Most people who are looking for a massage chair are primarily trying to address low back pain, mid-back pain, or neck pain. What many people don’t realize, however, is that massage chairs can also help with a variety of other pain syndromes. Of course, they are excellent for relaxation and stress reduction, but they may also help with headaches, sciatica, wrist pain, forearm pain, knee pain, and foot and calf pain.

I’ve already done a video on headaches and massage chairs, so today I want to talk specifically about sciatica.

Sciatica is an irritation of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back down the leg. When you have true sciatica, you may feel pain in the buttocks, the thigh, and sometimes as far down as the calf or even the foot.

The sciatic nerve can be irritated in several ways. In rare cases, it may be caused by something serious, such as a tumor pressing on the nerve. More commonly, it’s caused by degenerative arthritis, where bone spurs or thinning spinal discs irritate or compress the nerve. Another very common cause involves the piriformis muscle.

The piriformis muscle is located deep in the buttock and runs from the hip to the sacrum, or tailbone. When this muscle becomes tight or contracted, it can irritate the sciatic nerve and refer pain down the leg. In a large percentage of people, the sciatic nerve actually passes directly through the piriformis muscle. When that muscle tightens, it can compress the nerve and cause symptoms—a condition often referred to as piriformis syndrome.

This situation is fairly common, especially in athletes and in expectant mothers. During pregnancy, the growing baby causes the hips to widen, which can create biomechanical changes in the pelvis. These changes can affect how the piriformis muscle functions, often increasing tension and irritation of the sciatic nerve.

A massage chair can help in several ways. First, the rollers travel down the back and under the seat, working the gluteal muscles, including the piriformis. Repeated rolling over this area can help relax the muscle. If muscle tightness is the cause of the sciatica, relaxing that muscle may reduce pressure on the sciatic nerve and relieve pain.

Second, if sciatica is related to degenerative changes in the spine, massage chair rollers don’t fix arthritis itself, but they do introduce movement into spinal segments that may otherwise be stiff or restricted. As we age—or if we sit for long periods—our spinal mobility decreases. The rollers help mobilize those segments, encouraging motion where there would otherwise be very little. This increased movement may help reduce tension or compression on the sciatic nerve roots, providing additional relief.

This is something many people don’t realize. However, customers who own massage chairs and suffer from sciatica frequently tell us that their symptoms have improved significantly. I find that fascinating, and it’s an important benefit that often goes unnoticed.

I hope you found this video helpful. I’m Dr. Alan Weidner, and I’ll see you in the next video. Bye-bye.