Pain guide · Leg pain
Sciatica is pain from an irritated nerve in the lower back, felt in the buttock and down the back of the leg, often into the foot, sometimes with tingling, numbness or weakness. It usually gets better in a few weeks to a few months.
The evidence is honest about its limits. Staying active is the best-supported advice, structured exercise adds a little on top, and nerve glides look promising but are not proven. This guide gives you all three, starting with the signs that need help now.
Exercise is for pain that has been checked or is clearly mild and settling.
Sciatica means pain from an irritated nerve in the lower back, felt in the buttock and down the leg, often into the foot. The NHS says it usually improves in a few weeks to a few months, and that even if moving hurts, it is not harmful.
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NICE recommends against gabapentinoids, other antiepileptics, oral corticosteroids and benzodiazepines for sciatica, as there is no overall evidence of benefit and there is evidence of harm. That leaves staying active and exercise as the main things you can do yourself.
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Aching or cramping in the buttocks, thighs or calves that comes on with standing and walking and eases when you sit or bend forward suggests narrowing in the lower spine (lumbar spinal stenosis). Exercise is a first-line treatment: progressive cycling, an adjusted walking program and stretching, with short pauses as needed. Narrowed leg arteries can cause similar symptoms, so get it assessed first.
NICE advises people with sciatica to keep doing their normal activities, and the NHS advises against long spells of sitting or lying. A Cochrane review found advice to rest in bed was no better than advice to stay active: little or no difference, on moderate-quality evidence.
NICE suggests considering a group exercise program, whether biomechanical, aerobic, mind-body or a mix, chosen to suit your needs and preferences. It uses the word consider, which is weaker than offer. This recommendation was unchanged in the 2026 update.
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Across trials, structured exercise reduced leg pain slightly more than advice to stay active in the short term, by about 11 points on a 0 to 100 scale, with no difference in disability. In the long term there was no difference. Choose a program you will keep doing.
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In a 2023 review of 20 trials, nerve glides (neural mobilisation) reduced pain and disability in leg pain from the lower back by a large amount on average. But the trials varied widely and positive results may have been more likely to be published. An earlier review found a benefit for chronic low back pain, and a 2025 analysis ranked exercise plus nerve glides among the biggest short-term reductions in chronic sciatica leg pain, at very low confidence.
Try them gently for two weeks. Keep them if they ease your leg symptoms; drop them if they do not.
A 2023 review of 18 physiotherapy trials found inadequate evidence to make clinical recommendations; every trial was at high or unclear risk of bias. Two 2025 network meta-analyses found no non-surgical treatment for acute, subacute or chronic sciatica supported by better than very-low-confidence evidence. That is why staying active comes first.
Do not use belts or corsets, foot orthotics, rocker-sole shoes, traction, acupuncture, ultrasound, TENS or interferential therapy for sciatica. Manual therapy is only for use as part of a package that includes exercise.
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For sciatica from a disc, surgery gave faster short-term relief than physical activity treatments in a 2016 review, but the difference disappeared in the long term.
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The NHS says that even if moving hurts, it is not harmful. Use your leg symptoms as the guide: an exercise is fine if it does not push pain further down the leg and does not bring on more numbness or weakness. If it does, make the movement smaller or swap it.
Nerve glides follow a stricter rule from NHS physiotherapy services: a pull in the leg is OK, pain is not. You should not feel pain at any point, and you never hold the end position.
Start at the first stage. Each move opens a full guide with a 3D demo.
The first 1 to 3 weeks. Short walks several times a day; keep only the stretches that ease your leg.
3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machine5 to 15 min, several times a day · Walking outdoors is just as good
Harder: Treadmill jogging
3D demoOne Knee To ChestBeginner · Other / check instructions3 holds of 20 to 30 s each side · If it eases your symptoms
Harder: Superman
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment8 to 10 slow cycles
3D demoLying sciatic nerve slider (nerve glide)Beginner · No equipment10 slow reps, 2 to 3 times a day · NHS service dose; can be done in bed
3D demoSeated sciatic nerve slider (nerve glide)Beginner · A bench or box10 slow reps, 2 to 3 times a day · NHS service dose
3D demoReclined figure four (eye of the needle, Sucirandhrasana)Beginner · No equipment2 to 3 holds of 30 s each side · A comfort option, only if comfortable
3D demoSphinx pose (Salamba Bhujangasana)Beginner · No equipment2 to 3 holds of 30 s · Keep only if it eases leg symptoms; stop if leg pain spreads
Harder: Cobra pose (Bhujangasana)
Move on when: You can walk for 20 to 30 minutes, and sleep is not disturbed most nights.
Weeks 2 to 6. Two or three strength sessions a week, plus walking or cycling on most days.
3D demoBird dogBeginner · No equipment3 sets of 8 each side · Once one limb at a time is easy
Easier: Bird dog, one limb at a time · Harder: Bodyweight get-up
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment3 sets of 10 to 12
Easier: Pelvic tilt into bridge · Harder: Glute kickback (quadruped hip extension)
Move on when: You manage these with no increase in leg symptoms the next day.
From about week 6.
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment3 holds of 20 to 30 s each side
Easier: Knee side plank · Harder: Side plank with leg lift
3D demoSingle-leg glute bridgeIntermediate · No equipment3 sets of 8 to 10 each side
Easier: Glute bridge · Harder: Alternate-leg bounding
3D demoKettlebell deadliftBeginner · A kettlebell3 sets of 8, light to start
Harder: Dumbbell Romanian deadlift
3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment3 sets of 8 each leg
Easier: Bodyweight squat · Harder: Reverse lunge
3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machineBuild to 30 to 45 min, brisk
Harder: Treadmill jogging
Move on when: Add load gradually, one change at a time, while leg symptoms stay settled.
No trial shows that a particular exercise harms sciatica, and the NHS says moving is not harmful even when it hurts. Lists of banned exercises are opinion. Heavy lifting and sharp twisting are commonly advised against early on, but that too is expert opinion.
Let your symptoms decide: ease off anything that spreads pain further down the leg or brings on numbness or weakness, and come back to it later in a smaller range.
Source 1
The lying nerve slider and knee to chest can both be done in bed. Move slowly and stop at a pull. During the day, avoid long spells of lying or sitting: short walks spread through the day help more.
No single exercise is proven best. Staying active, with a program you will keep doing, is what the guidelines support. Walking, gentle stretches that ease your leg, nerve glides if they help, and trunk and hip strength are a sensible mix.
No. Bed rest was no better than staying active in a Cochrane review, and the NHS advises against long spells of sitting or lying. Short walks spread through the day are a good start.
Possibly. Pooled trials show large average benefits, but the trials are small and inconsistent. Try them gently for two weeks: a pull is fine, pain is not.
None is proven harmful. Ease off any exercise that spreads pain further down your leg or brings on numbness or weakness, and return to it later in a smaller range.
Yes. Start at stage 1 with walking, knee to chest, the seated nerve slider and sit-to-stands from a chair, and use the easier option shown under each move.
Usually a few weeks to a few months. See a GP if it is not improving after a few weeks, is getting worse, or stops you doing normal activities.
Sciatica in both legs, numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bowels, or weakness or numbness in both legs that is severe or getting worse. Call 999 or go to A&E.
Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. It is written from the guidelines and studies listed above; review by a clinician is pending. If your pain follows an injury, is severe, is getting worse, or comes with any warning sign listed on this page, get it assessed. Health disclaimer.
