Are you experiencing the following symptoms?

• Burning or “electric” pain that radiates from your lower back down through your leg
• Numbness, tingling, or a pins and needles sensation in your back or leg
• A sense of weakness or heaviness in your leg

If so, you may have developed sciatica, which isn’t so much a condition in and of itself as it is a sign of something else, such as a herniated disc or issues with your spine. It develops when the sciatic nerve–a major nerve that runs from your lower back all the way down to your feet–becomes pinched or irritated in some way.

Sciatica is a somewhat misunderstood term. Some people use it to describe any pain or discomfort in the lower half of your body. But true sciatica is a neuropathy that affects the sciatic nerve, and to address it, you need to resolve the underlying source of irritation to the sciatic nerve.

Fortunately, the physical therapists at Fairfield Universal Therapy can help you do exactly that! Today, we want to give you a glimpse of the process we use when addressing sciatica and sciatic pain.

Step 1: Confirm Sciatica and Uncover the Cause

When you visit us for your first appointment, we’ll begin by confirming that the discomfort in your lower extremity actually involves the sciatic nerve at all. Other conditions can cause sciatica-like symptoms, such as spinal osteoarthritis or piriformis syndrome.

If we confirm that your sciatic nerve is impaired, our next step is figuring out why. By far, the most common cause of sciatica is a herniated disc, which occurs when an intervertebral disc bulges and presses against the sciatic nerve. Less commonly, spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal canal) can irritate the sciatica nerve, as can damage from osteoarthritis.