Sciatica is an irritation of the sciatic nerve which travels down the back of your leg. This causes pain along the path of this nerve. This referral pain can vary from a mild ache to a sharp burning pain, sometimes accompanied by a tingling or pins and needles sensation along the path of the nerve.
Symptoms:
If you have sciatica you may feel the following symptoms in these areas; Bottom/glute, calf/back of leg, foot and toes.
– Tingling or pins and needles
– Painful: shooting or burning sensation
– Numb
– Weak
– Sciatica can sometimes accompany lower back pain
When to seek medical assistance?
Go to A&E or call 999 if…
– You have sciatica on both sides of your legs
– You have weakness or numbness in both legs that are severe or getting worse
– You have numbness around or under your genitals, or around your bottom (anus)
– You find it hard to start peeing, cannot pee or cannot control when you pee – and this is not normal for you
– You do not notice when you need to poo or cannot control when you poo – and this is not normal for you
How long will it take to get rid of my sciatica?
Sciatica normally gets better within 4-6 weeks but this can sometimes take longer. Certain interventions can speed up this process. Do not ignore & live with it, 90-95% of sciatica cases are successfully resolved with regular physio, exercise and non-surgical treatments.
Top tips for treating sciatica:
- Stay active, resting is not a good way of treating sciatica. However, do not maintain the same exercise routine which caused flair-ups. If you notice an exercise or activity that makes your symptoms worse ease off of this while you are recovering. Try and find alternative activities that keep you active. For example, if the impact from running is making your symptoms worse try cycling as this subjects the body to less impact.
- Tailored physiotherapy implementing the right exercises and advice can help to get on top of your symptoms. Your physiotherapist will be able to identify where the irritation of the sciatic nerve is being caused and provide specific exercises and treatment to address this.
- Try to avoid the ‘boom, bust’ cycle with your activities. This means that on your good days, you don’t try and perform as much exercise and activity as you can. This way you will probably feel worse the following day and subsequently perform no exercise or activity. Likewise on your bad days still try and perform a small amount of exercise and activity to keep your body moving. The key to this is to keep your exercise and activity level consistent but manageable level.
- Review your desk set up at work or home office, and learn the right ergonomics. Sitting for prolonged periods in a non-ideal posture can place your sciatic nerve under more strain. Google ‘desk ergonomics’ to find the correct setup for you.
- Stand up and move regularly. This is especially appropriate if you at sitting at a desk for a long time or having to drive for long distances. Take regular breaks from sitting, ideally standing up and have a small stretch every half an hour. If you are driving you may want to stop and every other service station you come across.
- Avoid high heels during a sciatica flare-up. High heels place the sciatic nerve under more tension which can exacerbate symptoms.
- Drink plenty of water. Decaffeinated drinks and dehydration can make symptoms worse.
Have a hot bath at the end of the day to relax your muscles. Relaxing the muscles around the sciatic nerve will help reduce the release of tension on the nerve.
Book a physio appointment