What means the abbreviation SWD and IFT. I feel it is extremely annoying that people seem to think that everyone is familiar with these abreviations. By the way a lot of abreviations can mean different things even within physiotherapy and for shure within the medical world so please get customed to avoid them. Furthermore the use of abreviations is more and more abandonded within physiotherapy so please get into the 21st century! and avoid misunderstandings.
Personaly I think it is a strange idea to use deep heat in sciatica since the cause of pure sciatica is a compression of a nerve with as a result, nerves do that, inflamation. I do not think that it is a good idea to stimulate an inflamation unless you want to treat your patient forever. Also there are big doughts about the use of 'electrotherapy and alike' as being useful in the first place. As far as I know research is very unclear about it and a placebo effect, which can be upto 70% of physiotherapy treatment should be taken into account.
I feel that use of e.g. electro therapy is an easy way out to avoid hands on and avoiding claims of malpractice. In general more experienced people will not have as their first choice electro therapy but hands on, exercise therapy and re-education. When electrotherapy is used it will only be a support of the treatment or maybe.... if you just don't know anything else to do.
But I am curious why you have come to the conclusion that SWD and IFT is a first choice of treatment. Did you readr this, did anyone told you that?
Cheers.