What is sciatica?
Sciatica is pain of the sciatic nerve, a nerve that originates in your low back and travels down both legs.
Typically, you feel sciatica in your low back, leg or legs, hips, and/or buttocks, and sometimes all the way down to your feet. You also usually experience it on just one side of your body.
Symptoms of sciatica include:
- Pain that extends from your lower back down into your leg
- Pain that amplifies when you sneeze, cough, or sit
- “Pins and needles” in your leg
- Leg numbness
- Leg weakness
What causes sciatica?
Pinching or pressure on the sciatic nerve causes sciatica. Many things can cause a pinched sciatic nerve, but most often it originates with conditions or experiences like:
- Bone spurs
- Herniated discs
- Vertebra bone overgrowth (a bone spur)
- Injuries that cause inflammation
- Infections
- Aging
Pregnant women also sometimes develop sciatica from the pressure that their expanding uterus places on the sciatic nerve.
What’s the treatment for sciatica?
To treat chronic, debilitating, or extremely painful sciatica, you can turn to Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center for a number of treatment options. The treatment that the practice offers you depends on what’s causing your sciatic nerve pain, its location, and its severity.
Some of the treatment options that Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery offers include:
Epidural steroid injections (ESIs)
When the team injects ESIs into your back, near your sciatic nerve roots, your sciatic nerve becomes less inflamed. For many patients, ESIs offer significant pain relief.
Personalized at-home exercise programs
To help you strengthen your muscles and relieve stress that could be pressuring your sciatic nerve, the practice may work with you to design personalized at-home exercise programs. They often offer this in conjunction with regular physical therapy.
Minimally invasive surgery
If you’re battling severe sciatica that has lasted more than three months and is resistant to conservative treatment, the practice may consider surgery.
During sciatica surgery, your team decompresses your nerve by removing the offending tissue, typically a bone spur or herniated disc. To stabilize your spine, they may also perform lumbar fusion using the ExcelsiusGPS® Globus robotic surgery system.
If you’re ready to banish sciatica from your life, don’t wait another day to get help. Schedule your consultation with the innovative thinkers at Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center by calling the practice or filling out the online booking tool right now.
