Sciatica is pain that travels from the lower back or buttock down the back or side of the leg, sometimes with numbness, tingling or weakness. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, sciatic pain can arise from different imbalances, such as cold and damp blocking the channels, stuck Blood after an injury, damp heat, or underlying Kidney weakness. Understanding your pattern helps us treat both the pain and its cause.
Most people with sciatica fit mainly into one of these patterns. Which one sounds most like you?
Sciatica: Deep, heavy, cold pain radiating down the leg, worse in cold or damp weather and eased by warmth.
Sciatica: Sharp, stabbing or shooting pain along a fixed line down the leg, worse with bending, coughing or prolonged sitting.
Sciatica: Burning or hot, heavy pain down the leg, worse in hot humid weather and not helped by heat.
Sciatica: Dull, recurring ache down the leg with a weak lower back, worse when tired and after standing or walking for long.
Not sure which one fits? That’s normal – many people have a mix. At your first consultation we look at your tongue, take your pulse and ask detailed questions to confirm your pattern.
Your treatment plan follows your pattern – the same condition can need quite different treatment.
Acupuncture along the affected channel with moxibustion and electro-acupuncture to warm the area, clear cold and damp and ease nerve pain. Many patients find the pain becomes less intense and travels less far down the leg over the first weeks.
Acupuncture and electro-acupuncture to move Blood and release the deep muscles of the buttock and back, sometimes with cupping. Acute flare-ups can settle relatively quickly, with many patients sitting and walking more comfortably after a few sessions.
Acupuncture and electro-acupuncture to clear damp heat and ease the nerve pathway, often with herbs; moxa is avoided because the pattern is hot. Many patients notice the burning and heaviness ease within the first few weeks.
Tonifying acupuncture to strengthen the Kidneys and lower back, with moxibustion where there is cold and a supporting herbal prescription. Progress is usually gradual, with flare-ups becoming less frequent over several weeks.
For sciatica, many patients notice the pain becoming less intense or less frequent within the first 2–3 weeks, with more stable results around 2 months.
Most patients start to notice a change within the first two to three weeks of regular treatment.
Improvements become more consistent. If treatment stops as soon as you feel better, the body hasn’t settled yet and symptoms can slip back to where they started.
Continuing a little longer after you improve lets the new balance hold. Stopping at this point, symptoms are much less likely to return.
We space sessions out and finish. You won’t need to rely on treatment forever.
Every case is different: some conditions are stable within 1–2 months, longer-standing ones can take up to around 6 months. We’ll give you a realistic estimate at your first consultation.
I had acupuncture and cupping with Emma, and she truly worked wonders on my back and neck. I came in barely able to turn my head, and now I feel so much better relaxed, pain-free, and mobile again. I’d had a bad experience elsewhere before, but Emma completely turned things around. Highly recommend!
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