All About Sciatica

Sciatica is a painful condition that affects many people.

Typically, sufferers feel a sharp pain down the back of one leg; but sciatica symptoms can affect all parts of your leg, and range from a slight twinge or some numbness or weakness, all the way to an agonising intense pain so bad that it makes even slight movement unbearable. On these pages we discuss sciatica, what causes it, what can be done to make you feel better, and what steps to take to give you the best chance of avoiding it in the first place!

But sciatica is not just any leg pain or discomfort. Sciatica pain starts when the main nerve into your leg, the sciatic nerve, is irritated, pinched, or compressed in some way. This can happen for one or more of several reasons – and sciatic pain can only be treated properly when the cause of the irritation is known. Another way of saying this is that sciatica is really a set of symptoms rather than a condition or disorder itself, and requires professional diagnosis to determine the best way forward.

You have two sciatic nerves: one for each leg. Each sciatic nerve is a group of nerves about the thickness of a finger, leaving your spine at the lower part of your back, passing through your buttock, going all the way down to your feet. It is the largest nerve in your body, and controls your leg and foot muscles; it also sends signals from your legs and feet back to the spinal cord and then to your brain. (Click on the image for a larger version that shows the course of the sciatic nerve -- it's bright yellow).

Symptoms of sciatica include numbness, aching, burning, tingling, and various degrees of pain travelling from your lower back and shooting down your leg, possibly even reaching your feet; sometimes some of your leg muscles feel weak, or cramped. It usually only affects one side of your body. Sciatica normally starts because of wear and tear on parts of the spine, and not as the result of an accident or injury.

Most people who are diagnosed with sciatica get better within a few weeks or months, and find that it is treatable without surgery – often, over-the-counter medicines, hot and cold applications, exercise, and physical exercise can make you feel better and ease your discomfort; whereas others find it so painful and disabling that surgery is the only recourse.

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