It usually starts small. A dull ache in the lower back after a long day. Then one morning it changes, and a sharp, electric pain shoots down one leg. Maybe the foot tingles. Maybe sitting through a meeting becomes unbearable.
That’s the signature of sciatica, and in a city built around desks, cars and long flights, it’s one of the most common problems people in Dubai bring to a physiotherapist.
What exactly is sciatica?
Sciatica isn’t really a diagnosis in itself. It’s a description of a symptom: irritation of the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in your body, which runs from your lower back through the glutes and all the way down each leg.
When something presses on or irritates that nerve, you feel it along its path. That usually shows up as:
- Sharp or burning pain down one leg
- Tingling or “pins and needles”
- Numbness in the leg or foot
- Weakness when climbing stairs or standing from a chair
The key detail is that the problem is usually higher up than where it hurts. The pain is in your leg, but the source is almost always in your lower back or glutes.
Why is sciatica so common in Dubai?
The lifestyle here loads the exact structures that trigger it:
- Long hours sitting in DIFC offices, which compress the lower spine
- Long commutes and long flights that keep the hips locked in one position
- Sudden weekend intensity, like heavy gym sessions or golf after a sedentary week
- Dehydration and poor sleep, which slow tissue recovery
It’s the combination of too much sitting and too much sudden loading that so often tips a healthy back into an irritated nerve.
Do I need a scan or surgery?
This is the fear that sends people into a spiral, but for the large majority of cases the answer is no.
Most sciatica settles with the right movement, some manual therapy and a plan that takes pressure off the nerve. Scans often show “disc bulges” that exist in plenty of pain-free people too, so an image on its own rarely tells the full story. Surgery is reserved for a small minority with specific, serious signs.
What matters far more is finding why the nerve is being irritated in your particular body, and then changing it.
How does a physiotherapist treat sciatica?
A physiotherapist in DIFC will typically:
- Assess your back, hips and nerve movement to pinpoint the true source
- Use targeted manual therapy to calm the irritation and free up restricted areas
- Prescribe specific movements that gently glide and settle the nerve
- Rebuild the strength and control that stop it coming back
The goal isn’t just to make today’s pain quieter. It’s to fix the pattern that let it start, the weak glutes, the stiff hips, the desk posture.
When should you act?
Don’t wait for it to become a daily event. It’s worth seeing someone if:
- The pain runs below the knee
- You feel tingling, numbness or weakness in the leg or foot
- Sitting has become genuinely painful
- It’s lasted more than a week, or it keeps coming back
Sciatica responds best when it’s treated early, before you build months of compensations around it. Nerve pain is loud precisely because your body wants you to do something about it.
Frequently asked questions
Does sciatica always mean a slipped disc?
No. A disc can be involved, but tight glutes, a stiff hip or an irritated nerve root can all cause the same leg pain. An assessment is what tells you which one applies to you.
Is walking good or bad for sciatica?
Usually good, in moderation. Gentle movement tends to help nerve pain settle, while long periods of sitting or standing still often make it worse.
How long does sciatica take to go away?
Many people notice real improvement within a few weeks once the right treatment starts. Left untreated, it can drag on for months and keep flaring.
Can sciatica come back after it clears up?
It can, especially if the underlying cause, like weak glutes or a desk-heavy routine, was never addressed. That’s why rebuilding strength matters as much as calming the initial flare.
If pain is running down your leg and slowing you down, you don’t have to push through it. A physiotherapist trained in neurofunctional assessment can find the real source and get you moving freely again. You can book a session here.
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Marcos Jusdado is a physiotherapist and osteopath at Craft Clinic, The Ritz-Carlton DIFC, in the heart of Dubai. With 9 years of experience and over 12,000 sessions, he specialises in sport physiotherapy, functional neurology (P-DTR), vestibular rehabilitation and chronic pain, working with everyone from DIFC professionals to athletes. His approach focuses on finding the root cause of pain rather than just treating the symptoms.
