Massage guns can help relieve sciatic pain, if you use them right.

Sciatica is one of the most common nerve pain conditions, affecting up to an estimated 40% of people at some point in their lives. If you find yourself writhing due to nerve pain, there’s a way to find some sciatica pain relief: a massage gun. 

Utilizing what’s called percussive therapy, massage guns mimic a technique called myofascial release, which is a type of soft-tissue therapy used in certain types of manual massages. Handheld massagers give you the power to reap the pain-relieving benefits of myofascial release more frequently, and in a more practical, budget-friendly way.

Here, we’ll break down what sciatica is, what causes it, and how to use a massage gun for sciatica. 

Medical disclaimer: This article is for information and educational purposes only, and it is not intended as medical advice. For medical advice of any sort, see a qualified healthcare provider. 

What Is Sciatica? 

Sciatica is pain that originates from the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body. 

“The sciatic nerve is a thick bundle of smaller nerve roots that branch off each side of your spinal cord. [It] contains all the nerve fibers that control muscles and provide feeling to your thighs, groins, lower legs, and feet,” explains Dr. Grant Radermacher, a chiropractor at Ascent Chiropractic, who has extensive training in physical therapy. 

“If anything compresses these nerve roots it can severely affect their ability to perform these jobs, leading to what we call sciatica,” he continues. 

The most common symptom of sciatica is a shooting pain that can range from mild to severe. 

According to Steve Hruby, doctor of chiropractic and founder at Kaizen Progressive Wellness, a chiropractic care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, sciatica nerve pain is typically felt in the low back and buttocks and may radiate down the leg. 

However, Hruby explains that sciatica pain can present anywhere along the length of the nerve, which extends from your lower back through your hips and buttocks and down your legs. 

“The pain is often described as sharp, shooting, or searing. It can also be accompanied by numbness, tingling, or weakness in the leg,” he says.

So, how does the nerve get compressed in the first place? Dr. Radermacher points to three structural causes:

• Disc herniations (when one of the impact-absorbing cushions between your vertebrae bulges in a way it shouldn’t)
• Degeneration (loss of normal structure due to wear-and-tear on the spine)
• Spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the openings in your spine where nerve roots exit 

But sciatica can also develop as a result of tight, compressed muscles, specifically as the sciatic nerve passes underneath the piriformis, a muscle located deep in the buttocks. When this happens, it can cause a condition called piriformis syndrome, which results in sciatica-like symptoms, namely muscle pain and numbness.

How Do Massage Guns Work?

Massage guns rely on a recovery technique called myofascial release. This is actually the same technique used in many different types of massage with a massage therapist, but a massage gun gives you the ability to perform self-massage, whenever and wherever you need it. 

Depending on the type, massage guns also allow you to dig a little deeper into the muscle so you can relieve knots and adhesions that may be contributing to sore muscles and pain. 

Massage guns utilize two types of therapies: percussive massage or vibration therapy, which are both forms of soft tissue manipulation. Percussive massage guns send out short bursts of pressure in an up and down motion, similar to the action of a jackhammer, while vibration massage guns use a side-to-side motion. 

Both can be helpful for sciatica, but ultimately, it depends on the underlying cause. 

“While a massage gun isn’t going to be much help for sciatica that’s caused by a disc herniation, spinal degeneration or stenosis (those are structural issues, not soft tissue problems), they excel at helping release tight, spasmed piriformis muscles,” says Dr. Radermacher.