A fair number of people believe they have sciatica when they come to see me. They might have been told by their Doctor, or used Dr Google to find out. So I thought it might be useful to explore some of the things which might be a cause of the pain in your bum 😳
The sciatic nerve innervates most of the muscles in the back of the leg, but crucially only provides sensory innervation below the knee.
So if you have pain in your back, travelling to the back of the upper leg, and possibly further down … it’s not sciatica. It’s most likely some form of lumbar nerve issue, known as lumbar radiculopathy, originating from a disc issue of some description if pain is traveling down the back of the leg – see earlier posts on spinal compression, and breathing dynamics 👨🏻🎓
Falling somewhere between these two is Pseudo Sciatica, or Piriformis Syndrome. This is a sciatic nerve issue where the piriformis (a muscle in your buttocks) traps the nerve, causing compression, and therefore pain. We can treat them all in clinic, Just thought I’d share some knowledge 😊👍🏻
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