Sciatica is the name for pain that travels along the sciatic nerve — the longest nerve in the human body, running from your lower back, through your hips and glutes, and down each leg.

It's not a condition in itself. It's a symptom. Something is pressing on or irritating that nerve — usually a herniated disc, a bone spur, or sustained pressure on the lumbar spine and coccyx — and the nerve responds by sending pain, burning, tingling, or numbness down the path it travels.

That's why sciatica pain feels the way it does. It's not just a sore back. It's an electric, shooting, travelling sensation that can run from your lower back all the way to your foot. It can be a dull throb or a sharp, sudden flare. It can come and go, or it can be constant.

And for people who sit for long hours — drivers, desk workers, anyone whose job keeps them in a seat for most of the day — sustained sitting is one of the most common triggers.

WHAT IS LOWER BACK PAIN?

Lower back pain is exactly what it sounds like — pain, stiffness, or aching in the lumbar region of the spine, roughly from the bottom of the ribcage to the top of the glutes.

It's the most common musculoskeletal complaint in the world. Around 80% of adults will experience it at some point in their life. For people who sit for long periods, it's almost universal.

The lower back is the part of your spine that carries the most load during sitting. When you sit — especially without proper lumbar support — your lower spine collapses out of its natural curve. The discs between your vertebrae compress. The muscles that support your back fatigue and stop doing their job. Over hours, days, and years, this adds up.

It starts as stiffness. Then it becomes a daily ache. Then it becomes the thing that follows you home and into your sleep.

Sitting feels passive. It's not.
When you sit without proper support, several things happen simultaneously that directly cause and aggravate both lower back pain and sciatica:

the cushioning discs between your vertebrae are under constant, sustained load. Unlike standing or moving, sitting offers no relief. Over hours this compresses the discs, contributing to wear, bulging, and the kind of disc herniation that directly presses on the sciatic nerve.

without support, your lower spine gradually rounds forward into a C-curve as your back muscles fatigue. This increases disc pressure dramatically and puts sustained tension on the surrounding nerves.

direct pressure on the tailbone and coccyx from sitting on a firm or inadequate surface compresses the sciatic nerve at its base — triggering or intensifying that shooting, travelling pain down the leg.