Evening star., 1905-11-11
SCIATICA.
Rheumatism in the Great Nerve Of the
Hip
From the Chicago Chronicle

From the Chicago Chronicle.
1t is a singular thing that there should he
a rheumatism of the nerves apart from
rheumatism of the muscles and bones. We
are accustomed 10 think of all pain as
being located in the nerves. but in most
cases the nerves are only the telegraph wires
informing the brain of what is going on In
the msucles and other tissues. When there
is rheumatism in the nerves themselves we
may confidently look for trouble.
The largest nerve in the body and the one
most subject to rheumatism IS the sciatic
nerve so called from a Greek word mean
ing the hip. 1t takes its rise in the saeral
peXuS near the base OF the spine ana
passes down the thigh on the outer side,
quite close to the surface. A the knee
joint il splits into two branches. one -
which passes down each side Of the calf
of the leg. Rheumatis IN TINS gre t-nci' q
is called sciatica.
The pain produced by sciatica is differ
ent from the pain of muscular rhcumat tism
in two ways The pain of muscular rheu-
matism Is felt almost entirely when there
is muscular action. The pain of sciatica is
aggravated by muscular action, but 1t is
continuous, anyway, and may be accom-
panied by occasional paroxysms. Another
difference is that muscular rheumatism Is
not aggravated by pressure on the muscles.
but sciatica is intimately connected with
pressure and greatly aggravated by IL, If IL
is not in the first place produced by it.
When a person has a good case Of
scatica hand that is the only care he
has. He may be hungry, thirsty, betrayed
and deserted by family and friends, bank
rupt in business and ruined in reputation,
society may be filled with abuses and the
country be plunging headlong into destruc-
tion, but the sciatica sufferer is oblivfous
OF it all and has only one trouble-that in
fernal pain in his leg. Chalmers speaks or
the eXpulsive power of a new affection,
but that is nothing compared with the eN-
pusive power of sciatic pain.
There is mystery about sciatica, that
physicians have never been able 10 solve
and that is that il affects only the left leg
There is a sciatica nerve in the right leg also,
but 1t is as well-behaved and harmless "A
nerve as there is in the body. Once In a
century there will be a of sciatica in
the right leg, but IL is such an unusual oc-
currence that il may be dismissed from the
mind a negligible danger. The habitat
and stamping ground of sciatica is in the
left leg.
The speculatons of layman such a
subject may not be worth great deal, but
is there not possibility that sciatica pre-
fers the left leg because the left leg is ha-
bitually maltreated? Scatica is almost al
ways produced by pressure, especially
against hard and cold surfaces, though 1t
may result even from the internal pressure
caused by constipation This being known,
is ii not likely that the disease is generally
due to habitual exposure to cold and 10
pressure?
If So there is solution of the left leg
mystery In the fact that almost every one
has a hab1t or sitting mostly IN a sldel0nS
position on his left side. Even in sitting at
a desk to write "A person will without no.
tcing II sit for hours his left thigh No
one would believe how inylncible this left
leg habit is unless he has tried to break
himself of ii. When the disease has once
been set up there is no need to tell him to
sit on his right side, because he cannot
sit on any other-and live.
A sciatica patient need never hope to re-
cover unless he absolutely ceases TO sit on
his left thigh or even to lie on II in bed.
AS to well people who are candidates for
sciatic terrors, the best thing they can do
is to make a habit of sitting on the cold.
hard seats of the street cars and the office
and on the left thigh The rheumatic sea-
son of the year Is now with us, and rheuma-
tism is within the reach of rich and poor
alike. Who wishes to be served first?