Brian Kwon Acupuncture While working at multiple clinics, I have seen a surprisingly large number of patients who were suffering from sciatica.
Typical sciatica pain starts from the hip, radiating along the sciatica nerve, to the knee or toes when it gets worse. The sciatica nerve is the largest nerve in the lower body and pain gets generated once the nerve is being impinged. Pain level is high in general and as a result, it has a significant impact on daily life. Sciatica usually occurs on one of the legs but I have seen a few cases on both legs. Sciatica may cause pain in the front, back, and/or sides of the thigh and leg.
It usually happens in one of two cases:
- When a herniated disk or bone spur in the spine pressed on the nerve
- Muscle(s) tension surrounding the sciatica nerve pressed on the nerve.
For the second case, it is important to identify which muscle(s) have tension, although in most cases, the main muscle that presses on the sciatica nerve is the ‘piriformis’ muscle, which is on top of the nerve. In a clinical setting, we often see individuals with sciatica pain due to bad posture or muscle tightening when one tries to suddenly use a muscle unused for a long time.
Before you consider pursuing any options (e.g. surgery for a herniated disk), it is important to find out what might be causing sciatica in order to come up with the proper treatment. In many cases, acupuncture and massage can help you deal with sciatica.
