What is sciatica?

Sciatica is leg pain caused by a pinched nerve in the lower back. Although the pangs begin in nerve roots located on either side of the lower spine, they then course through the sciatic nerve, which runs the length of each leg from the buttock down to the foot. The leg agony, called radiculopathy, “is often worse than the back pain,” says William A. Abdu, MD, medical director of the Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Usually felt in one leg, the sensation “can be intolerable,” says Birgit Ruppert, a physical therapist at the Spine Center. “Some people liken it to the nerve pain you experience if you have a toothache.”

Read more: 11 Highly Effective Solutions For Sciatica

Regular exercise can help aging adults avoid becoming more physically frail as they age, according to a study published in the Journal of Physiology.
Researchers from King’s College London and the University of Birmingham recruited 95 cycling enthusiasts aged 55 to 79 years in order to assess how the aging process affects the human body. The researchers subsequently tried to determine which physiological markers can be used to determine age.

Read more: Exercise Can Help Avoid Frailty in Older Adults

Due to overlapping clinical and immunologic features between Chikungunya virus and rheumatoid arthritis’ (RA) symptoms, Washington University in St. Louis researchers warn rheumatologists to be alert for potential misdiagnoses.

Spreading from Caribbean and Central and South America to FL, the mosquito-borne virus’ infection results in joint pain and swelling similar to RA that can last anywhere from days to over a year, according to a WUSTL press release.

Read more: Misdiagnosis Likely Due to Virus, Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptom Overlap

There is extreme pain, and then there’s sciatica! It is often described as the worst pain imaginable. With an acute attack of sciatica painkillers don’t work. Stretches and exercises don’t work. Tens devices have a marginal impact. Massage therapist Ian Garside suffered a sciatica attack lasting 3 weeks to the extent where he could not leave his house. Unable to find anything that could ease his pain, he designed the novel Sciatic Pain Relief Cushion which has proven to relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve. Editor of the independent back health website www.BackMentor.Me spoke to him to find out how his invention relieves sciatic pain.

Read more: Secret of sciatica relief. Take pressure off the nerve!

Brushing your teeth well could help prevent arthritis, scientists claim. Researchers found a link between the bacterium responsible for gum disease and earlier onset of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as faster progression and greater severity of the condition.

Read more: Clean teeth can hold off arthritis...?

Physical activity can be a protective factor against the causes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to findings published in Arthritis Research & Therapy. Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden examined middle aged and elderly women from the Swedish Mammography Cohort to determine if risk of RA was associated with physical activity.

Read more: Exercise Can Protect Against Rheumatoid Arthritis