The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg. The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually after a few weeks or months) or find pain relief with non-surgical treatment. For others, however, sciatica can be severe and debilitating.

An important thing to understand is that sciatica is a symptom of a problem – of something compressing or irritating the nerve roots that comprise the sciatic nerve – rather than a medical diagnosis or medical disorder in an of itself. This is an important distinction because it is the underlying diagnosis (vs. the symptoms of sciatica) that often needs to be treated in order to relieve sciatic nerve pain. Common causes of sciatica are a lumbar herniated disc, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease or spondylolisthesis.

Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica, but rather it tends to develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.