Have you ever dealt with pain deep in your butt, maybe even travelling down one of your legs? Sounds like you may have sciatica.
Sciatica pain can range in severity, and unfortunately, one morning in 2022 I woke up in agony with my leg on fire. The culprit? The sciatic nerve. And I’m not the only one; around 10% of those who have lower back pain deal with sciatica as well. And when 4 out of 5 people have at some point dealt with lower back pain, sciatic pain is worth talking about.
This pain can manifest in a few ways:
- Pain in the form of a burning sensation or shooting feeling – this could start from the lower back and may radiate down to your toes.
- Numbness in the back of the leg could also present as tingling and/or weakness in the back of the leg.
- One side of the body is only affected; it rarely affects both legs.
- Movement-induced pain, such as sitting, twisting, lying down, bending, and/or coughing, can make it feel worse.
And if you’re feeling muscle weakness or urinary incontinence, it’s more serious and you should seek medical attention.
If you’re dealing with these symptoms, there’s a good chance it’s sciatica – but not necessarily. Sciatica refers to a specific pain that originates from the sciatic nerve, but it is common, so sometimes it is easy to self-diagnose sciatica when it really may be something completely different. So let’s talk a bit about what sciatica and the sciatic nerve are to get a deeper understanding.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the human body and has 5 nerve roots along the lower spine. There are two sciatic nerves on either side of the hips that go down the leg to the sole of the foot. From the image above you can see easily how sciatic pain can start from the lower back and travel easily down the entire leg – depending on the severity it may stop in the deep muscles of the buttocks, or all the way into the foot.
Now how it happens can be a multitude of reasons. Some of the more common reasons are:
- Medical compression, such as herniated or slipped discs.
- Chemical inflammation, which are substances that may leak out of degenerated or herniated discs.
- Physical characteristics, research shows sciatica happens to occur more often in women, and in older individuals over 180cm in men and 170cm in women.
- Occupational causes, like office workers, carpenters, or anyone sitting for long periods without proper posture, frequently bending the spine, or lifting heavy loads.
I think it’s also important to note sciatica isn’t an actual medical condition – it’s a symptom. But even just as a symptom it can cause nerve damage so it’s best to keep an eye on it and let a medical professional know if you find the pain getting worse over time or with certain movements.
There are a few treatments out there for sciatica, including massage, medication, injections, manual manipulation, physical therapy, and other treatment plans with surgery even being on the table.
But let’s talk about what you can do to help relieve sciatic pain at home.
- Heat relaxes muscles and promotes healing through enhanced blood flow.
- Anti-inflammatory medicine (NSAIDs) can help pain, and reduce swelling and inflammation.
- Good postural habits help distribute your weight more evenly through the body to avoid unwanted pressure and prevent overexerting the lumbar spine.
- Core Strength can help activate our core muscles that provide lower back stability.
- Gentle Cardio like walking releases endorphins, which reduce our perception of pain, and reduce inflammation.
- Stretching will lessen your chance of future flare-ups by stretching and loosening muscles that can put pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Since I am a flexibility coach, and someone who’s experienced debilitating sciatica before, I of course would suggest stretching as a key component in your plan for healing.
You can watch this Tiktok on some stretches I’d recommend for sciatica pain, but I’d also suggest joining The Garden, so you can stretch your entire body to reduce pain system-wide, and keep you moving so the chances of sciatica returning lessen every single time you roll out your mat.
Sources
Steven J. Atlas, MD, MPH Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and…
Mount Sinai Health System Sciatica
Cleveland Clinic Sciatica: Putting pain and other symptoms behind you
Mayo Clinic Sciatica – Symptoms and causes
Spine-health What You Need to Know About Sciatica
