What is it?

Sciatica is the name given to any sort of pain that is caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve.

When something compresses or irritates part of the sciatic nerve it can cause varying levels of pain which most commonly radiates from the lower back / buttocks down the leg.  How far this pain radiates varies from person to person. In some people it stays local to the hip area, but can radiate to the calf muscles and heels of the foot.

Symptoms of Sciatica may include one or more of the following:     

   - pain in the buttock or down the leg 
   - numbness
   - muscular weakness
   - pins and needles or tingling
   - difficulty in moving or controlling the leg

Sciatica is most commonly felt in one leg at a time, and the pain levels can range from a dull ache to an incapacitating pain.

People with Sciatica may find that they have their symptoms all the time, or the symptoms may come and go depending on certain things such as the time of day or different activities that the person has been undertaking. 

Milder cases of sciatica often go untreated as people put up with the 'dull ache' of the early symptoms.  Early onset of the condition is the best time to get treatment and prevention from the condition becoming chronic.

What Causes it?

As sciatica is triggered by irritation or compression of the Sciatic Nerve one must look at what causes the irritation or compression to occur... 

Sciatica can be triggered at a spinal level – by a compressed and herniated discs in the spine affecting the sciatic nerve, an injury or straining of the muscles in the lower back – particularly at the root of the nerve – where the nerve exits the spinal column.

Sciatica can also (and quite commonly) be caused by muscular compression of the sciatic nerve – usually as it runs through the pelvis. In cases where the sciatic nerve passed directly through the piriformas muscle (also known as piriformus syndrome) the area can be very tender to touch and and long term care with exercises is often needed to keep the sciatica from becoming chronic.

Most treatments of Sciatic look at the problem locally (dealing with the herniated or bulging disc, the muscle spasm) which will provide relief from symptoms but my belief is that one needs to look further back than that into the cause of the problem.

As simple as that sounds to fully treat sciatica one needs to look at how the body is balanced, posture and pelvic alignment – which are the most common  underlying causes of the muscular compression and disc herniation / prolapse.

Treatment of Sciatica.

A bulging disc or a strained ligament or muscle spasm may be the trigger for sciatica but that doesn't explain why the ligament is strained or why the disc is bulging or what caused the muscle to go into spasm.

There is invariably a cause that triggers this problem around the site of the pain. This needs to be dealt with for proper healing to take place, whether a muscle spasm is caused by lifting something heavy whilst in a awkward position, bulging disc caused by continually working in a position where posture is incorrect - there will be an underlying cause for the Sciatica trigger to happen.

There are many reasons people are given for their back pain or sciatica which, in themselves are medically correct in that they are the trigger (and therefor seen as the cause) for sciatica, however, merely treating the trigger does not provide a long term solution.

At Back to Touch when a person seeks treatment for their back pain, sciatica, bulging disc or even lower back strain, we are looking to provide a long term solution rather than just having the symptoms settle down only to see the pain come back in a day, a week or a month.

To fully treat sciatica – we need to go back to what causes the underlying trigger of the sciatica – we also work our way back, or re-trace the tension patterns and imbalances through the body.  Working with clients (and other practitioners where appropriate) we start by looking locally at the area of pain, and using various techniques assist in taking pressure off of the sciatic nerve and then work our way out, looking at muscle imbalances in the pelvis and posture. 

Various exercises and stretches may be given to continue the re-balancing process at home – with the aim of providing long term relief.

Welcome to the Articles section of Back to Touch. 
Here you will find information about various conditions, causes and information about general health and well-being.  There is also information about how various treatments can assist with the management and aleviation of various symptoms, from headaches to plantar fasciaitis, hydration to stress management, and MS to concentration levels... 

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