The pain in your back and the pain down your leg usually share one source.
The lumbar spine carries the load of your whole upper body while staying mobile enough to bend, twist, and lift. Over years of sitting, lifting, and moving in the same patterns, the joints, discs, and muscles of the low back gradually change in ways that build up over time.
When those structures irritate the sciatic nerve, the pain travels out of the back and down the leg as sciatica. So back pain and sciatica are rarely separate problems, they are often the same lumbar issue showing up in two places, and each piece has a specific treatment that produces specific results.
Back pain rarely stays in the back.
The lumbar spine sits at the root of the sciatic nerve, which travels through the hip and all the way down the leg. Problems there can produce symptoms far beyond the low back itself.
Low Back Stiffness
A tight, achy low back that is worst in the morning or after sitting, easing somewhat once you get moving.
Pain With Bending or Lifting
Sharp or catching pain when you bend forward, lift, or twist, sometimes locking you up mid-movement.
Shooting Leg Pain
Sciatica pain that radiates from the buttock down the back of the thigh and calf, often sharp or electric.
Tingling and Numbness
Pins and needles or numbness traveling down the leg and into the foot or toes from sciatic nerve irritation.
Pain With Sitting or Driving
Back and leg pain that builds the longer you sit, making long drives, desk work, and flights especially hard.
Leg Weakness or Heaviness
A leg that feels weak, heavy, or unreliable, sometimes with a sense that the foot drags or does not lift cleanly.
Calm the nerve, restore the spine, retrain the load.
Treatment at Shift Therapy & Wellness targets the specific lumbar joints, discs, and tissues driving your symptoms. Hands-on mobilization and nerve-calming techniques relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve and restore movement, often easing leg pain in the first sessions.
Alongside manual work, we strengthen the deep core and hip muscles that support the spine and retrain the bending, sitting, and lifting habits that keep the problem alive. You leave with a clear program and the understanding to maintain your results for the long run.
No referral needed. Most insurances accepted. In most cases, you can be seen within the same week.
What our patients say.
"I came in to address some nagging lower back pain. Not only has it resolved, but I feel stronger than before."Hollye S. · Verified Google Review