Do You Have Sciatica Pain?

What Sciatica Feels Like

• Sharp, stabbing pain starting in the right or left buttock and radiating down the back of the leg.
• A dull ache that never quite leaves, punctuated by the sharp version.
• Tingling, numbness, or a burning sensation along the nerve’s path.
• Pain that follows you into every position: sitting, standing, and lying down all take turns being unbearable.

Treating the Cause, Not Masking the Symptom

Medication can quiet sciatic pain for an afternoon, but it cannot move whatever is pressing on the nerve, which is usually a compressed, bulging, or herniated disc in the low back. The approach here is non-invasive and drug-free: find the cause on exam and x-ray, then take the pressure off it, with adjustments and spinal decompression, the 20-minute table treatment designed to pull disc material back off the nerve.

In Dr. Tony’s experience, decompression succeeds for around 90% of sciatica patients who complete their recommended plan. The full treatment picture is on our main sciatica page.

Five Habits That Protect Your Sciatic Nerve

• Keep your weight in a healthy range. Every extra pound loads the discs that sciatica starts from.
• Mind your posture, especially through long desk days, since slumped sitting concentrates pressure on the low back.
• Break up prolonged sitting. The low back was not built to hold one flexed position for hours at a stretch.
• Lift with your legs, close to your body. Most disc injuries this office sees started with a lift that went through the back instead.
• Keep moving. Regular exercise keeps the muscles supporting your spine doing their share of the work.

And one non-negotiable: if sciatic pain ever comes with loss of bowel or bladder control, or follows a real trauma, that is a medical emergency first.