Back Pain and Sciatica Treatment in Canary Wharf
Low back pain, with or without leg symptoms, is the most common reason people see a physiotherapist. Most of it settles with the right movement and a graded return to load, and the assessment exists to work out which kind you have.
Overview
Understanding low back pain and sciatica
Low back pain is pain in the region between the lower ribs and the buttock creases. Sciatica is a different thing that often travels with it: pain, pins and needles, numbness or weakness running down the leg, caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve or one of the nerve roots that forms it. Leg symptoms below the knee are the usual clue.
The great majority of back pain has no single identifiable structure to blame, which sounds unsatisfying and is actually reassuring. It means there is rarely something broken that needs fixing. Discs, joints, muscles and nerves all contribute, sensitivity changes over time, and the practical question is what makes it better and what makes it worse.
Two things matter more than any individual treatment. The first is staying as active as the pain allows. Prolonged rest and bed rest make back pain worse and slower to resolve. The second is that manual therapy works best as part of a package that includes exercise, rather than on its own.
Assessment establishes whether nerve involvement is present, screens for the small number of causes that need medical review, and identifies what is driving your particular presentation. From there, treatment runs through physiotherapy, and where the goal is a return to lifting or sport, through return-to-sport rehabilitation.
Physiotherapy for back pain and sciatica can help you to:
Find out whether the nerve is involved
Leg symptoms, their pattern and how they behave under specific tests tell us whether a nerve root is irritated. That changes both the expected timeline and the treatment, so establishing it early matters.
Rule out the causes that need a doctor
A small proportion of back pain has a cause requiring medical assessment. Screening for those signs is part of the first appointment, and we refer promptly when anything suggests it.
Keep moving through a flare
Movement is the treatment, and the practical problem is which movements and how much. We set a realistic level for the acute phase so you keep working and sleeping while it settles.
Build the strength that keeps it away
Once symptoms ease, the remaining work is capacity through the hips, trunk and back. Recurrence is common in people who stop at the point the pain goes, and this is the part that changes that.
Get back to lifting and training
Deadlifts, squats and rowing are frequently where it started and are also part of the solution. We rebuild tolerance to them in graded steps rather than removing them permanently.
Why it happens
What causes low back pain and sciatica?
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A period of much less movement than usual, then a sudden demand such as a heavy lift or a house move
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A rapid increase in training load, particularly deadlifts, squats or rowing
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Long hours seated in one position, common in desk-based work at the Wharf
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Reduced strength and endurance in the hip, trunk and back muscles that share load with the spine
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Disc changes that irritate a nearby nerve root, producing leg symptoms alongside back pain
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Poor sleep, high stress or a long period of pain, all of which increase how sensitive the area is
Treatment approach
How do we treat low back pain and sciatica?
Physiotherapy
On enquiryEstablishes whether nerve involvement is present, screens for the causes that need a medical opinion, and builds the graded movement and strengthening programme that is first-line treatment. Also settles the question of what you can safely keep doing, which is usually far more than people assume.
See treatment detail →Return-to-Sport Rehabilitation
On enquiryFor returning to lifting, running or a change-of-direction sport, rebuilds tolerance to the specific loads that provoked the problem, with progression based on what you can do rather than how many weeks have passed.
See treatment detail →Sports Massage
On enquiryAdjunctive soft-tissue work for the surrounding muscles during a flare. It can make movement more comfortable in the short term and is most useful alongside an exercise programme rather than as a treatment in its own right.
See treatment detail →FAQ
Frequently asked
questions
Should I rest if my back hurts?
No. Staying as active as the pain allows produces a faster recovery than rest, and prolonged bed rest makes back pain worse. That does not mean pushing through severe pain. It means keeping walking and normal daily movement going, and modifying rather than stopping the things that aggravate it.
Do I need an MRI scan for back pain?
Usually not. Scans commonly show disc bulges and age-related changes in people who have no pain at all, so imaging often adds worry without changing treatment. It is warranted when there are specific clinical signs, and your physiotherapist will tell you clearly if that applies to you.
How long does sciatica take to settle?
Most cases improve substantially within six to twelve weeks, though leg symptoms can take longer than the back pain itself. Improvement is often uneven, with good and bad days. Symptoms moving up out of the leg and back toward the spine is generally a sign of progress.
When is back pain a medical emergency?
Seek emergency care for numbness in the saddle area, difficulty passing or controlling urine, loss of bowel control, or new severe weakness in both legs. These can indicate cauda equina syndrome, which needs immediate hospital assessment rather than physiotherapy. This is rare, and it is urgent.
Can sitting at a desk cause back pain?
Long unbroken periods in one position are a common contributor, though posture matters less than most people think. The more useful change is frequency of movement rather than the perfect chair setup. Getting up regularly and building strength through the hips and trunk does more than any single adjustment.
What happens at a first appointment for back pain?
A history, a screen for the small number of things that need urgent attention, an examination of how the back and hips move, and a plain explanation of what is driving it. Canary Wharf Physio does not scan back pain as a starting point, because imaging routinely shows changes in people who have no pain at all.
Get Started
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Canary Wharf Physio • Unit 7, 30 South Colonnade, London E14 5HX
BookAppointments typically available within 1–2 weeks