Sciatica is pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, from the low back or buttock down the back of the leg, sometimes with numbness or tingling. It usually comes from irritation of a nerve root in the low back, or from tight muscles around the hip that the nerve passes through. At The Shift, the first job is finding out which, and whether it’s something a chiropractor should treat at all. Same-day appointments are often available — a doctor is in the office six days a week.
History. Where the pain goes and what makes it better or worse: sitting, bending, walking, coughing. Also your work, your sleep, and anything that changed before it started.
Exam. A neurological screening, and how your low back, pelvis and hips move. Imaging is ordered only when something in your history or exam raises a question it would answer.
Report of findings. What we found, in plain language, whether it looks like a chiropractic problem, and the total cost of any plan in writing before you agree to anything.
Care. Adjustments where the low back or pelvis is restricted; myofascial release on the muscles around the hip and low back, as part of your visit; Foundation Training movements to practice at home; and changes to how you sit and sleep.
Foundation Training is a short series of standing, bodyweight movements that work the muscles along the back of your body and your hips, built around hinging at the hips and controlled breathing. We teach the movements that fit what your exam found, so you can practice them at home between visits.
Myofascial release is hands-on work on a muscle and the connective tissue (fascia) around it: sustained pressure and slow stretch on the areas that are guarding. At The Shift it’s part of an adjustment visit, not a separate massage appointment.
Both doctors see sciatica visits. Dr. Ben Glass is in Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, in English and Spanish. Dr. Irina Velichko is in Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in English and Russian. Which doctor should I see?
If you sit for most of the day, we’ll look at your chair height and how long you sit at a stretch, because long sitting often aggravates sciatica. The desk setup calculator gives you a starting point for your own height. If your pain stays in your back and doesn’t travel down the leg, see back pain care; for sleeping positions that keep your lower back in line, see how to sleep when it hurts.
When the leg pain comes from a restricted low back or pelvis, or from tight muscles around the hip, it’s something we assess and treat. The exam is how we find out. If it points to something else, we tell you and refer you.
Imaging is ordered only when something in your history or exam raises a question it would answer.
A short series of standing, bodyweight movements that work the muscles along the back of your body and your hips, built around hinging at the hips and controlled breathing. We teach the movements that fit what your exam found, so you can practice them at home between visits.
Long sitting often aggravates sciatica, so we look at how you sit and how long you sit at a stretch, and give you specific changes after the exam.
We can’t say before the exam. After it, you get a specific plan and its total cost in writing before you agree to anything.
As of October 2026, a first visit is $135. It includes the exam, your first adjustment and a follow-up report-of-findings visit; an adjustment at that follow-up visit is billed separately. Visits after that are $60–$80, depending on whether you’re on a care plan or paying per visit. Confirm current prices when you book.
Same-day appointments are often available — a doctor is in the office six days a week. 435 8th Street #203, at 8th and Broadway.
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