The term sciatica describes pain along the path of the sciatic nerve from the lower back, through the hips and buttocks, and down the back of the legs to the feet. Sciatica typically affects only one leg, but can be felt on both sides. Sciatica can vary from mild discomfort to severe pain and can include numbness, tingling, burning, and weakness. Some people experience increased pain upon standing while others experience increased pain when sitting.
 The sciatic nerve is the large yellow nerve running down the back of the leg. |  Sciatica is sometimes blamed on "piriformis syndrome" where the piriformis muscle shown in red above compresses the sciatic nerve. |
The pain is caused by compression or irritation of the sciatica nerve typically in the lower back but sometimes originating in the hip/butt. People with sciatica are often told the cause of the pain is lumbar spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, bone spur(s), herniated or ruptured lumbar disc, piriformis syndrome, or muscle spasms.
The focus of effective sciatica treatment should always be on finding and fixing the underlying cause of the sciatica, which means figuring out why someone herniated a disc, or why someone has degenerative disc disease, or why someone has spinal stenosis, or why someone has muscle spasms.
 MRI showing a herniated disc pressing on the spinal cord. This is often what causes the pain associated with sciatica. |  MRI showing lumbar spinal stenosis pressing on the spinal cord. |
I have talked about many of these diagnoses before including spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and degenerative disc disease and none of them are caused by old age, overuse, genetics, or bad luck (learn about these and the other 10 biggest myths about your body). Spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, bone spurs, piriformis syndrome, muscle spasms, and herniated and ruptured lumbar discs are all caused by postural imbalances. These are all physical responses to friction, stress, and strain because the body has lost ideal postural alignment and the compromised posture is creating compression, tension, and shear that damages the body's tissues.
Treating the symptoms of sciatica with drugs (NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, etc.) or surgery (laminectomy, discectomy, foraminotomy, spinal fusion, etc.) does nothing about the cause of the problem so damage continues to happen and the symptoms will often return.
Correcting the imbalanced posture with specific exercises that restore joint alignment and proper movement patterns is the only long term cure for sciatica.
Treating the symptoms of sciatica with drugs (NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, etc.) or surgery (laminectomy, discectomy, foraminotomy, spinal fusion, etc.) does nothing about the cause of the problem so damage continues to happen and the symptoms will often return.
Correcting the imbalanced posture with specific exercises that restore joint alignment and proper movement patterns is the only long term cure for sciatica.
Get started today by scheduling your free posture evaluation and consultation.
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