Do you have shooting pain in your legs that make it hard to stand up from a seated position? Do you suffer from a tingling or burning sensation that goes down one of your legs? These are two common symptoms of sciatica, a common condition that affects the largest nerve in your body. The sciatic nerve extends from the lower back down to your legs.Sciatic pain can be devastatingly severe or in some cases just very irritating. Whatever the case, if you are suffering from, or been diagnosed with sciatica, and you’re wondering what your treatment options are, you’re in the right place because in this article we’ll take a look at some of the most common treatments.
What Causes Sciatica?
Sciatica is usually the result of something causing inflammation or an irritation to the sciatic nerve. Most commonly a lower back disc herniation is the culprit, as the “herniated” or “bulging” disc pushes down directly on the nerve.
The treatment for your sciatica will depend on the cause of your pain, however there are generally four common recommendations for a sciatica pain management plan.
Rest
Sometimes rest is all you need to let the body heal itself. If your symptoms are not severe or you were able to catch sciatica in one of its early stages, rest and anti-inflammatory medication may be all you need to get over your back pain.
Physical Therapy
A trained physical therapist will take you through a variety of stretching and lower back exercises to strengthen your back and leg muscles.The exercises will help to increase your flexibility and improve your function, while the stretching exercises will help reduce the pain. Together the exercises and stretching make for a great one-two combo to tackle the pain symptoms of your sciatica.
Pain Injections
Pain injections are a little further down the pain management program and will obviously depend on the severity of your pain symptoms. For many people pain injections are “painful”, and thus avoided, however, injections are easily administered by a physician and sometimes can have a really positive affect on reducing your pain.
Surgery
As a last resort or in severe cases, a physician may recommend surgery to help with persistent or chronic back pain. If your symptoms have lasted longer than six to twelve weeks, surgery may be an option worth considering.Generally most patients will experience relief after surgery.
If you are in pain or think you may be suffering from sciatica-like symptoms, contact a physician at IBJI for expert care. Our physicians will help you find a solution so you can reduce or eliminate your pain and once again enjoy being active.
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