Section

Back & Sciatica

What lower back pain, disc irritation and sciatica actually are, how a chiropractor examines them, and what care the evidence supports.

A pregnant woman in her third trimester sitting on a large exercise ball in a calm clinic room, both hands on her lower back, chiropractor kneeling beside guiding her posture, soft daylight, plants on the windowsill

Back & Sciatica BS-005

Pregnancy back pain: what changes, and what honestly helps

Back and pelvic girdle pain are common in pregnancy. What changes in the body, what NHS guidance says helps, and the signs that need a midwife or emergency care.

21/09/2026

A person in their fifties doing a slow bridge exercise on a rug in a bright living room, knees bent feet flat, mid-lift with a steady expression, a low sofa and closed curtains behind, morning light through a big window

Back & Sciatica BS-004

Which back pain exercises does the evidence actually support?

No single exercise wins on evidence - but structure does. What NICE supports, what the research says about walking, strength and stretching, and a realistic first fortnight.

21/09/2026

Hospital assessment bay, a nurse in scrubs leaning toward a patient lying on a trolley who points to their lower back, curtain half drawn, monitoring equipment softly out of focus in the background, cool clinical light

Back & Sciatica BS-003

When is back pain an emergency? The red flags, in plain English

Most back pain improves within a few weeks. A short list of signs is not. Learn the red flags that mean same-day care, and why they matter.

21/09/2026

Close view of a person in their forties sitting on the edge of a bed in soft morning light, one hand pressing the back of their thigh, face tense with pain, wearing a plain t-shirt, ordinary British bedroom behind them

Back & Sciatica BS-002

What is sciatica, and how long does it last?

Nerve pain that runs down the leg: what sciatica is, what it is not, the honest timeframes, and the warning signs that mean same-day care.

21/09/2026

Anatomy classroom scene, a chiropractor in a shirt with rolled sleeves holding a foam vertebra and disc model at chest height while explaining it to a seated adult patient, whiteboard sketches of the spine behind them, warm side light

Back & Sciatica BS-001

Is a slipped disc a real thing? No, and here is what is actually happening

Discs do not slip anywhere. What they do - bulge, herniate, settle - is more interesting, and far less frightening, than the picture most people carry.

21/09/2026

The reading room

Pages kept by other editors, each read before it earned a place here.

Complementary care deserves the same scrutiny as any prescription, and an evidence ledger on acupuncture asks the plain question, condition by condition, before a single needle is booked.
Half of our patients blame a dog that pulls on the leash, so we return the favour: a desk on canine joint health keeps the other end of the lead moving well too.
Spines do not retire, and a French guide to ageing well maps the honest question for Luxembourg readers: what actually keeps a body mobile past sixty.
Expectant parents ask us first about pregnancy back pain, then about everything else that arrives with the baby, and French wording for a birth notice is the next question our French-speaking patients bring.