INTRODUCTION

Siatica pain is one of the most common complaints today. It is normally described as leg pain in the form of an ache, shooting pains or tingling in one leg. Often there is also pain in the buttock and back pain:  

Symptoms are usually one sided and can be very severe. They travel down the siatic nerve, which is a nerve that starts at the base of the spine and goes down both legs to the feet.

You will see in the following pages that siatica can be caused by a number of problems including: a prolapsed disc, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome, sacroiliac strain, trigger points or an intraspinal tumour.

Because siatica has so many causes there is no single approach to treatment that will resolve it. Treatment can either be conventional or involve alternative therapies. I try to point you in the right direction depending on the cause of the siatica.