Sciatica is a low back and lower body type of pain that can affect potentially anyone. However, various numbers of people are at risk for this problem more so than others. One’s lifestyle plays a huge role in establishing the levels of risk of sciatica. Yet, there are specific factors that heighten the risk level considerably.
One of the primary risk factors in developing sciatica is age. As a person ages, his body and spine begin to weaken increasing the likelihood for sciatica. Aging results in a number of changes in the spinal disc, along with spinal stenosis and bone spurs.
The weakening of the spinal disc usually starts around the age of 30 and above. Therefore, if you are around the middle-age group, you are a high risk for developing sciatica. In the case of spinal stenosis and bone spurs that can likewise result in sciatica, their development can begin during the age of 50 and above.
In actuality, even if the likelihood for getting sciatica can start around the age of 30, people in the age group of 30 to 50 years old are seen as those where sciatica is most likely to start being felt. The most probable reason why people in this age group are most prone to sciatica is that this is the age group when people are at their most active. This is when the likelihood for damage and injury to the spine is at its highest.
Individuals leading a sedentary life are a high risk group for developing sciatica. Sitting on your buttocks for prolonged hours increases the pressure on the sciatic nerve obviously increasing sciatic pain risk. Individuals who work sitting in front of a computer monitor for whole day long or those who drive regularly for several hours and whose body constantly is jarred or vibrates from the driving are those who are also at an increased chance to get low back pain or sciatica.
If you are at an occupation that entails the constant lifting of heavy objects, you also are a high risk person for sciatica. Picking up heavy loads exert intense pressure on the spine and this can result to the twisting or displacement of the spinal discs causing sciatica. In point of fact, heavy object lifting is one of the most common reasons for the generation of spinal problems.
Runners and walkers likewise are in the same high risk category for sciatica as the other aforementioned groups. The reason for their sciatica is that when you run or walk, the hip muscle called the piriformis muscle contracts. Frequent contraction of this muscle for extended periods cause irritation of the sciatic nerve leading to sciatic pain. The piriformis muscle contracts to help you move forward when you run or walk.
These are just some of the factors that increase your chance to develop sciatica. You need to avoid these factors as much as you can to avoid getting this low back pain condition.