Sciatica Treatments for Pain Relief and Mobility

If you’ve had sciatica, you know the pain — pangs that begin in the nerve roots and move through the nerve, down the hamstrings and into the foot. The leg agony is often more severe than the back pain — some have compared it to the nerve pain you feel when you have a toothache. It is important to realize that sciatica is a symptom of an underlying condition, usually a herniated disc. While there are some forms of sciatica treatment that relieve the pain, the underlying condition will need to be addressed to achieve lasting pain relief.

Below are some methods used for sciatica treatment that can relieve pain and increase your mobility.

Yoga and Massage

Gentle yoga stretches can strengthen muscles and improve flexibility so that you don’t develop a poor posture and aggravate the sciatica. Trigger point massage can also help relieve pain. When the piriformis muscle under the sciatic nerve gets tight it can pinch the sciatic nerve. Pressure applied to this area as well as the lower back and glutes relieves the tightness and pinching to prove relief from the pain.

Muscle Relaxers and Pain Relievers

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, either over the counter or prescription for sciatica treatment can ease the pain caused by tight muscles. In addition, since painful muscle spasm often accompany a herniated disc, your doctor may prescribe a muscle relaxer or pain reliever.

Epidural Steroid Injections

If your pain doesn’t get better within a month, and other sciatica treatment hasn’t helped, you may get relief from an epidural steroid injection. The goal of the injection is to relieve the inflammation that is causing the pain. However, due to concerns about side effects, including bone density loss, these injections are limited to no more than three a year.

Exercise and Physical Therapy

Even though it may be the last thing you want to do, light exercise or physical therapy is well-known sciatica treatment. Movement increases the blood flow, aiding in getting rid of the chemicals that cause inflammation. A light 15-20 minute walk, swimming or water aerobics are all forms of exercise that keep you moving without excess stress on you sciatic nerve.

Surgery

If you’ve tried several sciatica treatment methods to relieve your pain and still have symptoms after 4-6 weeks, you and your doctor may consider surgery. Patients who have surgery for a herniated disk usually have less pain and disability than patients who do not.

If you'd like to know more about sciatica surgery as a treatment method, The Bonati Spine Institute is here to help you. Contact us to discuss your sciatic nerve pain.

Surgery for Cervical Spinal Stenosis

By Anatomography [CC BY-SA 2.1 jp ], via Wikimedia Commons

Sadly, as a natural part of the aging process, many people develop degenerative changes in the joints that create a narrowing of the spinal canal. This narrowing can lead to a compression of the nerves in the spinal cord that compromises the coordination and function of the extremities. This leads to the slowly progressive condition called cervical spinal stenosis. If you have this condition, you may be wondering if there is a surgery for cervical spinal stenosis available.

Cervical Spinal Stenosis Symptoms

You might be suffering from cervical spinal stenosis if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Stiffness, pain, numbness or weakness in the neck, shoulders, arms or hands
• Slow loss of fine motor skills such as buttoning a shirt or handwriting a note
• Sporadic shooting pains in the arms
• Arm pain otherwise known as cervical radiculopathy

Usually it is the arm pain that incents someone with cervical spinal stenosis to get medical treatment. Once this occurs, the cervical spinal stenosis is uncovered in the course of the physical exam and medical history.

Treatment for Cervical Spinal Stenosis

NSAIDS, activity modification, and exercise for cervical spinal stenosis can help relieve arm pain. However, although nonsurgical pain management can be effective in the short term, the only long-term solution to the pain is surgical depression of the spinal canal.

This is generally a progressive condition that develops slowly over time. The symptoms may not present for years, and then it seems like difficulties with coordination suddenly begin.

Cervical Spinal Stenosis Surgery

Surgery for cervical spinal stenosis may or may not improve the symptoms. The procedure has two main goals: slow or stop the progressive nature of the stenosis, and stabilize the neurological condition of the patient.

It is not unusual for multiple levels to need decompression, so the cervical spinal stenosis surgery can be more complicated than the surgery for a cervical herniated disc or a cervical foraminal stenosis.

Discover more about treatment options for cervical spinal stenosis from The Bonati Spine Institute.