Sciatica: achiness that may include tingling, numbness or muscle weakness along the sciatic nerve. This major nerve runs through the buttock muscles into the back of the thigh and divides into two nerves behind the knee that run down into the foot. Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) is most commonly associated with pregnancy and childbirth. It is a condition that causes excessive movement of the symphysis pubis, either anterior or lateral, as well as associated pain.

Mr Stefan Chmelik on Nerve pain, sciatica, neuralgia

Pain of nerve origin is one of the most debilitating forms of pain. Most commonly the nerve has become irritated due to spasm of the muscles that surround it. It is rare for a nerve to actually get ‘trapped’ between bones. There is also no such thing as a spinal disc that ‘slips’, although discs can leak and compress nearby nerves.

If the muscle that is in spasm is correctly identified and released, the pain will generally ease and then stop. This can be achieved using techniques such as acupuncture, bodywork, special massage, exercises and stretches. I have colleagues in New Medicine Group who also specialize in nerve pain using osteopathy, Rolfing and postural work.

There may be a postural issue that is causing the pain in the first place, which will need to be addressed to prevent the problem reoccurring. I use exercise and education to achieve that goal.

Liesl D Hinkly on Nerve Pain / Sciatica

If you have been living in pain for sometime it can be difficult to really identify where its coming from, this can often be a telling sign that the nerves have become aggravated by muscles locked in a spasm cycle. First we need to find out which are the muscles involved, then by applying precise and deep pressure we wait as the connective tissue starts to soften and the restricted and sometimes "glued" fibers become free. Sciatica is unfortunately a very common part of pregnancy and because Rolfing is so well equiped when addressing post pregnancy re-structuring it can bring relief and ease back in to your body it can take several sessions to get to the root of painful nerve stories especially if they have been going on for some time.

David Peters on Sciatica

Contrary to popular belief most backache is not due to a prolapsed (‘slipped’) disc. Even leg pain (‘sciatica’) - which many practitioners and patients believe must be caused by a ‘trapped nerve’ - is more commonly due to a strained buttock muscle or sacroiliac ligament. Usually this kind of painful tension and stiffness is triggered by over-use (weekend gardening) over-loading (heavy lifting with wrong technique) or over-stretching (a careless side-bend when switching of the bedside lamp). Subsequently the focus of tension gets gradually more intense and spreads out from around one of the small spinal (facet) joints, or around the sacro-iliac joint or into the long muscles running up the back or into the bulky muscles of the buttock. If they aren’t kept fit and strong and flexible, these muscles get weak and then strained too easily.

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