What exactly is sciatica? The problem is that there are many skeptical definitions of sciatica pain. Sciatica is a term that refers to the painful inflammation of the sciatic nerve, the longest and largest nerve in your body. Sciatica comes from the Latin word meaning "hip". Your sciatic nerve extends from your buttocks all the way down to your toes! Your sciatic nerve is formed from five nerve roots in your lower back which join together deep in the pelvis. From there, the sciatic nerve divides into many branch nerves that serve your muscles, joints, skin, and other tissues in your legs and feet. Sciatica flare-ups may or may not involve back pain; the pain can be "referred" to other areas. Sciatica sufferers, however, often have a history of low back pain.

A full blown sciatica flare-up can involve the entire sciatic nerve path following the back of the thigh, into the calf, and down into the foot. Or it may attack various points along the nerve, such as the buttocks, knee area, and calf. So true sciatica pain starts around your "butt" and goes down the back of your leg.

Sciatica can hit at any time in people who have low back pain and have had previous episodes of sciatica. The key is to stop these sciatica pain episodes from occuring by prevention. Sciatica is one of the easiest things to prevent. The best way to do this my keeping the muscles around the sciatic nerve stretched. The next step to decreasing the sciatic nerve inflammation is nutrition. Our diets lack in essential fish oils that decrease inflammation according to the latest research. If your diet lacks fish oils, it is essential you start eating correctly or taking supplements since our bodies do not have the ability to make some fish oils. Weigth loss is the last step to prevent sciatica pain, there is too much stress in the low back muscles and nerves in overwieght people. Imagine walking aroung with thirty pound dog food bags tied aroung your waste. Try to shed some pounds if necessary.