Sciatica - It's a pain in the butt.

Do you have pain around your lower back that runs down the leg? You might have SCIATICA.

What is Sciatica?


Sciatica refers to pain along the sciatic nerve path. The sciatic nerve runs from the lower lumbar and sacral vertebrae, through the glutes, all the way down the leg and under the foot. Sciatica in some cases can be felt all the way down to the foot, but generally the most painful area will be the lower back.


Sciatica is often caused by herniated discs in the lower spine, due to degeneration or injury. Herniated discs are also called bulging discs. When the sciatic nerve gets pinched between a bulged disc and the bony vertebrae, it inflames the nerve causing pain and sometimes numbness or uncomfortable tingling. Other causes of sciatica include pregnancy, which is quite common when the baby is pressing on the nerve, or hip misalignment and tight muscles. It can be brought on by occupation, i.e. work that includes very heavy lifting, or constant sitting or standing.


Other risk factors are:


Age, because of disc degeneration,
Obesity, because of the excessive weight compressing the discs and pinching the nerves,
Diabetes, because diabetics are more prone to nerve damage.


The sciatic nerve runs along the glutes. Sometimes, very tight gluteal muscles and deep hip muscles such as the piriformis will press on the nerve and create sciatica. This will often be the case for those people who sit at a desk all day, their hip flexors are flexed all day long, and the nerve gets aggravated.

Can massage help?



Absolutely, I and other skilled massage therapists have been successfully treating sciatica for years. Although the pain can be felt all the way down the leg, the problem areas are the lower back and glutes. The pain running down the leg is called referred pain. If you treat the true cause, all the referred pain disappears as well. This is true of any area in the body, which is why remedial massage is specialised – therapists need to know how to fix the symptoms by finding the source.

Of course, massage can’t do a lot for bulging discs and spinal degeneration (spondylosis), but by freeing up the tissues surrounding the nerve, there can be a lot of relief, albeit temporary. In cases where sciatica is brought on by tight hips, over the course of a few treatments, I’ve seen many people kiss their pain goodbye!


If this is you and you’re in pain now, book in for a remedial massage, and get to the bottom of your pain…which is the pain in your bottom.