Sciatica

Over the years I have seen many people who have told me they have sciatica without having any of the symptoms, so hopefully this can clear things up a bit. Commonly misunderstood, sciatica describes the symptoms that spread down the leg from irritation of the sciatic nerve - the largest nerve in the body. The sciatic nerve is made up of a bunch of nerve roots at the base of your back (L4-S3) before making its way down the leg.

Nerves are sensitive. The sciatic nerve in the back can be irritated by neighbouring discs & joints or following injury to muscles/ligaments that causes local inflammation. Symptoms can start because of poor postures, poor or repetitive movement (e.g. lifting), and sometimes naturally over time because of the changes that occur in the spine as you get older.

You can experience pins and needles, numbness, burning sensation and pain – which can be from buttock to toes - usually down the back/outside of the leg. Although the issue is often stems from the back you may not experience any back pain.

Symptoms can affect how you sit, walk, move and sleep. You might not feel like moving at all, but this does little to help resolve the problem. Sometimes simple solutions can make life more comfortable to allow the nerve sensitivity to reduce.

Do's:

- Find comfortable direction to move in...do loads of that

- Have an assessment that can identify contributing factors and triggers and outline a management plan - may involve acupuncture, exercise & manual therapy

- Improve posture and move better

- Lose weight if you need to

Dont's:

- Bed rest