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Writer's pictureDr. Nicolas Torres

Why do we get sciatica?

People believe the cause of sciatica comes from a disc or a nerve or even the lumbar spine itself. Yes, this is where the sciatic nerve originates from, but this does not mean it is the cause of its injury.


The true cause of sciatica comes from the position of the sacrum, and with-that the position of the pelvis. If someone has sciatica, 8/10 times it will be at the left leg. Why is the left leg so much more common than the right leg to present with sciatica-like symptoms (numbness tingling, pain traveling down back of leg). The answer lies in the common position of the pelvis, which is a right rotation. Imagine within your postural alignment, the pelvis is slightly turned (rotated) to the right. That would mean the left side of the pelvis and the bone(s) it connects to (sacrum) is in a forward position, relative to the right side. If it’s hard to imagine this: take a piece of paper. Fold it in half and write R on the right side and L on the left side. Then hold it up and turn the paper slightly to the right. You will see that the left side of the paper is slightly in-front of the right side. Now imagine there is a nerve that is traveling out the front of that paper. The left side would effectively be pressing into that nerve. That is sciatica.


So the golden question is how do we change the position of the pelvis? To that I answer: breathe. We must perform deep breathing exercises that will in-fact utilize the diaphragm muscle to change the orientation of the pelvis! Now this is not an easy feat. It takes will-power, dedication and patience. However, once you own your breath, you will own your pelvis position. Oh yea, and say goodbye to that sciatica-pain!

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