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Conditions We Treat
Physical Therapy for Spine & Sciatica
When a nerve in your spine gets irritated, the pain rarely stays put — it shoots, burns or tingles down the leg. Targeted physical therapy calms the nerve and gets you moving again.
Understanding spine and sciatica pain
Sciatica is not a diagnosis on its own — it is what we call the shooting leg pain, numbness or tingling that happens when something in the lower spine irritates or compresses a nerve root.
The source is often a disc, a narrowing of the spinal canal, or tight muscles pressing on the nerve. The encouraging news is that most cases settle with the right movement and hands-on care, without surgery.
Signs it may be your spine
Nerve-related back pain has a distinct feel:
Pain down the leg
A shooting, burning or electric pain that travels from the back into the buttock or leg.
Numbness or tingling
Pins-and-needles or numb patches in the leg, foot or toes.
Worse when sitting
Symptoms that flare with prolonged sitting, bending or coughing.
Leg or foot weakness
The leg feeling heavy, or the foot catching when you walk.
One-sided back pain
Low-back pain that concentrates on one side and refers downward.
What tends to cause it
Spine and sciatica symptoms usually trace to the lower back:
- A herniated or bulging disc pressing on a nerve root
- Spinal stenosis — narrowing that crowds the nerves
- Degenerative changes in the discs and spinal joints
- Tight muscles, such as the piriformis, irritating the nerve
- Posture and lifting habits that repeatedly load the spine
- Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction in the pelvis
Spine and nerve problems we treat
We regularly help people with:
- Sciatica and radiating nerve pain
- Herniated and bulging discs
- Lumbar spinal stenosis
- Degenerative disc disease
- SI-joint dysfunction
- Rehab after spine surgery
How we treat spine and sciatica pain at ProKinetics
We find the positions and movements that calm your nerve, then build from there — so you feel a direction of improvement early, not just exercises to endure.
A full-hour, one-on-one evaluation
Your first visit is a proper assessment with a Doctor of Physical Therapy who watches how you move and pinpoints what is actually driving your spine and sciatica pain — not just where it hurts.
Hands-on treatment to calm symptoms
Skilled manual therapy — joint mobilization and soft-tissue work — eases pain and frees up movement so the area starts to feel like yours again.
Targeted exercise that rebuilds
We coach you through progressive, specific movement that restores the strength, mobility and control that keep spine and sciatica pain from returning.
A plan that makes relief last
You leave with a clear home program and practical guidance on posture, activity and daily habits, and we measure your progress and adjust as you improve.
Recovering before or after spine surgery
Most sciatica never needs surgery. When it does, preparing beforehand and rehabilitating carefully afterward protects the result — rebuilding core strength and safe movement so you can return to daily life. We work in step with your surgeon throughout.
This page is general education, not a diagnosis. Loss of bladder or bowel control, or rapidly worsening leg weakness or numbness, is a medical emergency — seek care immediately.
Why patients choose ProKinetics
One therapist, one hour, every visit
You work one-on-one with the same licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy — never handed off to aides or shared across three tables at once.
Hands-on care, not a gym floor
Skilled manual therapy is central to how we treat, paired with movement that actually addresses what is driving your pain.
Two NYC clinics
See us in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn or Chelsea, Manhattan — with early and evening times that fit around work.
Most insurance, no referral needed
We accept most major plans and New York lets you start PT directly, so you can book an evaluation without a doctor’s note.
Common questions
Will sciatica go away on its own?
Should I rest until it stops hurting?
Do I need a referral or an MRI first?
Calm the nerve, reclaim your movement
Book an evaluation at our Bensonhurst or Chelsea clinic — most major insurance accepted.
