_{^{Osteo or physio for sciatica?}}

Osteo or physio for sciatica? In my experience, does it matter? Honestly the more I research into sciatica, its causes, treatments and cure, the more I’m amazed at just how different people’s experiences are. Some will swear by a physio, others say don’t go near an osteopath, others still will say both are great but you need to make sure you have 6 sessions and not give up after 1 session. I’ve read stories of people spending thousands of £££s and going to practitioners for years on end. Fair play if it’s working for them.

When I was in bad pain with my sciatica a few years ago I’d have these mental conversations with myself and theorise on what amount of money I would spend to cure my sciatica? I think I mentally committed £10,000 if someone could have come along and guaranteed to cure it!!

An issue I sometimes had with any practitioner of physiotherapy or osteopathy was it always seemed to be a bit sort of “try it and see if it works” attitude. Which is fine if you have plenty of time and money. At the time I had a young family and couldn’t really commit to one session every week for several weeks at £45 to £55 a go!

_{^{Osteopath, Chiropractor or Physiotherapist for sciatica, which one?}}

What about chiro? I sort of class physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic treatments as all part of the similar hands-on musculoskeletal therapies that’s mostly to do with non-surgical, massage, manipulation, stretching, movement and physical exercises. I’m sure each practitioner could go into the differences and nuances of each discipline. There’s more info here on Chiropractors and sciatica.

Thing is though many now seem to have their own subsets such as the McKenzie Method, Alexander Technique and Bowen Therapy! It all sounds a bit bait and switch to me. “Ohh you shouldn’t have seen a normal physiotherapist for 10 weeks at £50 a week you should’ve seen a McKenzie Method practitioner instead”!

For some reason I’m particularly suspicious of multi-disciplinary practices where they have different practitioners for each field all at the same practice.

After 4 weeks of sessions, I’d be like:

Me: “I’m not sure my sciatica is actually getting any better”.

Physiotherapist: “Oh. Are you doing the trapped sciatic nerve exercises I gave you”?

Me: “Yes, religiously everyday”.

Physiotherapist: “What about the ice for sciatica regime”.

Me: “Yes, ice twice a day 10 minutes on 10 minutes off 10 minutes back on”.

Physiotherapist: “Are you still using the TENS machine I gave you”?

Me: “If you mean the TENS machine you sold me for £50 that I could’ve bought off Amazon for £25 then yes still using every day. Honestly I’m doing everything and it’s not improving”.

Physiotherapist: “Right I’d recommend you see Michelle. She’s our Alexander Technique specialist, she’ll sort you out”.

Start again!

Now I know I’m probably being a bit unfair there but I think that’s what suffering with sciatica can do for you. It can turn you into a right miserable git! Especially if you’ve tried many different therapies and nothing is working. You get the feeling some people are out to just exploit your pain. It also doesn’t help when you tell your mates about not getting any help with your physiotherapist and they say “oh you’ve got to try this guy he’s brilliant”. You then start to question yourself that maybe physiotherapy, chiro or osteopathy is a worthwhile treatment – it’s just that you’ve been going to the wrong practitioner!

_{^{Is it worth seeing an osteopath for sciatica?}}

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure, in some circumstances, osteopathy can help with sciatica. I suppose a lot depends on whether you have acute or chronic sciatica though. Acute sciatica will usually dissipate within a few weeks anyway. Some people may think 3 sessions at £50 over 3 weeks is no problem and happy to pay if it quickens their recovery, lessens their pain and aides their healing.

To others £150 could be their whole months spending money and may be happy to let time, ice and a course of ibuprofen take its course. I’d suggest if it’s lower-level pain and you’re not in too much discomfort then go with “wait and see” for a few weeks before committing to a course of treatment.

_{^{Sciatica is worse after seeing osteopath!}} 

I’ve often heard stories of people saying their sciatica is worse after seeing a physiotherapist or my sciatica is worse after seeing a chiropractor etc. This is usually quite normal. The practitioner is likely to have moved muscles, joints and interacted with trapped nerves. Your body may need a little time to adjust. So don’t worry if you have more pain after seeing your therapist. This is totally natural and should ease after a day or two. If not give them a call.

_{^{So should I see an osteopath or physio for my sciatic pain or not?}}

From my research I’ve identified that an osteopath is more likely to have experience and treated more back and spinal issues. A physiotherapist will have more experience of the whole body. If you’re an osteopath or physio feel free to post a comment on the comment box below to give your view. From anecdotal evidence I’ve seen more sciatica sufferers have said they get better results from an osteopath over a physiotherapist (70% to 30% in favour of osteopath).

I feel I’ve been a bit negative really on the above stories of my experience I’ve had with physiotherapists! To be fair that was just one of the physiotherapists I’ve seen over the years. Thinking about it he was a private practitioner and that’s how they make their money! I’ve probably seen 4 or 5 NHS physiotherapists over the past 8 years or so who have all been lovely. Unfortunately, I never really felt I got too much pain relief. They did teach me a few good stretches though!

Make sure you visit your GP first to get a correct diagnosis and maybe get them to refer you to your local NHS physiotherapist first. Osteopathy is not generally available on the NHS although some areas do provide it so again ask your GP.

I would say if you’ve never tried one of the disciplines I’ve spoken about above then by all means give it ago. I know when you’re suffering with sciatica you’ll try anything! Just don’t go chasing different therapies or swapping practitioners in the hope of finding a cure. I’d say once you’ve seen 2 practitioners, (maybe from 2 different disciplines) then you’re going to have covered quite a few of the areas that they can address. Nothing beats experience though. If you visit someone and you feel they’re making a difference than stick with it.

Generally I would suggest you should be seeing an improvement within 2 or 3 visits, maybe more if it’s degenerative disc disease. Remember though that to get the most out of your weekly visits you’ll likely be given daily exercises, tasks and instructions to follow. It’s no good paying good money to a specialist and then not carry out the instructions they’ve given you!         

_{^{How do I find a good osteopath or physiotherapist near me?}}

I’d recommend asking around with friends and work colleagues for any personal recommendations. I always think that’s the best place to start. If you get no joy that way just google osteopaths near me etc and there’ll be dozens to choose from. Alternatively there is the official professional bodies:

• The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is here where you can find a list of local physiotherapists. 

• Or if you’re looking for an osteopath you can check The General Osteopathic Council who have a register of osteopaths near you.

If you haven’t had your sciatica diagnosed you should get confirmation from a health professional.

_{^{There is hope!}}

I started this website to convey that although sciatica is very painful there is hope. I detail my experiences on how I overcame my sciatic pain and link to products that help me with my pain relief. CBD gave me the biggest improvement and you can read about that here how CBD oil stopped my sciatica. 

Throughout the whole of this website you’ll see images that will take you to the Amazon page for that product. We may make a little commission if you buy anything from those links. This helps to maintain the website for other people who are struggling with sciatica, thank you. Don’t worry you pay the same price as if you’d gone straight to Amazon yourself.

I suffered with sciatica for over 7 years. If you didn’t read my story of how I went from being in agony with my sciatic pain to living pain free you can do so on the homepage.

It would be great to hear your stories and experience dealing with an osteo or physio for sciatica. Please get in touch through the contact page or post a comment on the comments section below.  

There’s also a page dedicated to mostly natural remedies for sciatica here.

Some helpful products referred to in this article:

“When told by my GP that nothing could be done for my sciatica I doubted anything would ever help. I now lead a pain free life”!