Having a pinched nerve in the lower back can be very painful. In fact, this is one of the most common causes of one leg pain given by Doctors…

Aside from the diagnosis of having a pinched nerve in the lower back, there are actually 300 or more different pathologies given medically to account for lower back pain causes and sciatica pain. Hence the medical profession is left with no shortage of diagnoses.

However, there is a growing body of belief that thinking we have a pinched nerve in the lower back may just be an ‘excuse’ to explain our pain away, blaming it on mechanical or structural abnormalities in the spine. The causes of one leg pain therefore are blamed on the large sciatic nerve which passes through the large spinal column being ‘impinged’ by spinal disc bulges or bone spurs!

Is it a pinched nerve in the lower back that needs surgery?

But, I hear you say, “What about all the evidence on my MRI scan?” Yes, that’s a fair point but  most radiographers don’t expect to see ‘perfect’ backs in those over twenty years of age, as we age so does our spine, it suffers a lot of wear and tear, a car over thirty years old wouldn’t look that great either.

As the spine is one of the busiest structures in the body (even when we’re lying down spinal discs are under 25% pressure) then blaming back or sciatica pain on a pinched nerve in the lower back due to a spinal disc bulge or tear can sound very scary and convincing.

This, one of the most common of lower back pain causes given by the medical profession can be so convincing in fact that we opt for surgery straight away, in a panic that further harm may be done (please see Site disclaimers though).

But surgery may not be the best option for a pain sufferer and it may not be the answer to their prayers either. I thought it was for me but because I was really suffering from a form of tension myositis syndrome all surgery did was stress me out and add to my pain!

In my previous post, I discussed the pain syndrome theory, tension myositis syndrome. This very common but largely unknown pain syndrome can be explained briefly as follows.

The symptoms basically mimic having a pinched nerve in the lower back so you can see where the confusion can lie.

The word ‘tension’ refers to an unfelt hidden tension unfelt and residing deep down in a person, the word ‘myositis’ refers to the muscles, this pain syndrome affects the muscles but also the tendons and nerves as well (which is important as it mimics having a pinched nerve in the lower back.The word ‘syndrome’ means the disorder can be at work in different places of the body but a ‘hot spot’ for pain is the spine (the workhorse of the body).

The best thing you can do is to go to Dr Sarno’s books and especially “The Mindbody Prescription” and read the reviews on Amazon to see how amazing this cure can be when put into practice!

Therefore, the question you really need to ask yourself IS, ‘Is my pain REALLY coming from a pinched nerve in the lower back or is this a pain ‘decoy strategy’ to take attention away from something else going on in me or my life?’ This is by no means suggesting the pain is psychosomatic, no, the sciatic nerve IS being affected by oxygen deprivation causing the ishemia pain symptoms.

BUT the real root cause of the pain may not be what you think it is. It may not be the pinched nerve in the lower back all along!

‘Every great enterprise begins with and takes its first step forward in faith.’