Sciatic pain is a impingement of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the spine; it’s the longest nerve. It comes out of the lower back, goes down through the buttock area, down into the leg and people typically feel a numbness, burning or a pain down the back of the leg.
There are two major reasons for a sciatic condition. Number one is a herniated disc in the lower back. That can impinge upon the nerve as it exits the spinal bony structures of the lower back. Another issue is you could have spasms in a couple of the muscles in what we call the hip rotators; the muscles in the buttock area. Those can impinge upon or, if they are in spasm, they’ll actually pinch that nerve as it goes through the muscle. It’s called the piriformis muscle.