Sciatic Nerve Impingement
Do you experience lower back pain that radiates down one of your legs? Is there associated numbness, weakness and/or tingling in your lower back, hips and legs? And does this get worse when you sit, cough or sneeze? Well, we have some good news! It’s probably not just old age. This can be something called Sciatic Nerve Impingement. Or Sciatica, as we like to call it.
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body, running from your lower back down to your feet. Despite being called the ‘Sciatic Nerve’, we actually have two, running down each leg and are a bundle of nerves, not just one.
When this becomes impinged, it can create discomfort and pain, and in severe cases, muscle weakness and incontinence. The most common causes of Sciatica are;
- Herniated or bulging discs in the spine
- Spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal
- Degenerative disc disease
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Poor posture or sitting for long periods of time
- Injury or trauma to the lower back or hip area
If you are experiencing any lower back, hip or buttocks pain with numbness or tingling, weakness or difficulty moving your affected leg that gets worse when sitting/standing for long periods of time, we can help!
Our therapist will run through some gentle testing with you before any treatment starts and go through a treatment guideline so you understand that treatment for sciatica could take longer than one appointment and requires a little bit of homework from you as well (but don’t worry, it’s not too much!)
Remedial Massage and Myotherapy is an effective treatment for sciatic nerve impingement (well, any nerve impingement really!) as it helps to reduce pain and inflammation, improve circulation and release tension in muscles surrounding the sciatic nerve* (*Possibly make you feel young again – results not conclusive*). If you are pregnant and experience sciatica, we use a very comfortable and supportive pregnancy pillow for you to lie face down in (or side-lying if you wish).
Some techniques we use are;
- Soft tissue mobilisation – Our therapists use massage techniques to manipulate the soft tissue around the affected area, including the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Soft tissue mobilisation can help reduce pain and stiffness, increase range of motion, and improve circulation to the affected area.
- Trigger point therapy – We apply pressure to specific trigger points in the muscles around the affected area. Trigger point therapy can help release tension in the muscles, reduce pain and stiffness, and improve mobility.
- Myofascial release – This involves applying sustained pressure to the fascia, which is the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles and other tissues in the body. Myofascial release can help reduce pain and stiffness, improve circulation, and increase range of motion.
From our experience, most of our clients’ symptoms improve over a few weeks after getting regular treatments and doing a little bit of at home care for themselves. At your initial treatment, our therapists will go over any stretches they recommend that you can do between your appointments. These will help manage your symptoms, along with some very gentle exercises, such as going for a short walk, to help get mobility through your hips and lower back.
That’s all from us! Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments about your own journey, please feel free to leave us a note and we will get back to you! Alternatively, you can book in an appointment through our online system and chat to us at your initial consultation.