The sciatic nerve is the longest and thickest peripheral nerve in your body, so it is especially susceptible to injury and irritations. Sciatic pain typically involves one-sided low back, buttock and posterior leg pain described as sharp and shooting. Sciatica is caused by a variety of musculoskeletal disorders, including bone deformations. Vitamin D is essential for strong bones, and a deficiency eventually leads to osteomalacia, or soft bones, and chronic muscle and bone pain. Consult with your medical doctor or chiropractor if you have sciatica or chronic back pain.
Sciatic Nerves
Your sciatic nerves originate from the nerve roots of your lower back and travel through your pelvis, underneath your buttock muscles and down each leg, where they branch off behind your knees and continue to your feet as smaller nerves. The sciatic nerves innervate muscles of your pelvis and legs primarily. Sciatic nerve pain, like all nerve pain, is typically described as very intense, sharp, shooting or electric-type pain that can be debilitating and unbearable for some sufferers. Dull and achy pain often accompanies sciatica, but it is usually generated by swollen joints and sore muscles from reactive contractions.
Causes of Sciatica
Sciatica has many causes, but whatever the cause, either the sciatic nerve gets chemically irritated by inflammatory compounds, or it gets entrapped, which means stretched or pinched or physically pressured in some way, according to “Chiropractic Management of Spine Related Disorders.” As such, common causes of sciatic pain include lumbar disc herniations; spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the foramina where the nerve exits the spine; chronically inflamed lower back muscles; and misalignment of vertebral bodies, lumbar joints or the pelvis. Spinal tumors and fractures from trauma can also cause sciatica, but they are much less common.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a hormone-like compound that is produced by your skin in response to certain frequencies of sunlight and consumed in a limited number of foods. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to chronic musculoskeletal disorders of various types, including low back and leg pain, osteoarthritis, muscle weakness and fatigue, fibromyalgia syndrome and rheumatic disorders, according to “Medical Biochemistry: Human Metabolism in Health and Disease.” Vitamin D deficiency is more common than most people think because of lack of adequate sun exposure. The best way to check your vitamin D levels is to get a blood test.
Vitamin D and Sciatica
Vitamin D is essential for the proper absorption and utilization of calcium, which is needed for strong bones and normal muscle tone. As such, a lack of vitamin D may contribute to spinal deformations that entrap or pinch the sciatic nerve. Further, chronic muscle tightness of the low back, buttocks and hamstrings from lack of vitamin D and calcium imbalance may contribute to sciatic nerve irritation or at least mimic sciatica. Taking large doses of vitamin D has helped some people with chronic bone and muscle pain because they were deficient in vitamin D, but an actually injury to your sciatic nerve is unlikely to be helped with supplementation, according to “Functional Biochemistry in Health and Disease.” Consult with your primary care physician about potential causes of back and leg pain.
References
- “Chiropractic Management of Spine Related Disorders"; Meridel Gatterman; 1990
- “Medical Biochemistry: Human Metabolism in Health and Disease”; Miriam D. Rosenthal, et al.; 2009
- “Functional Biochemistry in Health and Disease”; Eric Newsholme, et al.; 2010
