You might be suffering from sciatica if you’re experiencing radiating pain in the left leg from a car accident. Sciatica pain can be debilitating and expensive to treat, so you may want to consult with one of our Eason & Tambornini personal injury lawyers to learn more about your legal options. We can explain how you can get radiating pain in the left leg from a car accident, what can cause the numbness in the legs, how your doctor diagnoses sciatica, and why you have radiating pain in your fingers. Sciatica pain can prevent you from enjoying life like you used to, so call us now and let our Eason & Tambornini personal injury lawyers help you.
Why do I have radiating pain in the leg from a car accident?
The right and left sciatic nerves branch out from the spinal cord nerve roots at the level of your lumbar spine. This nerve supplies the muscles’ motor function found at the back of the thigh and part of the buttock muscle group. It then branches into several smaller nerves to supply the muscles’ motor function in the leg and foot. Their sensory function supplies the back of the thigh, the outermost side of the leg, the surface and sole, and the heel.
The car accident’s impact could cause the lower back to hyperextend forcefully or rotate abnormally to one side, compress the vertebral discs, and invade the lumbar nerve roots. It will often result in immediate radiating pain as the sciatic nerve root is crushed. Bulging or herniated discs that didn’t heal properly could result in sciatica.
What is the cause of numbness in the legs?
Impingement of the sciatic nerve and irritation of its nerve root produce radiating pain that travels down the path the nerve supplies. They can also cause weakness in all the muscles the sciatic nerve supplies.
Since there is compression of the sciatic nerve, it will also result in abnormal sensory function, producing a numbness sensation.
Some victims of car collision accidents describe the numbness as feeling like a cling film wrapped around the affected lower extremity. Tingling sensations, described as pins-and-needles, may accompany the sciatica numbness and pain.
Some positions can either relieve or exacerbate sciatic symptoms. Specific movements like trunk flexion relieve the compression because it opens up the tight spaces between the bones, and extension further compresses the nerve roots.
How does a doctor diagnose sciatica?
The best way to diagnose sciatica is through a thorough physical exam. A physical examiner looks at your posture as well as spinal mobility and flexibility. Weak back muscles and tight ligaments may be affecting the nerve root.
Neurological exams check the strength of your lower extremity muscles, sensory function, and reflexes. Any abnormality in the finding could help identify nerve problems.
Finally, imaging tests like X-rays, MRI scans, and even CT scans can be used to look for other abnormalities such as bulging discs, herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and lumbar vertebral bone fractures that can cause sciatica.
If sciatica is confirmed, you will be placed on analgesics and anti-inflammatory medications to manage pain and inflammation. Other treatment methods that can help reduce sciatic symptoms include physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, massage, and even surgery for chronic and intractable sciatica.
Why do I have radiating pain in my fingers?
Although sciatica is common in car accident victims, radiating pain to the fingertips may also be present.
During a car accident, your neck suddenly and forcefully extends and flexes in response to the collision’s extreme external force. When the neck is hyperextended, it causes compression of the bony structures, which, in turn, compresses the soft structures found within the spine. The intervertebral discs are squashed, causing them to bulge out abnormally from their space. The bulging, in turn, will compress the nerves and blood vessels passing through the cervical vertebras.
Compression of the cervical nerves, just like the lumbar nerves, also affects their motor and sensory functions. It often results in weakness of the muscle groups, numbness and tingling sensations, and even radiating pain that shoots down to the fingers.
What can you do?
Treatment for sciatica can become expensive, especially if your insurance company doesn’t cover some medications and treatment methods. The sciatic pain can also worsen over time as the injured discs degenerate and your spinal muscles and ligaments weaken.
Do not suffer in silence and bear the burden of all these. If your sciatica was from an accident caused by a negligent driver, please feel free to contact us. We’ll help you understand the causes of the radiating pain and numbness down your leg, the diagnostic procedures, and why you may have accompanying radiating pain in your fingertips. Our car accident attorneys sacramento will assist you through the legal process of filing a lawsuit if you have radiating pain in the left leg from a car accident.
