London spine specialist Dr Mangattil Rajesh says most sciatica cases can be cured without the need for surgery. Physical therapy and medication alone can help cure sciatica in most cases. However, very rarely some cases might require a spine injection or a minimally invasive surgery to avoid lasting damage and make the recovery from back and leg pain faster.

Can your lower back make your legs hurt?

Yes. Lower back pain caused by issues in the spine such as herniated discs, bulged discs, etc can cause pressure on the sciatic nerves that travel down your legs, causing radiating pain or tingling sensation in the legs.

What is the best way to relieve sciatic nerve pain?

Application of heat or ice packs on the affected area.
Back and leg massage
Over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen, aspirin
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as paracetamol, codeine or naproxen.
Prescription muscle relaxants to ease muscle spasms that’s applying pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Physiotherapy
Mild back & core stretching & strengthening exercises

What should I avoid if I have sciatica?

Avoid heavy lifting exercises when you experience sciatica or pain in the lower back & legs. Avoid heavy dead-lifts, heavy stretching of hamstring muscles, leg exercises, bent-over rows, weighted squats when you have sciatic pain in the back and legs.

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