Can shiatsu help sciatica?

How can shiatsu help relieve sciatica? Many sufferers endure this intense pain and remain uncertain about how to address it, often resorting to painkillers for relief—but do they truly help? Sciatica is debilitating, making it difficult to bend, lift, sit, or even walk. Today, I'll guide you through how shiatsu can aid in treating sciatica (and Plantar Fasciatis - it's all connected!) from the perspective of Chinese medicine, exploring the practicality of shiatsu as an advanced acupressure therapy, and explain why it is so effective for long-term relief.

Can shiatsu help sciatica?

Absolutely, it can! Shiatsu offers more than just a one-time treatment; it provides comprehensive support for your back and pain relief throughout the entire month. Opting for regular treatments that only offer a few days of relief is ineffective because they don't address the underlying cause of your sciatica. There are numerous reasons why nerves might be compressed and causing discomfort, and only the expertise of Chinese medicine can analyse this information and develop a solution to help you permanently resolve the issue.

Sciatica is the name given to any sort of pain that is caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve; which leads to inflammation and heat. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It runs from the back of your pelvis, through your buttocks, and all the way down both legs, ending at your feet. When something compresses or irritates the sciatic nerve, it can cause a pain that radiates out from your lower back and travels down your leg to your calf, or knee. nhs.co.uk/sciatica

Chinese medicine and the meridians take this a step further and define two paths of sciatica - down the back middle of the leg (Bladder meridian) or down the side of your leg (Gallbladder meridian). Both have different causes which I'll look into today.

Why can shiatsu help relieve sciatica?

Shiatsu is founded on the same principles as acupuncture, a practice developed by the Chinese approximately 5000 years ago. They discovered methods to address health problems without surgery, recognising the significant connection between the mind and body, where psychological aspects are intertwined with physical health. They realised they could restore balance to "dis-ease" by using needles or finger pressure to access the body's energy points and employing gentle herbs to realign your Qi when it is imbalanced.

Shiatsu, a Japanese style of acupressure, has evolved to offer a profound insight into the body's interconnectedness and functioning. It comprehends how organs are connected to nerves and the central spinal column, as well as how emotions can influence and lead to problems that manifest in the spine.

Your sciatica may be associated with an acute health condition acknowledged by medical professionals, such as a compressed disc, or it might have resulted from a recent back muscle strain, an accident, or lifestyle factors that have caused sciatica to be present.

Sciatica can be a persistent symptom typically caused by another underlying issue, especially if it frequently recurs. Shiatsu is a therapy designed to alleviate tight muscles, which are often tense due to stress. We constantly carry a lot of emotional tension, and relief is sometimes felt when you're dealing with a cold or virus, as this can be a period of reduced tension in the body; due to a lack of energy to worry. If your symptoms reappear as the illness subsides, it strongly suggests that your symptoms are related to tension and stress.

What can cause sciatica?

To maintain an upright sitting and standing posture, it's essential for the muscles in the front and back to be strong and capable of supporting the spine. Many problems arise when muscles are unsupported, weak, overstretched, or tight. Your lifestyle significantly influences this, particularly if you spend most of your day sitting at a desk or in a car, followed by sudden bursts of exercise or DIY activities on the weekend. This can easily lead to minor injuries, as the muscles are unexpectedly engaged in activities they haven't performed in some time, without proper warm-up.

The lumbar vertebrae are surrounded by a network of complex muscles, such as the Quadratus Lumborum at the back, which can impact our ability to bend sideways when tight. At the front are the Abdominals, and extending through the pelvis into the thighs are the Hip Flexors or Psoas muscles. The Psoas is a robust muscle deeply situated in the pelvis, connecting through the groin to the thigh. This muscle can become tight and shortened due to prolonged sitting or driving, and releasing it when tense can significantly alleviate lower back pain.

Weak abdominal muscles can place additional strain on the back muscles, causing them to tighten and reduce your flexibility. Muscles function in pairs, performing equal and opposite actions, which applies to one side being stronger or potentially tighter than the other. When experiencing back or hip issues with pain on one side, there is often a corresponding problem on the opposite side that needs attention. It's important to evaluate all muscles for their quality and tension. Pelvic twists are common, and a tendency to sit or lie cross-legged may indicate this. Tight pelvic / glutteal muscles on one side could be the source of your pinched nerves. The initial session involves assessing and realigning all these muscles to ensure you feel relief.

Regular shiatsu sessions are advantageous because our bodies tend to revert to familiar muscle patterns, even if they are incorrect. We have areas where we accumulate tension, leading the body to respond, and symptoms like sciatica can reappear. By consistently resetting these incorrect patterns back into balance, and reminding you and your body how to 'feel good', a new awareness is created. This allows you to learn how to self-release when you notice the old patterns becoming uncomfortable. Shiatsu retrains your mind and body to recognise when you feel good and when you feel off balance.

In Chinese Medicine, the temperature of the muscles, whether hot or cold, is a crucial factor. We often refer to concepts like Qi (Chi) and energy. When muscles are not in optimal condition, they can obstruct the flow of Qi, resulting in muscles becoming cold and flat. This impedes blood circulation and can cause a dull ache or a feeling of strain when you stand up or twist. Imagine a scenario similar to a "Frozen Shoulder," but occurring in your lower back and hip area.

Your muscles are looking for warmth and gentle touch to reset and release the affected ones, to encourage blood to flow freely again, for the body’s Qi to inhabit the tissues and bring your muscles back to health again.

Which type of sciatica do you have?

Shiatsu can alleviate both types of sciatica! There are two distinct types, and I could even include Plantar Fasciitis as a third type, as it originates from the same area in the glutes—your buttocks!

