Acupuncture for Sciatica

Sciatica can send pain, numbness or tingling shooting down your leg, making it hard to sit, walk or sleep. In a 2024 trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine, acupuncture reduced sciatica leg pain and disability more than sham treatment, and the difference was still there a year later. Our practitioners have been treating pain in London for 25 years.

Book an initial consultation or call 0207 935 2030 for a free 15-minute chat.

What causes sciatica?

Sciatica happens when the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down each leg, is irritated or squeezed. The most common cause is a bulging or “slipped” disc in the lower back. Other causes include narrowing of the spinal canal and tight muscles in lower back or the buttock. Pain is usually felt in one leg but can be both, often worse than any back pain, and may come with numbness, tingling or weakness.

Most sciatica improves within four to six weeks. Call 111 or go to A&E straight away if you have numbness around your bottom or genitals, problems passing urine or controlling your bowels, or weakness in both legs. See your GP if pain is severe, getting worse or not improving. For back pain without leg pain, read our back pain page.

How acupuncture can help

For sciatica, we use acupuncture to help ease leg pain and make it easier to move, sit and sleep. It works best alongside staying as active as you can and the exercises your physiotherapist recommends, and many patients find it gives them enough relief to keep moving while the nerve settles.

We treat points in the lower back, buttock and along the leg, often with gentle electro-acupuncture. We’ll check for warning signs at your first visit and tell you honestly if we think you need a scan or specialist opinion.

Researchers think acupuncture works partly by changing how nerves and the brain process pain signals, including the release of the body’s own pain-relieving chemicals. The exact mechanisms are still being studied.

What the research shows

• Tu et al., 2024 (JAMA Internal Medicine) — 216 people with long-term sciatica from a slipped disc. Ten sessions over four weeks cut leg pain by twice as much as sham acupuncture and improved disability, with benefits still present at 52 weeks and no serious side effects.
• Ji et al., 2015 (Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine) — 12 trials and 1,842 people. Acupuncture improved pain intensity and pain threshold, and more people improved overall, than with conventional care.

Results vary between people, and acupuncture is not a replacement for medical assessment.

What to expect

Your first appointment lasts an hour. We take a full history, look at any MRI scans or reports you bring, check your back and leg, and agree a plan with you. Treatment uses very fine, single-use needles in the back, buttock and leg, left in for 15 to 20 minutes. Where suitable we may add electro-acupuncture, cupping or a heat lamp.

Most people start with one or two sessions a week and we review progress together after four to six. Initial consultations start from £80; see clinics and fees for details.

Why The London Acupuncture Clinic

• 25 years treating patients in London
• Degree-qualified practitioners who work alongside GPs and consultants, with close links to physiotherapists and chiropractors
• Open seven days a week, with early-morning and evening appointments
• Receipts for insurance claims on request

What our patients say

“I was suffering with sciatica pain and also a lot of stress and anxiety. Daniel clearly understood the problem and I’ve gotten better in less than 4 sessions.” — H., Google review