The key difference between sacroiliitis and sciatica is that sacroiliitis is a medical condition that causes lower back pain due to the inflammation of one or both sacroiliac joints, while sciatica is a medical condition that causes lower back pain due to injury or irritation to the sciatic nerve.
Sacroiliitis and sciatica are two medical conditions that cause lower back and buttock pain. However, these are different medical conditions caused by different factors. Both these conditions can be treated through self-care management, medications, and surgeries.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Sacroiliitis
3. What is Sciatica
4. Similarities – Sacroiliitis and Sciatica
5. Sacroiliitis vs Sciatica in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Sacroiliitis vs Sciatica
What is Sacroiliitis?
Sacroiliitis is a medical condition that causes lower back pain due to the inflammation of one or both of the sacroiliac joints. These joints are located where the triangular last section of the spine meets a part of the pelvis. Sacroiliitis is a most common condition that causes lower back pain or pain in the buttocks or thighs. It has been reported that 10% to 25% of people who report lower back pain have sacroiliitis. Sacroiliitis usually leads to pain in the lower back, buttock, hip, and thigh. The other notable symptoms include pain that gets worse after long periods of sitting, standing, or getting out of a chair, pain that worsens after rotating the hips, and sharp, stabbing, dull, or achy pain. Moreover, sacroiliitis can occur through osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, trauma, pregnancy, and rare infections by Staphylococcus aureus.
Figure 01: Sacroiliitis
Sacroiliitis is diagnosed through physical examination, movement tests, blood work, and imaging tests (CT and MRI, and X-ray). Furthermore, treatment options for sacroiliitis may include physical therapy, prescribed medications like NSAIDs, and radiofrequency ablation.
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a condition that causes nerve pain that originates in your buttock/gluteal area due to an injury or irritation to the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the longest and thickest nerve in the human body that is made up of nerve roots. These five nerve roots come together to form a right and left sciatic nerve. The causes of sciatica include a herniated or slipped disk, degenerative disk disease, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, osteoarthritis, trauma injury, tumors in the lumbar spinal canal, piriformis syndrome, and cauda equina syndrome. The symptoms of sciatica may include moderate to severe pain in the lower back, buttock, and down the leg, numbness or weakness in the lower back, buttock, leg, or feet, pain that worsens with movements, pins and needles sensation in the legs, toes or feet, and loss of bowel or bladder control.
Figure 02: Sciatica
Sciatica can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, spinal X-ray, MRI, CT scan, nerve conduction velocity study, and myelogram. Furthermore, treatment options for sciatica may include applying ice or hot packs, taking over-the-counter pain relievers (NSAIDs), performing gentle stretches, other prescribed medications like muscle relaxants (cyclobenzaprine), physical therapy, spinal injections, alternative therapies (acupuncture) and surgery (microdiscectomy and laminectomy).
What are the Similarities Between Sacroiliitis and Sciatica?
- Sacroiliitis and sciatica are two medical conditions that cause lower back and buttock pain.
- Both conditions are very commonly seen in people.
- They can be caused by underlying medical conditions.
- Both conditions do not cause life-threatening complications.
- They can be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging tests.
- They can be treated through medication like pain relievers and therapies.
What is the Difference Between Sacroiliitis and Sciatica?
Sacroiliitis is a medical condition that causes lower back pain due to the inflammation of one or both of the sacroiliac joints, while sciatica is a medical condition that causes lower back pain due to the injury or irritation of the sciatic nerve. Thus, this is the key difference between sacroiliitis and sciatica. Furthermore, sacroiliitis can occur through osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, trauma, pregnancy, and rare infection by Staphylococcus aureus. On the other hand, sciatica can occur through a herniated or slipped disk, degenerative disk disease, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, osteoarthritis, trauma injury, tumors in the lumbar spinal canal, piriformis syndrome, and cauda equina syndrome.
The below infographic presents the differences between sacroiliitis and sciatica in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Sacroiliitis vs Sciatica
Almost everyone has lower back pain at some point in life. Sacroiliitis and sciatica are two common medical conditions that cause lower back and buttock pain. However, sacroiliitis is due to the inflammation of one or both of the sacroiliac joints, while sciatica is due to injury or irritation of the sciatic nerve. So, this is the key difference between sacroiliitis and sciatica.
Reference:
1. “Sciatica: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention & Pain Relief.” Cleveland Clinic.
2. “Sacroiliitis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 Jan. 2023.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Sciatica” By Scientific Animations.com – (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Sacroiliitis MRI ar1934-5.” By Fiona McQueen, Marissa Lassere and Mikkel Østergaard. – Magnetic resonance imaging in psoriatic arthritis: a review of the literature. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2006, 8:207. doi:10.1186/ar1934 (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia