Can Physical Therapy Help My Sciatica? A Guide to Lasting Relief

Sciatica is pain, weakness, tingling or numbness radiating down the leg.  This pain can come from many different reasons, but no matter the cause it can be very debilitating to everyday life.  Limiting us from activities such as work, exercise and even sleep.  

Can physical therapy help you with this pain?  Keep reading!

First things first: What is Sciatica?

The Sciatic nerve is the largest peripheral nerve in the body.  Sciatic pain is caused by compression of the nerve somewhere along its path.  The sciatic nerve comes out of the lower back from L4 through S3. It then travels through the pelvis and exits through the greater sciatic foramen.  From there it runs down the back of the thigh till just before the knee when it splits into the tibial and common peroneal nerves.  Those branches run all the way down into your foot. 

Any pain that radiates along this pathway is called sciatica.  

As you can imagine being that the nerve travels for such a long length there are a lot of different areas for this nerve to get compressed.  Some of the common causes of sciatica pain are,

• Herniated Disk (spinal disk bulging out into foraman) 
• Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal)  
• Degenerative Disk Disease (breakdown of disks) 
• Piriformis Syndrome (tightness in piriformis) 
• Impingement along the nerve pathway (tight muscles, scar tissue)

In the beginning someone may feel intermittent pain or burning in a specific area or down the leg even to the toes.  As the symptoms progress they may become more constant and can even lead to weakness in the leg.  

It is best to address simples as soon as you notice them instead of waiting till they get worse, as the longer you wait the harder the recovery will be.  

How PT Can Help Sciatica

Physical therapy is extremely helpful in relieving and even resolving your sciatica symptoms.  This is something that the team at Advanced Physical Therapy & Wellness specializes in and has countless success stories.  Our focus is going to be on,  

• Pain Management: Techniques to reduce pain and inflammation.
• Mobility & Flexibility: Stretching and mobility exercises to relieve nerve pressure.
• Strengthening Exercises: Building core and lower body strength to support the spine.
• Postural Training: Correcting movement patterns to prevent recurrence.

Where we focus much of our care is on the mobility and flexibility area.  We work to free up the nerve along the entire pathway using a few of our favorite techniques. 

1. Adhesion Release Method: An adhesion is scar tissue or stuck fascia that is causing a restriction to the nerve pathway.  This technique is used to break up these adhesions and improve mobility while decreasing pain.  We are the only team in Southern California certified in this technique.  We learned it from Chris at Barefoot Rehab and it has been a game changer for our clinic.  
2. Dynamic Cupping: We apply cups along the pathway of the nerve and move you through certain movement patterns to free up the nerves and the tissues around them.  This is an extremely efficient technique to increase mobility while decreasing pain.

What to Expect in a Physical Therapy Session

When you come in for your first physical therapy session with us we will run through the following all with the goal of finding the root cause of your pain.  Is it coming from your back or somewhere along the nerve pathway?  

We start with a review of your current and past injuries.  From there we have you move through common movement patterns and assess your range of motion and pain.  Next up is diagnostic testing.  Once we have an idea of the root cause of your pain we treat the area we believe is causing the issues.  After some treatment we will retest your movements and ensure that we are on the right track. 

We will then review our findings with you and answer any questions.  If we feel that we can help you reach your goals we discuss a plan of care going forward.  

All of our treatment sessions are one on one with a doctor of physical therapy for 50-60 minutes.  There are no aides or assistants, only doctors.  The majority of your session will be spent on the table with your therapist working on the issues we have found to be causing your pain.  

We feel you can do exercises at home and your time spend with us is best spent on skilled physical therapy.  

The end goal for us is to get you back to doing the things you love doing.  Everyone's goals are different, therefore everyone's care is different.  There are no cookie cutter plans of care around here. 

Sciatica Recovery Timeline: How Long Does It Take?

Everyone's recovery will be different depending on the length of time they have had this issue, however one thing to keep in mind is tissue change takes 6-8 weeks.  So you can expect at a minimum this time frame to allow for enough tissue change to improve mobility and decrease pain.  

When to Seek Physical Therapy for Sciatica

The sooner the better.  As discussed above, the longer you wait to seek help, the longer your recovery period will most likely be.  Results usually come faster if you seek care at the onset of symptoms.  

One sign you really need to seek care is if there is any weakness in the leg or if you are struggling to sleep.  Our bodies heal when we sleep so if we are not sleeping we won’t be healing.  

In Conclusion

If you are struggling with sciatica and are in the San Diego area we are here to help! 

Ready for some clarity and direction?  Come in for a free 30 minute targeted relief session to get some initial answers as to what is going on.  Our goal is always to have you walking out feeling better than you walked in.  

Click the link below and we will get you on the schedule.  

https://advancedptwellness.com/targeted-relief-session-form-blog