The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body at about 2cm wide and is the main nerve in your lower limb and controls the function and sensation of your thigh and leg. 

Multiple spinal nerves from the lower back come together to form the sciatic nerve, it passes from the pelvis into the gluteal (bottom) region, runs under the piriformis muscle and then travels down the back of your thigh underneath your hamstring muscles.

Throughout this course, smaller nerves branch off to reach muscles and skin of the lower limb and the nerves play a role in communicating messages to and from the brain.

When the sciatic nerve reaches the back of your knee, an area known as the popliteal fossa, the nerve splits into 2 and travels further down your leg to innervate the skin and muscles all the way down your leg.

Due to the pathway of the sciatic nerve there can be many causes of irritation to the nerve from the low back, through the muscles and structures in the gluteal or bottom region or the back of the leg. The sciatic nerve can become injured or injured and lead to symptoms that are collectively called sciatica. 

Sciatica is a term to describe a set of symptoms which can include:

Pain or numbness in the buttocks or down the back of the leg

Aching in the buttock or back of the thigh

Decreased strength in leg and foot 

Pain in the foot

The pain could feel like an ache, pins and needles or a sharp shocking pain and will usually only affect one side.

At Osteo for Families, your osteopath may assist in assessing the most likely cause of the sciatica and treat it with a range of techniques that look at the related joints, muscles ligaments and tendons to reduce the pressure on the sciatic nerve. They may also advise some exercises or stretches to help when you are experiencing the sciatica but also after the symptoms have stopped to prevent the recurrence of injury.

Give us a call 0416 161 411

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Dr Mariella Berry (Osteopath)

BSC (Osteopathy), MHSc (Osteopathy)