Toby, a 32-year-old bricklayer, had been experiencing twinges in his low back for a few months. He didn’t think much of it as it always felt better the next morning. Toby would occasionally take over-the-counter painkillers to get through the day at work.

One morning, Toby lent forward to put his socks on and his back went. He struggled to get himself dressed and couldn’t make it out to his van for work. Toby was struggling with the pain, not only in his back, but down his right leg too. He also noticed some pins and needles in the outside of his calf.

Toby dosed himself up on paracetamol and looked up his symptoms on the internet. He came across the term sciatica – the name given to any sort of pain caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve. He found that symptoms include pain, numbness, a tingling sensation radiating from the low back and travelling down the leg to the foot and toes.