Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Sciatica
Sciatica is a symptom of a problem with the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body. It controls muscles in the back of your knee and lower leg and provides feeling to the back of your thigh, part of your lower leg, and the sole of your foot. When you have sciatica, you have pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling. It can start in the lower back and extend down your leg to your calf, foot, or even your toes. It's usually on only one side of your body.
Causes of sciatica include:
- A ruptured intervertebral disk
- Narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the nerve, called spinal stenosis
- An injury such as a pelvic fracture.
In many cases no cause can be found.
Sometimes sciatica goes away on its own. Treatment, if needed, depends on the cause of the problem. It may include exercises, medicines, and surgery.
It sits within Bones, Joints and Muscles, Brain and Nerves and Symptoms.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Sciatica
172 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Three CT Signs of Nerve-root Suffering in Low-back Sciatica: a Study of Their Frequency in Patients Referred for CT-guided Nerve-root Infiltration.Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice
- Comparing Two Soft Tissues Technique on Piriformis Syndrome PatientsUniversity of Faisalabad
- Procedural Framing and Epidural Steroid Injection OutcomesNorthwestern University
- Comparing the Effectiveness of Tensioner Vs Slider Neurodynamic Techniques in Patients With SciaticaIbadat International University, Islamabad
- Brain Mechanisms Supporting Cannabis-induced Pain ReliefUniversity of California, San Diego
- Comparing Ultrasound-Guided Transgluteal Nerve Block to Standard CareUniversity of California, San Francisco
Research already completed
- Effects of Shockwave Therapy Versus Ultrasound Therapy Among Patients With Chronic SciaticaUniversity of Lahore
- Intravascular Laser and Electroacupuncture for Sciatica With Insomnia: A Pilot TrialLe Hoang Minh Quan
- Effect of Electromagnetic Field in Lumbar Disc Prolapse PatientsOctober 6 University
- Total Lumbar Disc Prosthesis and Subsequent Work Activity at at Least Five Years After Total Lumbar Disc ReplacementUniversity of Valencia
- Ultrasound-guided Transgluteal Sciatic Nerve Hydrodissection for the Treatment of Sciatica in the Emergency DepartmentKaiser Permanente
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- SciaticaMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Diagnosis and Tests
- CT Scan of the SpineRadiological Society of North America
- Spine MRIRadiological Society of North America
Treatments and Therapies
- Epidural InjectionsRadiological Society of North America
Related Issues
- Tarlov CystsNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: SciaticaNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Sciatica. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Sciatica, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.