What is sciatica?
Sciatica is a term used to describe various symptoms that are felt down into the leg that follow the path of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body and is formed by 5 nerve roots in the lumbar and sacral spine. Location of symptoms will vary depending on which nerve root is affected.
What does sciatica feel like?
You may experience a burning sensation or sharp shooting pain that starts in the buttock region and radiates down the thigh and into the leg. You may or may not experience pain in the low back. Numbness and/or pin and needles down the leg may be present as well as weakness or heaviness in the affected leg.
Commonly, you will feel worse when sitting down, bending forward, twisting, coughing, and getting up from sitting. Generally symptoms will improve when you walk.
Other common causes of pain down the back of the leg could be:
Referred pain from muscles around the back and hips.
Referred pain from joints and structures in lumbar spine/pelvis
Common causes of sciatica:
Lumbar disc bulge or herniation
Trauma
Piriformis syndrome
Degenerative disc disease
Spinal stenosis
Spondylolisthesis
Risk factors for sciatica:
Obesity and excess weight
Sedentary jobs
Poor ergonomics
Increasing age
How can your physiotherapist help?
Your physiotherapist will get a detailed history and complete a biomechanical assessment to understand the origin of your pain. This may be through lumbar range of motion tests, nerve mobility tests, muscle strength tests and functional tests.
Treatment will generally start with a combination of hands-on therapy and a home exercise/stretching program to reduce pain and sensitivity in the area. We take pride in creating long term management plans for our patients that include a combination of advice and education regarding postures/ergonomics and a progressive strengthening program targeted to your needs to reduce the chance of recurrence. Exercises may be a combination of nerve mobility exercises, stretches, and strengthening for your back, core, and gluts.
You don’t have to live with sciatica forever! Here at Aeon Health we are passionate about getting you back to your daily activities with ease. If you are experiencing symptoms of sciatica, we offer comprehensive 45-60 minute appointments to allow for a detailed assessment, treatment, and development of a management plan tailored to you. Please get in touch for more information!
