Can Sciatica Cause Knee Pain?

Knee pain can be caused by several reasons – like joint problems or sudden injuries. But for patients who also experience chronic pain in the lower extremity, there’s a possibility that sciatic nerve pain might be the real cause of their knee pain.

So is sciatica the reason for the pain in your knee? If your knee hurts even though you have no knee-related injury, then you might be suffering from sciatica-related knee pain. Some of the common symptoms of sciatica-related knee pain include shooting pain or burning sensation from the lower back, weakness or numbness in the back of the leg, or pain when changing positions.

Is Your Knee Pain Caused by Sciatica?

Sciatica (or lumbar radiculopathy) is a type of pain that affects about 10% to 40% of the population. People become more likely to experience sciatica pain as they get older because it’s often associated with spine conditions.

The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in the body that starts from the lower back and extends to the lower extremity of a person. When a part of the sciatic nerve becomes pinched or irritated, patients feel lower back pain that extends to one side of the hip, thigh, lower leg, and foot.

Since a branch of the sciatic nerve called the peroneal nerve is found just below the knee, patients can experience sciatic nerve pain in that area. If you have chronic pain that isn’t caused by any knee injury, then the cause might be a pinched nerve or sciatica in your lower extremity.

Types of Sciatica-Related Knee Joint Pain

The sciatic nerve is composed of 5 nerve roots that intersect at the lumbar spine area. These roots correspond to nerves from the L4 to S3 vertebrae. When it comes to sciatica-related knee pain, there are 2 particular types to consider:

• L4 Radiculopathy – This type of referred pain occurs when the patient is already aware that they have sciatica but they also experience knee pain along with their leg pain and low back pain. It’s caused by a compression of the L4 nerve root.
• Hamstring Tightness – The hamstrings are the muscle group at the back of the thighs. If the hamstring muscles become too tight, they reduce the stability of the lower back. Changes and stresses from the decreased stability of the lower spine can cause moderate to severe pain that radiates down to the hip joint, legs, and knee.

How Sciatica Knee Pain Feels Like

If the knee pain is caused by sciatica, then patients are also likely to experience other symptoms aside from the knee pain itself. Other typical sciatica symptoms to observe are:

• Shooting pain that starts from the lower back and travels down the hip, leg, and foot. It only affects one side of the legs for most patients, so each symptom is only felt on the same side as the knee pain.
• Weakness, numbness, or tingling sensations at the back of the legs.
• Worsening pain whenever changing postures or positions. Increased pain usually occurs when the spine is bent forward.
• Dull ache or sharp pain at the back, side, or front of the knee joint.
• Weakness when stretching or straightening the legs.
• Inability to bear weight on one knee, as well as bucking when walking or standing.

Possible Causes of Sciatic Pain

Sciatica is often linked to spinal nerve or spine conditions, so further diagnosis is needed to determine its exact cause. Here are some of the most common conditions that result in sciatica and chronic pain in other parts of the body:

• Herniated Disc: Pressure from the spine causes at least one of the discs between each vertebra to herniate. The outer shell of the disc becomes damaged and the jelly-like center leaks out and pushes onto the nearby part of the sciatic nerve.
• Degenerative Disc Disease: This refers to the natural degeneration of the discs between each vertebra along the spine. As some of the tissues wear and tear, they compress against the sciatic nerve and cause inflammation and irritation.
• Spinal Stenosis: This condition refers to the narrowing of the spinal canal, reducing the amount of available space for the spinal cord and nerves. It also causes some of the nerves that run along it to become pinched, irritated, and inflamed.
• Piriformis Syndrome: It causes the sciatic nerve to become trapped in the buttocks by the piriformis muscle. The symptoms of this condition are similar to sciatica, so the right diagnosis is needed to treat each condition properly.
• Bone Spur: Bone spurs or osteophytes form in spaces where bones meet each other, like the joints. They’re smooth, hard bony projections that develop on the ends of the bones. They don’t usually cause pain or other problems unless they start pressing on other bones or nerves.

Aside from sciatic nerve pain, these conditions may also cause neck pain, hip pain, hand pain, shoulder pain, and foot pain. It all depends on which part of the spine or sciatic nerve is affected.

