Understanding Sciatica: Symptoms and Treatments

How One Patient Found Sciatica Relief with Physical Therapy

Heather (not her real name) was 45 years old when she began experiencing a nagging pain in her lower back that seemed to shoot down her right leg. Heather was an avid gardener, and she assumed the discomfort was muscle soreness from working in her garden. But when her symptoms worsened, she learned she had developed sciatica.

Like many people, Heather had heard the term before but didn’t understand what it referred to. However, she soon found out as she began working with the Boulet Physical Therapy and Wellness team to alleviate her symptoms once and for all.

We want to use Heather’s story to help explain sciatica and the treatment options we offer at our Lafayette, LA clinic. Keep reading to learn more!

Understanding Sciatica: More than Just Lower Body Pain

What eventually spurred Heather to seek treatment for her back and leg pain was a shift in her symptoms. Not only did the pain not go away as she expected, she began experiencing numbness and tingling in her right leg and foot.

Those additional symptoms help clarify what sciatica actually is. While some people use the term as a catch-all for any kind of lower body pain, it refers to symptoms stemming from irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back through the legs and into the feet.

Recognizing Sciatica Symptoms

Symptoms can range widely in severity and type. For Heather, it started as a dull ache, but over time, it evolved into a sharp, shooting pain down her leg, along with the accompanying tingling sessions. This is fairly typical of sciatica, which generally causes the following:

• Sharp shooting pain that travels from the lower back down one leg, sometimes reaching the foot.
• Tingling, numbness, or pins and needles sensations, especially in the affected leg or foot.
• Muscle weakness in the affected leg that might make it hard to stand or walk.

What Causes Sciatica?

Sciatica isn’t a condition or disease but a symptom resulting from an underlying issue, often tied to a pinched nerve.

Heather’s discomfort resulted from a herniated disc, which occurs when the cushiony discs between the vertebrae bulge or rupture, irritating the nearby nerve roots. Herniated discs are by far the most common cause of sciatica.

In older people, they usually develop due to degeneration in the intervertebral discs, which dry out and lose flexibility as we get older. In Heather’s case, however, she actually injured her discs when using improper lifting techniques while working in her garden.

Some people also develop sciatica due to spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal that can create pressure on the sciatic nerve. This is less common, however.

Finding Sciatica Relief at Boulet Physical Therapy and Wellness

Treating sciatica is a matter of treating the underlying cause. We worked closely with Heather to develop a personalized program that addressed her acute pain, facilitated her spine recovery process, and helped address the underlying weakness and biomechanical issues that led to her injury in the first place.

Here’s what we did for Heather:

Manual Therapy

• Through hands-on techniques, Heather’s therapist worked to relieve pressure around the nerve, reducing inflammation and improving blood flow.

Strengthening Exercises

• Building core and lower back muscles helps support the spine, reducing pressure on the sciatic nerve. Heather’s therapist introduced exercises like pelvic tilts and gentle hamstring stretches, which eased her pain without causing strain. As she improved, we moved on to more vigorous exercises to help protect her spine from further injury.

Posture Correction

• We taught Heather proper body mechanics to prevent future issues, especially when bending or lifting. Correcting her posture was vital in helping her avoid putting unnecessary stress on her spine.

So What Were the Results?

Within a few weeks, Heather noticed a significant reduction in her pain. By strengthening her back and core, improving her posture, and following her therapist’s guidance, she regained her mobility and returned to day-to-day activities, including gardening.

The team at Boulet Physical Therapy and Wellness helped Heather–and we can help you, too. Schedule an appointment at our Lafayette, LA clinic today to get started!