Condition · Lumbar spine

Sciatica

Sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis — it's what a nerve says when it's being irritated or compressed somewhere along its path. That's why chasing the leg rarely works: the leg is where you feel it, not where it's coming from. The nerve gets crowded when the hips stop moving and the pelvis and spine stop controlling, so the tissue around it takes up the slack and the nerve pays for it. Give the hips their motion back and the nerve usually stops shouting.