If your sciatica settles and then returns, it is natural to wonder what you are missing. There is no single answer, but there is one idea worth knowing: sciatica is a description of where you feel pain, not a diagnosis of what is causing it.
What sciatica actually describes
The word usually refers to pain that travels from the lower back or buttock down the leg. Many different things can produce that pattern. Because the name does not point to a cause, two people with sciatica can need quite different approaches.
Why the same treatment may not change things
If treatment is aimed at one source and something else is contributing, pain can ease for a while and then come back. That does not mean the treatment was wrong. It can mean the full picture was not yet clear.
Questions worth asking
- When did it start, and what was going on at the time?
- What makes it better or worse: sitting, walking, lying down?
- What have you already tried, and what did each thing change?
- Does the pain stay in one place, or does it move around?
Your answers help narrow down what may be involved. I ask these in the first session, because a clear history shapes everything that follows.
How I approach it
I use Fascial Counterstrain, a gentle hands-on method, to assess which system may be contributing to the pain, and then treat it with light, precise positioning. You can read more on the sciatica page.
When to see a doctor first
Please seek medical care straight away if you have numbness around the groin or inner thighs, difficulty controlling your bladder or bowel, or leg weakness that is getting worse.
Book through the link, or call the clinic on 0412 020 330.
