Many athletes and weekend warriors might think they damaged their hamstring in their warm up when in reality they are experiencing a sciatic nerve pain. Sciatic nerve pain is a sharp, shooting spasm that travels often from the top of the buttock to back of the heel. Typically it only occurs on one side of they body, not both. It can even switch from one leg to the other. Sciatic nerve pain can also travel a short distance, for example, only down one butt cheek and it is not necessarily constant.

So why does this happen and how do I know it is not actually my hamstring that I hurt? The hamstring is a tendon which usually will bind up in the calf region. That pain will have similarities but will clearly be very localized to the calf or back of the thigh or maybe around the knee. It will bind more than sear. Nerve pain tends to be more of a burning, nagging sensation than a mechanical feeling.

Sciatic nerve pain is caused by a compression of the nerves in the spine and has nothing to do with a rip in a muscle or tendon. Typically, the onset of sciatica will be a pulling or heavy lifting activity that might even cause a quick audible pop in the spine. This would be followed by a sharp shooting pain down the buttock and the back of the leg. Sometimes that pain can evolve into a numbness, tingling, hot sensation anywhere in or below the hip area including the soles of the feet. It will clearly be a systemic discomfort that does not seem to have any easy or immediate cure unlike a hamstring tear. A hamstring injury is often caused by a burst of speed when running or a jump when the leg muscles have not had a chance to warm up sufficiently. Hot compresses and time off will cure a hamstring rip, whereas only physical therapy or surgery will fix a sciatic condition.

Sciatica can come on slowly as well, for example, during a long drive. Many people with back injuries will live with sciatica that creeps in to one buttock or the other, not usually both, after too many hours of sitting in the same position. Walking, gentle stretches or laying flat can temporarily reposition the pinched nerve in the spine that is causing the sciatic response.

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