In the image above, you can follow the three Chinese energy meridians involved: the Bladder, Gallbladder, and one unknown to acupuncture—the Large intestine extension. This extension is particularly useful as it precisely follows the path to the underside of the foot. These 3 meridians converge in a large point - Gallbladder 30; also known as the point to massage with a tennis ball.

Try the tennis ball trick - but not as you know it! Most people have heard of sitting on a tennis ball and the magic point is GB30 (in the image) known as the Jumping Circle! This point (or ring of points) is where shiatsu taps into releasing muscles and untrapping the sciatic nerve. It's probably called Jumping as when we hit 'the point' you may jump :)

But here is where most people go wrong and I've spent years perfecting!

You start on the non-painful side.

Use the tennis ball on the side of your bum that isn't causing the pain as this is the side that requires the stimulation first - because it's being lazy or hiding. Until this side is stimulated the painful side (which is tense from overwork) won't release. When this side feels it can release (because the other is pulling it weight) THIS is when you start to get more extended relief.

The piriformis muscle, located beneath the gluteal muscles, can trap the sciatic nerve and cause pain to radiate down the side or back of your leg, or it may silently lead to intense pain under the foot, known as plantar fasciitis. Regardless of whether the pain appears in your knee or foot, the root cause lies deep within the gluteal muscles, where the sciatic nerve becomes trapped and inflamed.

Sciatica is a symptom and not the cause. The cause can be determined through shiatsu listening of the muscles and tissues within the region. Unless there is a known medical issue like bone overgrowth on the sacral foramen (the holes through which the branches of the nerve run in the sacrum - in image above) shiatsu will resolve sciatica. We can determine what triggers it and I can give you advice on how to relieve or resolve it. It can keep returning until the underlying imbalance is understood and supported.

How can shiatsu relieve sciatica?

Sciatica can be a lot to do with your muscles, whether they are tense or out of alignment. If you've been told your sciatica is due to bone overgrowth in the sacral foramen, still try shiatsu as you never know what relief can be found once tight muscles are released.

Though shiatsu is thought of as mainly acupressure, it actually involves a lot of listening to how the muscles are working and picking up where they are stuck, tight or weak. This is done with touch to the muscles, plus rotations, shaking and some stretching. Don't worry though if you do come in in pain, the first steps are to try and make you as comfortable as possible and help you find some relief quickly. It is best to then come back for another treatment within the fortnight once the inflammation has gone down to check on what the underlying cause is and to strengthen the new alignment of muscles, and release any tension that has built up again.

We have to retrain your body to not keep repeating old muscle memory patterns. Shiatsu can help you find a new way of coping with and releasing the tension that has caused this in the first place.

Shiatsu is based on the chinese meridians and this really helps in understanding the possible root causes of sciatica. As I mentioned earlier we have two branches of sciatica based on the Gallbladder and Bladder meridians (and the Large Intestine extension). They follow distinct routes through your lower back, pelvis, sacrum, and down your legs, and they also have unique emotional associations.

If there is no physical reason for sciatica then with Chinese medicine we look to an emotional trigger. The Gallbladder meridian sciatica could be caused by a bad twist, or tension due to holding in anger. The Bladder meridian sciatica, can be related to a crick in your back muscles, or maybe you're fearful of something that is yet to be dealt with; many lower back issues can come from this. My third type is associated to grief; this quite commonly can manifest as Plantar Fasciatis a year or two after losing your loved one.

It doesn't matter what has caused your sciatica as the way to relieve it is the same, however to stop sciatica coming back it is very beneficial to explore what is causing it as this can then lead to options in how to prevent it from happening again. That's the beauty of the chinese medicine understanding that the psychological and physical are absolutely entwined; and the health resolution takes this into account.

This doesn't mean a shiatsu becomes a psychotherapy session, not at all, you've come for a physical therapy and it's resolved that way but to understand the connection and talk about it if you wish can help you find the longer term resolution.

Shiatsu is very much about prevention, it's always best to come before an issue happens, but a lot of the time your first introduction to a therapy is because you have the pain and you're looking for relief. Shiatsu will look to get ahead of the problem to resolve it once and for all and help you maintain your physical health and flexibility if you are willing to invest in this!

Ready to relieve your sciatica with shiatsu?

Sciatica can be complex to resolve it completely, but this is what a shiatsu practitioner aims to do. If there is obvious reason then it's going to a blend of the emotional and physical and how you hold this in your body. Even with a diagnosis of your sciatica is due to this... don't feel that is the end, you can still seek energetic therapies like shiatsu to help you find some level of relief.

I always tell my clients it's good if nothing has shown up on tests, this means your issue is most likely still in the energetic realm, you can feel it but there isn't so much physical degradation that it's showing up on a scan. Let me re-iterate this is a good thing!

When clients first call me they can be quite despondent as they've been through everything the NHS has to offer with no resolution or pain relief apart from medication. Shiatsu aims to give you that relief and put your body back into alignment so that there is no pain, and to keep it that way.

This empowers you by putting your health back in your hands.

If you're in pain then don't put up with it any longer; check out how shiatsu can help you find relief.

Shiatsu treatment options here.

About Andrea at Shiatsu Bodyworks Cheltenham

Andrea is a qualified zen shiatsu and chinese medicine practitioner with over 20 years immersed in holistic therapies and the energetics of mind and body. Based in Cheltenham, UK she offers in house clinic and online shiatsu sessions to help people with midlife health issues and also offers online consultations as she is a menopause specialist too.

Shiatsu Bodyworks: gentle body work,

to make your body work better!