Risk Factors of Sciatica Pain in the Knee

Although anyone might experience knee pain or develop sciatica, some people are more likely to be diagnosed with this condition because of certain risk factors like:

• The habit of crossing legs – Crossing legs frequently causes compression of the opposite knee, possibly resulting in pinched nerves or sciatica. Other knee problems may also result from prolonged squatting or crossing of legs.
• Knee injury – Nerves can get trapped between fractured bones during a knee injury. The most common types of knee injury that may cause sciatic pain are fractures of the fibula in the lower leg or the tibia around the knee. Ligament injuries may also cause bleeding and inflammation of the peroneal nerve.
• Using cast or knee brace – Aside from the knee injury itself, using a cast or knee brace as the injured area heals may also result in sciatic pain. Nerve compression might occur if the brace or cast is placed too tight around the knee.
• Prolonged sitting and bed rest – Lying down for too long causes the knees to flex and the legs to rotate outward. These actions put pressure on the nerves, causing them to become pinched and irritated.
• Tumors and cysts – When cysts or tumors develop near the sciatic nerve, they might push against it and cause nerve pressure or nerve damage. In most cases, only the myelin around the nerve becomes damaged. But when the nerve itself is also affected, the sciatic nerve pain becomes more severe.
• Surgery – Gynecologic and abdominal surgeries typically use equipment that holds the legs and knees in place. It keeps the knees flexed and legs rotated outward, which may result in nerve compression. Some of the nerves may also be accidentally pinched during knee-related surgical procedures like knee replacement surgery.

Treating Knee Pain Caused by Sciatica

The good news is there are a lot of different ways to manage sciatica and experience long-lasting pain relief. Sciatica should be diagnosed immediately for the patient’s treatment plan to stay simple. Doctors usually recommend non-surgical treatments or prescribe combined approaches first before even considering surgery.

For patients with acute sciatica, most pain relief treatments work in about 4-6 weeks. Treatments and therapies for chronic sciatica might take longer to work, so consult with a pain doctor today to start treatments. If you want to find an expert team by googling “sciatica treatment near me”, don’t forget to check reviews and talk about their experience and successful treatment cases.

Here are some of the best minimally invasive ways to treat knee pain caused by sciatica:

1) Physical Therapy

This approach is often recommended for patients with severe pain and those who want long-term results. There are many types of physical therapy depending on the intensity of the knee pain, so your physical therapist might teach stretching and strengthening exercises, use heat or cold treatments, or prepare other approaches.

Aside from alleviating the existing pain, other goals of physical therapy also include managing future flare-ups and strengthening the problem areas so patients may return to their usual routines more quickly.

2) Pain Relief Medications

Before starting physical therapy, some patients attempt to reduce their knee pain using over-the-counter pain relief medications. Pain doctors may also advise patients to take these medicines or prescribe medications with stronger doses.

NSAIDs are the most commonly prescribed pain relief medications, but steroids, opioids, or antidepressants may also be recommended. But note that it’s still crucial to take these prescription drugs as indicated to avoid unwanted side effects.

3) Steroid Injections

Corticosteroid injections are also helpful in relieving pain and controlling the inflammation of the sciatic nerve. They provide short-term pain relief that typically lasts for 3 months.

Steroid injections aren’t meant to be the only solution to sciatica. Instead, they’re given to patients to reduce the intensity of their pain just enough to help them participate in chiropractic care or physical therapy.

4) Chiropractic Care

Although they’re often associated with each other, chiropractic care is actually different from physical therapy. Chiropractic care focuses on readjusting the misalignments along the spine to provide pain relief, while physical therapy aims to help patients move around freely without worrying about pain. Chiropractic care may address the root cause of sciatic pain, so the treatment itself shouldn’t be too painful.

Pain Relief Treatments From Your Knee Conditions by New York Pain Care

Knee pain can prevent you from moving around and getting things done, especially if it’s accompanied by other symptoms of sciatica. At our sports injury clinic, we’re dedicated to finding the best ways to help our patients recover from the knee injuries and pain conditions that hold them back.

We’re a group of top-rated and board-certified pain specialists serving patients from different parts of New York City. With years of training and experience, we’re here every step of the way to help you return to a pain-free life.

Call us today to book an appointment or to know about our sciatica and knee pain treatments.