If you have nerve pain running down your leg and/or a numb or tingly foot, you may have 'sciatica.' Only a doctor can officially give you this diagnosis, but hopefully this information is helpful.

Sciatica is super tricky to deal with. The sciatic nerve runs from the lumbar region, down through the glutes and down the leg and it can flare up pretty easily which is what makes sciatica so tricky to deal with.

Seeing that sciatica is HIGHLY individual (some people respond well to hamstring stretching, others negatively)...it's something you must carefully, slowly and patiently explore to find out what your body works well with, and what it does not.

Knowing that everything is "at your own risk"...there are several things you could explore (or not...depending on what your body tells you is safe:)

1. Tissue work on the glutes w/ softball, lacrosse ball or jack knobber.

2. Tissue work on the QL with body back buddy, jack knobber, or skilled practitioner.

3. Glute stretching that doesn't impinge the nerve or strain the back.

4. Core bracing and strengthening education to slowly tell your nervous system (over time) that your spine is safe and stable.

5. Anything that decompresses the nerve at the lumbar spine. Usually this means gently releasing the hip flexors over time with tissue work and stretching that puts NO stress on the spine (be mindful of your positions!).

6. Strengthening the glutes themselves. If relaxation work (like stretching and tissue work don't work, then strengthening often does).

There are also some other ways of learning to stabilize the spine during movement or working with sciatica but it truly is one of the trickier things that the body throws at us.

Hopefully that helps. Give it time and patient, careful exploration about what helps and what harms and keep doing more of what helps.