06/01/2026
DO YOU SUFFER FROM SCIATICA? WHAT IS IT?
The word “sciatica” typically gets thrown around as a general term for leg pain, however true sciatica is nerve pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve distribution into the posterior/back part of your leg.
WHAT CAUSES SCIATICA?
Sciatica presents when there is pressure on the nerve from multiple different causes hence it is important that the root of the complaint is diagnosed correctly, for example, the sciatic nerve originates from a number of nerves that start at the lumbar spine (L4-S3), these nerves can be compressed from joints being inflamed or misaligned, from a disc putting pressure on the nerve root or roots, from arthritic components in one of the lumbar spine joints or from a fractured or dislocation of vertebrae on the lumbar spine. Another less serious cause of sciatica is piriformis (buttock muscle) injury or spasm which can irritate or compress the sciatic nerve.
WHAT SYMPTOMS DOES A PATIENT FEEL EXPERIENCING SCIATICA?
- Pain radiating from the back of buttock into the back of the thigh, lower leg and foot
- Pins and Needles into the same area
- Numbness into the same area
- Weakness of the muscles that the sciatic nerve supplies I.e. posterior thigh (hamstring - biceps femoris, senimembranosus and semitendinosus and part of the adductor Magnus) and muscles of the leg and foot indirectly.
Chiropractors at CHIROPRACTIX are highly qualified and trained to diagnose and treat the root of the Sciatica giving long lasting and complete relief of the symptoms and provide rehabilitation exercises in order to correct the dysfunction that originally caused the complaint, so that it can be eradicated or managed depending on the cause.
