You bend down to tie your shoe—or sit for a long car ride—and suddenly there’s an annoying, sharp pain shooting down your leg again. Sound familiar?
If you’ve ever felt that deep ache, burning pain, or tingling that travels from your lower back down your leg, you might be dealing with something called sciatica. It’s more common than you think, and no—it’s not just “a back problem.” It’s actually a sign that something is irritating the sciatic nerve, the biggest nerve in your body.
So, what’s really going on back there? And more importantly—what can you do to stop it?
What is sciatica?
Sciatica isn’t a diagnosis in itself, but rather a set of symptoms caused by the irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body; it starts in your lower back, runs through your hip/gluteal region and down the back of each leg. When something presses on or irritates this nerve, it can cause symptoms including:
- Sharp or burning pain in your lower back, buttock, or legs
- Tingling or numbness
- Muscle weakness
- Pain that gets worse when sitting or bending
Common causes include:
- Disc herniation – occurs when the discs between your vertebrae become damaged and the soft inner part of the disc pushes on the outer edge, irritating the sciatic nerve and causing pain along its pathway.
- Degenerative disc disease – a common age-related condition where the discs in your lumbar spine lose flexibility, height, and shock absorption, potentially putting pressure on the sciatic nerve.
- Lumbar spinal stenosis – narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back, which can compress the spinal cord or the nerves that travel to your muscles.
- Deep gluteal syndrome – compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve by soft tissues in the deep buttock area, including the piriformis muscle, obturator internus muscle, and nearby blood vessels.
Are you getting the right treatment for your sciatica?
Treatment should include:
- Hands-on manual therapy including soft tissue mobilization, muscle stretching, joint mobilization
- Acupuncture
- Strengthening exercises
Treatment should NOT only include:
- Heat/ice
- TENS or IFC machines
- Ultrasound
If your physiotherapist is only using heat/ice or machines to treat your sciatica, consider asking if they would be willing to try some of the manual therapy techniques above.
If you’re dealing with leg pain, tingling, or weakness that just won’t go away, it’s worth getting checked out. The sooner you start treatment, the sooner you can feel better and get back to doing the things you love! Physiotherapy can be a safe, effective way to manage sciatica.
If you have any questions or would like to book an appointment, feel free to reach out to our team—we’re here to help you move and feel your best.