That sharp, burning pain shooting from your lower back down through your hip and into your leg? That's sciatica — and it's one of the most common reasons people visit Twin Tiers Chiropractic & Wellness.
The frustrating part is that it often shows up out of nowhere. You bend down to pick something up, sit through a long car ride, or wake up one morning — and suddenly you can barely walk. Sciatica has a way of stopping people in their tracks.
The good news: you don't need surgery or long-term medication to feel better. Most people recover well with the right care, and the sooner you address it, the faster that recovery tends to be.
So, What Exactly Is Sciatica?
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It starts in your lower back, travels through your hips and buttocks, and runs all the way down each leg — sometimes reaching as far as your toes.
When that nerve gets compressed or irritated anywhere along that path, the pain follows. It can show up in your lower back, your hip, your calf, or all of the above at once. That's what makes sciatica so disruptive — it doesn't stay in one place.
Most people experience it on one side of the body. Some develop bilateral sciatica symptoms affecting both legs, which tends to be more intense and may point to a more significant underlying issue.
What Causes Sciatica?
Sciatica is always a symptom of something else — a sign that the sciatic nerve is being compressed or irritated somewhere along its path. The most common causes include:
- A herniated or bulging disc in the lower back pressing on the nerve root
- Bone spurs on the vertebrae that narrow the space the nerve travels through
- Spinal stenosis — a gradual narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on nerves
- Piriformis syndrome — where the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock tightens and squeezes the sciatic nerve
- Pregnancy — as the uterus grows, it shifts the pelvis and can put direct pressure on the nerve, causing hip pain shooting down the leg
Day-to-day habits also play a significant role. Long hours at a desk, extended time behind the wheel, repetitive heavy lifting, or consistently poor posture can all wear down the structures around the sciatic nerve over time. Many patients at Twin Tiers report no obvious injury — the pain just slowly built up until it became impossible to ignore.
How Do You Know If It's Sciatica?
Sciatica feels different for different people. For some it's a dull, deep ache in the buttock. For others it's an electric, shooting pain from hip to foot that comes on suddenly and takes your breath away. Here's what to look out for:
- Pain that travels from your lower back or hip down into your leg
- A burning, tingling, or electric sensation in the leg
- Numbness or weakness in the affected leg or foot
- Pain that worsens when sitting, standing for long periods, or sneezing
- A feeling that one leg is significantly weaker than the other
The clearest sign of sciatica is that the pain moves — it follows the nerve rather than staying in one spot. If you press on your lower back and feel it travel down your leg, that's a strong indicator the sciatic nerve is involved.
Left untreated, this can develop into chronic sciatica — persistent, daily pain that begins to affect sleep, work, and every part of life. That's why catching it early and getting properly assessed matters.
Can a Chiropractor Actually Help With Sciatica?
Absolutely. Sciatica chiropractic treatment works because it addresses the root cause of the nerve compression — not just the pain itself. When the spine is properly aligned and moving the way it should, pressure comes off the nerve. When the nerve has room, the symptoms ease.
Chiropractic care is one of the most effective conservative options available for sciatica. It's non-invasive, doesn't rely on medication, and gets to the source of what's actually causing the problem.
Dr. Brittany Seeley at Twin Tiers Chiropractic & Wellness combines chiropractic adjustments with soft tissue work like myofascial release to tackle both the structural and muscular sides of sciatica. Tight muscles around the hip and lower back often contribute to nerve compression, so releasing that tension is just as important as the adjustment itself.
Every care plan is built around the individual. There's no cookie-cutter approach — what works for a 28-year-old athlete with a herniated disc will look very different from what helps a 55-year-old office worker with spinal stenosis.
What Happens at Your First Appointment?
When you come in, Dr. Brittany will start by getting the full picture. She'll ask about your history, when the pain started, what makes it better or worse, and how it's affecting your day-to-day life.
From there, she'll work through specific orthopedic and neurological tests to identify exactly where the nerve is being irritated and what's causing it. This matters — because treating sciatica effectively depends on understanding the source.
Once she has a clear picture, she'll build a care plan tailored to your body and your goals. Some patients feel meaningful relief within a handful of visits. Those dealing with chronic sciatica pain — where the compression has been building for months or years — may need a longer course of care to address the deeper structural issues. Either way, the goal is the same: get you out of pain and help you stay there.
What You Can Do Between Visits
A few simple habits at home can make a real difference in how quickly you recover:
- Keep moving. Gentle walking is usually better than rest. Staying active helps more than lying down for most sciatica sufferers.
- Break up long periods of sitting. Set a timer to stand and move for a few minutes every hour.
- Use heat and ice strategically. Ice helps reduce inflammation in the early, acute stages. Heat is better for relaxing tight muscles once the sharp phase has passed.
- Do your prescribed exercises. Dr. Brittany will provide specific movements to support your spine between adjustments — doing them consistently speeds up results.
- Watch your posture. How you sit, stand, and carry yourself throughout the day has a direct impact on the pressure your spine puts on the sciatic nerve.
Small, consistent changes in how you move and hold yourself can reduce flare-ups significantly over time.
The Longer You Wait, the Harder It Gets
Sciatica rarely resolves on its own — and waiting it out usually makes things worse. What starts as occasional hip pain shooting down the leg can become a constant, all-day problem if the underlying compression isn't addressed.
Early intervention almost always leads to faster recovery and a lower chance of the problem coming back. The nerve needs space, and the sooner that space is created, the better.
Dr. Brittany sees patients from across the Hornell, NY area and Osceola, PA at Twin Tiers Chiropractic & Wellness. If sciatica is slowing you down — or stopping you altogether — book an appointment with Dr. Brittany today. Relief is closer than you think.
