Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsHow Long It LastsCauses of FlaresManaging at HomeCan It Go Away on Its Own?PreventionWhen to Call a Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
How Long It Lasts
Causes of Flares
Managing at Home
Can It Go Away on Its Own?
Prevention
When to Call a Provider
Sciaticais pain that starts in the lower back and travels into the hips, buttocks, and down the legs. It waxes and wanes, causing episodes or flare-ups (periods of pain and other symptoms) that can last up to six weeks.
The duration of a sciatica episode may vary depending on the severity of the cause, the severity of other lower back and hip symptoms, and whether the sciatica is acute (short term) or chronic (long term). Most people experience sciatica nerve pain if the nerve roots that make up the sciatic nerve become pinched or compressed. Sciatica typically affects one side of the body.
This article explores the symptoms of sciatica, how to treat it, how long it lasts, and when to contact a healthcare provider.
Aflo Images / Getty Images
What Does Sciatica Feel Like?
The term “sciatica” refers to pain that travels along the path of thesciatic nerve.The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body. You have two sciatic nerves, one on each side of the body.
Your sciatic nerve originates in the spinal cord in the lower back. It starts in the lower back and runs down the back of the leg.Nerve compressionin the lower back can cause pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve, starting at the lower back and down to the bottom of the foot.
A primary symptom of sciatica isnerve painthat runs from the lower back down the buttock and down the back of the thigh. Symptoms typically affect the leg or buttock and are even felt below the knee.But this may vary from person to person.
In addition to pain, sciatica also causes:
Sciatica symptomsare worse when sitting or coughing.Walking, bending, and sitting for too long may also worsen symptoms. Some people might also experience worsening symptoms at night because they lie in one position.
Causes
About 10% of people with lower back pain have sciatica.Sciatica is more common after age 40.
Various conditions can lead to sciatica, including:
How Long Does Sciatica in Pregnancy Last?
Some people may experiencesciatica pain while pregnant. Sciatica is more common in the third trimester of pregnancy.Fortunately, sciatica typically resolves after childbirth.
How Long Does Sciatica Last?
Sciatica is either acute or chronic. Acute sciatica refers to one sciatic attack or episode that resolves in a week or two, but sometimes, acute episodes can take up to six weeks to resolve.Acute sciatica might become chronic, where you experience sciatica pain regularly.
Acute Sciatica
Episodes of acute sciatica can affect walking, standing, sitting, and lying comfortably. They can cause burning pain down the back, buttocks, and legs.
Most people who experience acute sciatica will not have ongoing discomfort. However, without any warning, they might have an acute flare-up that forces them to rest and experience sciatica symptoms for days or weeks. Once you recover from an acute episode, you may not have another one for many months or even years.
Acute sciatic pain can affect you anywhere on the sciatic nerve—the lower back, buttocks, thighs, or feet. The more areas it involves, the worse the pain and symptoms.
Chronic Sciatica
People withchronic sciaticaregularly experience sciatic nerve pain. Sciatica is considered chronic if it has lasted longer than six months.
Chronic sciatica can cause significant pain, numbness, and weakness. Symptoms can interfere with your ability to do daily activities. Chronic sciatica is typically a lifelong condition that does not always respond well to treatment.
Some people with chronic sciatica may experiencecentral sensitization, a secondary complication of sciatica in which the nervous system amplifies pain.
What Causes a Sciatic Flare-Up?
For some people, sciatica may be a onetime occurrence. However, for others, especially people with chronic sciatica, sciatica flares are frequent.
There is no single trigger that may cause your sciatica to flare.Symptoms may present differently from flare to flare.
Some potential causes are:
How to Manage Sciatic Pain at Home
Most people can manage sciatica pain at home. Call a healthcare provider if the pain is not manageable or if you have other health concerns.
Ways to manage sciatica pain at home are:
Sciatica Exercises to Avoid
Can Sciatic Pain Go Away on Its Own?
Mild sciatica might go away without any medicinal treatment. It may still take up to six weeks for symptoms to completely resolve.
You can manage mild sciatica at home with home remedies and lifestyle changes. If symptoms worsen or do not appear to be improving, you may want to reach out to a healthcare provider. They may prescribe medication orphysical therapyto help you manage pain.
Four Stages of Sciatica HealingSciatica goes through a series of healing stages, which can eventually lead to full recovery. Those stages are:Reducing inflammation: The first stage begins with managing nerve inflammation. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines, cold therapy, rest, and activity can manage inflammation.Oxygenation: Once inflammation is reduced, the affected sciatic nerve area will receive more oxygen to help regenerate cells that lost oxygenation due to the inflammation.Regeneration of nerve cells: Nerve cell regeneration allows numbness to resolve and sensation to return.Nerve rehabilitation and desensitization: This last phase means full recovery in which there is no longer any shooting pain, localized pain, or numbness and tingling.
