Got pain in your hip, butt, or down your leg and not sure if it’s sciatica?
Not all leg or hip pain is caused by true sciatica. Sometimes, it’s a tight piriformis muscle. And treating the wrong issue? That’s one of the biggest reasons people stay in pain.
In this video, I’ll walk you through how to tell the difference between:
🔹 Sciatica from the spine (disc-related nerve compression)
🔹 Piriformis Syndrome (nerve compression from a tight muscle)
You’ll learn key clues to look for so you can stop guessing and start addressing the real issue.
Full Transcript
What sciatica pain actually is 0:00
If you have pain in your hips, buttock or pain referring down your leg and you're wondering, could this be sciatica or something else? This video is for you. Because treating the wrong issue, that's one of the biggest reasons people don't get relief. Not all leg or hip pain is sciatic pain, even though I hear this from people on a regular basis. True sciatica pain comes from irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve, which can happen either at the spine or due to tight piriformis muscle.
Signs the pain is coming from the spine 0:31
So how can you tell the difference? Well, let's break it down. If it's a sciática pain, it usually involves nerve root compression at lumbar vertebrae L4-5 or sacrum one. Here are some of the clues if it's coming from the spine. Pain starts in the lower back and radiates down the back of leg. Sitting or bending forward makes it worse. Coughing, sneezing, or straining increases the symptoms. Straight leg race test is usually positive. You might feel numbness, tingling, or weakness in a specific area.
Piriformis syndrome clues and symptoms 1:32
You may have a history of back injury or disc issues. Now the following clues are due to piriformis muscle syndrome. This is when the pirriformus muscle compresses the sciatic nerve. Pain starts in a buttock and it may or may not travel down the leg. Pain worsens when sitting for long periods or climbing the stairs. There's a tenderness or trigger point over the piriformis muscle. Pressing into the glute or stretching that area reproduces the pain. Straight leg race test might be negative or only mildly positive.
You may feel better lying down or doing glute piriformis release work. I had a client years ago. He came in with a diagnosis from a doctor, sciatica pain.
Why the right diagnosis matters 2:34
And because the client, he was a Dr. himself, I trusted the diagnosis he came. Well, after one session, there was absolutely no change in his pain. So I forgot about what the diagnosis he came in with. I did my own evaluation and guess what? It wasn't sciatica pain, his was femoral nerve neuralgia. And the reason I'm saying this is why listening to your body and doing the right testing and evaluation is so important. And make sure to check out next week's video where I'll be sharing with you three simple tests that you can try at home to figure out where actually your pain is coming from and what to do about it to relieve that pain.
Please put your questions in the comments.
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