Sciatica is more than just a pain in the leg — it’s a signal from your body that something deeper is off. While many doctors default to pain pills or injections, at AI Care Weight Loss & Wellness, we take a different route: we dig into root causes, tame inflammation, support healing, and equip your body to stay strong.

If you’re tired of surface-level fixes, this post is for you.
Book your Functional Medicine consultation today and let’s get to the bottom of your nerve pain.

What Is Sciatica — and Why It Persists

“Sciatica” refers to irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down through your hips, buttocks, and into each leg. People often feel this as shooting, burning, or electric-type pain. Wikipedia

Common causes include:

• Herniated or bulging lumbar discs pressing on nerve roots moregooddays.com+1
• Spinal stenosis (narrowing of spinal canals)
• Piriformis syndrome (muscle in buttock pressing on the nerve)
• Degenerative disc disease or facet joint arthropathy
• Poor posture, weak core or glute muscles, and chronic inflammation

Many people assume sciatica will go away with time (and indeed in ~90% of cases, it does resolve with conservative care) Harvard Health+1 — but what if you want to speed that up and avoid recurrence? That’s where functional medicine comes in.

Why a Functional Medicine Path Makes Sense

Conventional approaches often focus on symptoms — giving NSAIDs, muscle relaxers, steroid injections, or referral to surgery. That can be helpful short-term, but leaves the underlying dysfunction ignored.

Functional medicine asks:

1. What’s driving nerve irritation?
   Is there metabolic inflammation, nutritional deficiency, or gut permeability contributing to systemic stress?
2. How is your body supporting healing?
   Are antioxidant and mitochondrial systems strong enough to repair neural tissues?
3. What lifestyle patterns are conflicting?
   Sitting too much, weak stabilizer muscles, poor sleep, and stress can all perpetuate the cycle.
4. How do we build resilience?
   Through targeted supplements, movement, posture work, and diet, you can reduce the chance of relapse.

At AI Care, our functional medicine branch integrates seamlessly with your weight, metabolic, and wellness goals — because often, the same systems that help manage sciatica also help with insulin, hormones, and overall vitality.

Our Protocol for Sciatica Support (Functional + Targeted)

Below is a sample core framework of our approach. Every patient gets a tailored version depending on their labs, history, and imaging findings.

1. Functional Labs & Assessment

We start with a full picture:

• Inflammatory markers (hs-CRP, ESR)
• Nutrient levels: vitamin D, B12, folate, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids
• Oxidative stress markers / antioxidant capacity
• Glucose / HbA1c / insulin
• Thyroid function
• Imaging (MRI or spinal X-ray) if structural cause suspected
• Functional movement assessment (posture, gait, core stability)

These labs guide which supplements, physical interventions, and lifestyle shifts are most needed.

2. Lifestyle & Movement Essentials

• Gentle mobility first: early in recovery, ice + heat alternation helps reduce inflammation and nerve irritation. Harvard Health
• Core and glute reactivation: exercises like bird-dog, glute bridges, pelvic tilts to offload the spine
• Nerve gliding / neural flossing: to gently mobilize the sciatic nerve
• Posture and ergonomics: optimizing your workspace, avoiding long continuous sitting
• Sleep, stress, and body load: ensure restful restoration, reduce cortisol load

These are the foundation — no supplement will help as much if your movement and posture are working against you.

3. Targeted Supplement Support (via Fullscript)

Here’s where we layer in evidence-based nutrient support to bolster healing, reduce inflammation, and protect nerve health. (These are examples; we always tailor per lab results.)

RoleSuggested SupplementRationaleAnti-inflammatory / nerve protectionCurcumin + boswellia complexReduces neuroinflammation, supports nerve healingNerve & mitochondrial supportAlpha-lipoic acid (ALA), acetyl L-carnitineHelps regenerate peripheral nerves and modulate oxidative stressMicrobiome / gut integrityProbiotic blends, GI barrier supportGut inflammation can feed systemic neural inflammationMicronutrient / B-vitaminsMethylated B-complex, magnesium, vitamin DCritical for nerve conduction, muscle tone, and tissue repair

Every supplement is checked for safety vs your current medications and adjusted accordingly.

Click here to schedule a functional medicine consult — we'll review your labs and propose your personalized supplement stack.

Real-World Example: How a Patient Improved

For instance, one patient came in with 6 weeks of right-leg sciatica that persisted despite NSAIDs and PT. Her labs showed elevated CRP, low vitamin D, borderline B12, and poor sleep. We:

• Optimized her posture and core with daily nervous-glide stretches
• Added curcumin + ALA + probiotic support
• Addressed sleep hygiene and anti-inflammatory diet

Within 3 weeks, her pain score dropped by 60%, and by 6–8 weeks she walked nearly pain-free, with residual occasional tingling only when over-sitting. Over 3 months, she transitioned to a maintenance phase and avoided recurrence.

Why This Approach Beats “Just Pills or Shots”

• Addresses root causes like inflammation, nutrient gaps, and lifestyle faults
• Supports long-term resilience — not just symptomatic relief
• Tailored to your whole body (weight, hormones, metabolism) — synergy with your broader wellness goals
• Reduces dependence on pain meds or invasive interventions

Are You a Candidate for This Approach?

This protocol is especially useful if:

• Your sciatica is recurrent or chronic
• You’ve tried pain meds, PT, or injections without lasting relief
• You want to avoid surgery or steroids
• You believe your systemic health (metabolism, gut, inflammation) plays a role
• You’re willing to engage in movement, diet, and lifestyle work

To get started, book an appointment and bring any prior imaging or MRI scans.
👉 Schedule your Functional Medicine & Sciatica evaluation

Final Thoughts

Sciatica doesn’t need to be a life sentence of pain. With a deeper, systems-based approach, you can quiet nerve irritation, rebuild strength, and reduce the odds of relapse. At AI Care, our functional medicine arm is designed to integrate with your overall health journey — whether that is weight, hormones, or longevity.

If you’re ready to break free from pain and reclaim function, I’d love to guide you.
Let’s get you booked for a personalized plan today.