Can Shingles Cause Sciatica

A variety of problems can put the squeeze on your sciatic nerve.

Can shingles cause sciatica.

The area can become so sensitive that even wearing a soft undershirt can cause pain as the cloth rubs against the chest. By increasing the stress on your spine excess body weight can contribute to the spinal changes that trigger sciatica. Therefore careful history taking with respect to the exact nature of the pain and sensory changes is needed to differentiate between herpes zoster infection and radiculopathy if no rash is evident. According to the national institutes of health the name shingles comes from the latin word cingulum which means belt or girdle and connotes the virus preference for the back.

There s no cure but treatments can ease symptoms. Herniated slipped discs between the vertebrae pressing on the. Shingles other shingles symptoms include headache fever nausea and body aches. Causes of sciatica.

Age related changes in the spine such as herniated disks and bone spurs are the most common causes of sciatica. Shingles a common name for herpes zoster results from reactivation of the virus that causes chicken pox within sensory nerve roots of the back and spine. For most people postherpetic neuralgia improves over time. There are several reports that have described the differential diagnosis between herpes zoster infection and sciatica of lumbar spine origin.

The risk of postherpetic neuralgia increases with age primarily affecting people older than 60. I had chickenpox as a child and a mild case of shingles in 1992. Applying heat to the virus for lengthy periods inactivated it just as applying heat to a viral or bacterial respiratory infection clears it more quickly. Inside a spinal nerve then surfaced as sciatica 30 years later.

Shingles is caused by the herpes varicella zoster virus the virus known to cause chickenpox after a person recovers from. Phn is a persistent nerve pain that can occur as a result of shingles. The chickenpox herpes zoster virus causes shingles. Funny you should comment on the sciatica i had a terrible few days of sciatica and then a week later shingles came on i think its something to do with the nerves and the stress of the pain that can bring it out.

Ive had a slipped disc and had an operation 3 years ago to shave away the disc that was pressing on the nerve 3 yrs later i get terrible sciatica some shooting pains and then. In other words i think in my case and perhaps in many others sciatica is just a different manifestation of shingles. I m a 70 year old healthy female. Risk factors for sciatica include.