Four Stages of Sciatica Healing
Sciatica goes through a series of healing stages, which can eventually lead to full recovery. Those stages are:Reducing inflammation: The first stage begins with managing nerve inflammation. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines, cold therapy, rest, and activity can manage inflammation.Oxygenation: Once inflammation is reduced, the affected sciatic nerve area will receive more oxygen to help regenerate cells that lost oxygenation due to the inflammation.Regeneration of nerve cells: Nerve cell regeneration allows numbness to resolve and sensation to return.Nerve rehabilitation and desensitization: This last phase means full recovery in which there is no longer any shooting pain, localized pain, or numbness and tingling.
Sciatica goes through a series of healing stages, which can eventually lead to full recovery. Those stages are:
Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Sciatica Flare-Ups
Many lifestyle changes can help you to prevent sciatica flare-ups. These include:
When to Contact a Healthcare Provider
Most people can manage sciatica at home, and mild sciatica can be resolved over time. But if sciatica symptoms last more than a week or get worse, contact your healthcare provider.
Get immediate medical care for the following:
Upper, Lower, and Middle Back Pain Red Flags
Medical Treatments for Sciatica
If you are not able to manage sciatica at home, a healthcare provider can recommend or prescribe additional treatments. Such treatments include:
Sciatica Surgery: Everything You Need to Know
Summary
Sciatica can be a painful condition. It can cause flares that make it hard to perform daily activities. A sciatica flare can resolve in a couple of weeks, but it can last up to six weeks.
You can manage sciatica pain at home with rest, exercise, heat and cold therapies, OTC pain relievers, and not sitting for long periods. Sciatica flares can be prevented with a variety of lifestyle changes, including staying active, practicing good posture, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking.
If at-home therapies and lifestyle changes do not help manage sciatica symptoms, your healthcare provider can prescribe additional treatments. Such treatments may include muscle relaxers and medicines that target nerve pain, physical therapy, or surgery as a last resort.
Talk to your healthcare provider if your sciatica symptoms do not improve with home treatment, last for long periods, or keep returning. They can examine you to determine the cause of your pain and develop a treatment plan.
You should seek out immediate medical help for severe or sharp pain in your lower back, bladder or bowel dysfunction, pain after a traumatic injury, sudden numbness and weakness in one or both legs, or saddle anesthesia.
16 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Atlas SJ.Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and less is more. Harvard Health Publishing. March 15, 2022.Yale Medine.Sciatica.Fairag M, Kurdi R, Alkathiry A, et al.Risk factors, prevention, and primary and secondary management of sciatica: an updated overview.Cureus. 2022;14(11):e31405. doi:10.7759/cureus.31405ShunChild.Understanding sciatica after pregnancy: will it eventually disappear?Rasmussen-Barr E, Held U, Grooten WJ, et al.Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for sciatica.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;10(10):CD012382. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012382Institute for Chronic Pain.Sciatica.Godman H.What should you do when sciatica flares? Harvard Health Publishing. March 1, 2024.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Sciatica.Lee M, Ohde S, Urayama KY, Takahashi O, Fukui T.Weather and health symptoms.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(8):1670. doi:10.3390/ijerph15081670Harvard Health Publishing.Sciatica home remedies and self-care. April 21, 2020.Radwan A, Fess P, James D, et al.Effect of different mattress designs on promoting sleep quality, pain reduction, and spinal alignment in adults with or without back pain; systematic review of controlled trials.Sleep Health. 2015;1(4):257-267. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2015.08.001Advanced Pain Management Health Publishing.The last stages of sciatica recovery - understanding pain relief and healing.MedlinePlus.Guide to good posture.Medline Plus.Lifting and bending the right way. August 12, 2023.Rajesh N, Moudgil-Joshi J, Kaliaperumal C.Smoking and degenerative spinal disease: a systematic review.Brain Spine. 2022;2:100916. doi:10.1016/j.bas.2022.100916Dickson D, Trevedi K.5 signs your back pain might be an emergency. UT Southwestern Medical Center. July 3, 2019.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Atlas SJ.Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and less is more. Harvard Health Publishing. March 15, 2022.Yale Medine.Sciatica.Fairag M, Kurdi R, Alkathiry A, et al.Risk factors, prevention, and primary and secondary management of sciatica: an updated overview.Cureus. 2022;14(11):e31405. doi:10.7759/cureus.31405ShunChild.Understanding sciatica after pregnancy: will it eventually disappear?Rasmussen-Barr E, Held U, Grooten WJ, et al.Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for sciatica.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;10(10):CD012382. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012382Institute for Chronic Pain.Sciatica.Godman H.What should you do when sciatica flares? Harvard Health Publishing. March 1, 2024.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Sciatica.Lee M, Ohde S, Urayama KY, Takahashi O, Fukui T.Weather and health symptoms.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(8):1670. doi:10.3390/ijerph15081670Harvard Health Publishing.Sciatica home remedies and self-care. April 21, 2020.Radwan A, Fess P, James D, et al.Effect of different mattress designs on promoting sleep quality, pain reduction, and spinal alignment in adults with or without back pain; systematic review of controlled trials.Sleep Health. 2015;1(4):257-267. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2015.08.001Advanced Pain Management Health Publishing.The last stages of sciatica recovery - understanding pain relief and healing.MedlinePlus.Guide to good posture.Medline Plus.Lifting and bending the right way. August 12, 2023.Rajesh N, Moudgil-Joshi J, Kaliaperumal C.Smoking and degenerative spinal disease: a systematic review.Brain Spine. 2022;2:100916. doi:10.1016/j.bas.2022.100916Dickson D, Trevedi K.5 signs your back pain might be an emergency. UT Southwestern Medical Center. July 3, 2019.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Atlas SJ.Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and less is more. Harvard Health Publishing. March 15, 2022.Yale Medine.Sciatica.Fairag M, Kurdi R, Alkathiry A, et al.Risk factors, prevention, and primary and secondary management of sciatica: an updated overview.Cureus. 2022;14(11):e31405. doi:10.7759/cureus.31405ShunChild.Understanding sciatica after pregnancy: will it eventually disappear?Rasmussen-Barr E, Held U, Grooten WJ, et al.Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for sciatica.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;10(10):CD012382. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012382Institute for Chronic Pain.Sciatica.Godman H.What should you do when sciatica flares? Harvard Health Publishing. March 1, 2024.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Sciatica.Lee M, Ohde S, Urayama KY, Takahashi O, Fukui T.Weather and health symptoms.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(8):1670. doi:10.3390/ijerph15081670Harvard Health Publishing.Sciatica home remedies and self-care. April 21, 2020.Radwan A, Fess P, James D, et al.Effect of different mattress designs on promoting sleep quality, pain reduction, and spinal alignment in adults with or without back pain; systematic review of controlled trials.Sleep Health. 2015;1(4):257-267. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2015.08.001Advanced Pain Management Health Publishing.The last stages of sciatica recovery - understanding pain relief and healing.MedlinePlus.Guide to good posture.Medline Plus.Lifting and bending the right way. August 12, 2023.Rajesh N, Moudgil-Joshi J, Kaliaperumal C.Smoking and degenerative spinal disease: a systematic review.Brain Spine. 2022;2:100916. doi:10.1016/j.bas.2022.100916Dickson D, Trevedi K.5 signs your back pain might be an emergency. UT Southwestern Medical Center. July 3, 2019.
Atlas SJ.Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and less is more. Harvard Health Publishing. March 15, 2022.
Yale Medine.Sciatica.
Fairag M, Kurdi R, Alkathiry A, et al.Risk factors, prevention, and primary and secondary management of sciatica: an updated overview.Cureus. 2022;14(11):e31405. doi:10.7759/cureus.31405
ShunChild.Understanding sciatica after pregnancy: will it eventually disappear?
Rasmussen-Barr E, Held U, Grooten WJ, et al.Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for sciatica.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;10(10):CD012382. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012382
Institute for Chronic Pain.Sciatica.
Godman H.What should you do when sciatica flares? Harvard Health Publishing. March 1, 2024.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Sciatica.
Lee M, Ohde S, Urayama KY, Takahashi O, Fukui T.Weather and health symptoms.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(8):1670. doi:10.3390/ijerph15081670
Harvard Health Publishing.Sciatica home remedies and self-care. April 21, 2020.
Radwan A, Fess P, James D, et al.Effect of different mattress designs on promoting sleep quality, pain reduction, and spinal alignment in adults with or without back pain; systematic review of controlled trials.Sleep Health. 2015;1(4):257-267. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2015.08.001
Advanced Pain Management Health Publishing.The last stages of sciatica recovery - understanding pain relief and healing.
MedlinePlus.Guide to good posture.
Medline Plus.Lifting and bending the right way. August 12, 2023.
Rajesh N, Moudgil-Joshi J, Kaliaperumal C.Smoking and degenerative spinal disease: a systematic review.Brain Spine. 2022;2:100916. doi:10.1016/j.bas.2022.100916
Dickson D, Trevedi K.5 signs your back pain might be an emergency. UT Southwestern Medical Center. July 3, 2019.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
