If you are looking for sciatica treatment, the information below will help you make a better decision as well as help you avoid unnecessary and expensive healthcare treatment.
What is Sciatica and Three Main Causes of Your Pain
Sciatica is a general term that describes pain that usually is felt in the lower back and radiates down into the buttock, thigh, and often the back of the leg. It’s called sciatica because the pain is in the same area that the sciatic nerve is located (i.e. originating in the lower back, running through the buttock, down the back of the thigh and leg).
Sciatica Isn’t Just a Pinched Nerve
Some experts more specifically define sciatica as a pinched nerve root in the lower back that causes shock-like or burning low back pain combined with pain through the buttocks and down one leg, occasionally reaching the foot.
Important: Research demonstrates that sciatic pain is more than just a pinched nerve that can cause radiating pain into the buttock and thigh.
What You Need to Know – Don’t Insist on an MRI Right Away
Sciatica pain and symptoms can be severe and disabling. Patients that experience sciatica pain understandably, want to know what’s causing the pain. Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI does an excellent job of taking pictures of the spine, but here’s what you need to know. MRI tests often show “false positives”. This means that while the pictures of your lower back may reveal something that doesn’t look right, in many cases, it is NOT the cause of the pain. Consider the results of this scientific research report:
Imaging findings of spine degeneration are present in high proportions of asymptomatic individuals, increasing with age. Many imaging-based degenerative features are likely part of normal aging and unassociated with pain. These imaging findings must be interpreted in the context of the patient’s clinical condition.
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4464797/
This clinical research study is one of many research papers concluding an MRI shows a lot of age-related changes in the spine that are not likely to be the cause of your sciatica.
What to Do First – See One of Our Sciatica Pain Experts
If you are experiencing lower back pain with or without symptoms radiating down the back of your thigh, you should consult a healthcare provider. Physical Therapists are experts in musculoskeletal disorders.
Conservative, natural care, which is what we provide here at our practice, is what you should try first. The advantages of seeing one of our physical therapy experts are as follows:
- No waiting – In most cases, you will be schedule within one week
- No side effects – In most cases, the treatment we provide has little to no side effects and can make you feel much better,
- It’s more affordable – an average course of treatment cost much less than tests, injections, or surgery,
- Seeing one of our physical therapists within 14 days means you’re not likely to need additional care, special tests, injections or surgery,
- Seeing one of our physical therapists first means you are less likely to need addictive opioid drugs.
How Our Sciatica Specialists Will Care for You
Each patient is different so here’s how our specialists will approach your sciatica:
- An in-depth initial evaluation where we will discuss your pain, medical history, and current condition.
- A detailed physical exam looking at movement, strength, flexibility, and function of the spine & nerves.
- A customized, personalized plan of care to meet your goals.
- Patient education – details of what we’ve found during the exam and how we will help you address these limitations.
- Manual Therapy – hands-on techniques for pain relief and to restore mobility.
- Neuromuscular Reeducation to address restrictions, weakness, range of motion, and muscle function
- A Home Program – we teach you what you can do to optimize healing at home as well.
- Modalities – specific treatments to address your pain if needed. These may include:
- Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation
- Cupping
- Dry Needling
Start with Natural, Hands-on Care, from Our Caring Team of Professionals
Physical therapist directed care is proven to be an effective treatment approach for sciatica.
For more information, visit our contact page. We look forward to helping you.
https://www.physicaltherapyinnovations.com
