Up to forty percent of adults experience sciatica pain at some point in life. The pain can be annihilating and prevent you from enjoying your life. At Balanced Pain Management, double board-certified pain management physician, Leslie DeLaney, MD, provides comprehensive Walnut Creek sciatica care. She uses advanced diagnostic technologies to identify the cause of your lower back pain. Dr. DeLaney develops a treatment plan to relieve your pain so that you can go back to your physically active life. For more information about the available treatment options for sciatica, call or schedule an appointment online today.
What is sciatica?
The condition describes low back pain that comes from pressure on the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve travels from your lower spine down into your hips and legs, offering sensations to these areas. Various conditions can cause pressure on your sciatic nerve, leading to chronic pain and inflammation.
What are the causes of sciatica?
Various conditions cause sciatica. Some of the common causes include bone spurs, tumors, herniated discs, and spinal stenosis. You are also at an increased risk for sciatica as you get older or if you are obese. More so, if you sit for long periods or lift heavy things, you might also be more likely to experience sciatic pain. People with diabetes are also more likely to suffer from sciatica. Uncontrolled high blood sugar levels can cause nerve damage, including the sciatic nerve.
What are the common symptoms of sciatica?
The primary symptom of sciatica is a shock-like pain that affects your lower back. You might also experience a shuddering pain that radiates down into your hips and legs with particular movements. Sudden movements such as a sneeze or cough can trigger sciatic pain. As the pain travels to your hips, legs, and feet, you might experience muscle numbness, weakness, and tingling sensations. If your lower back pain becomes chronic and does not improve with home therapies and over-the-counter medications, you should seek a diagnostic evaluation or request a consultation with a medical professional. At Balanced Pain Management, Dr. DeLaney uses diagnostic testing technologies like MRI and X-rays to identify a bone spur, herniated disc, or other problems affecting your lower spine. She develops a treatment plan to decrease pain and protect the health of your spine.
What are the available sciatica treatment options?
If medications and physical therapy are insufficient to relieve persistent or disabling sciatica pain, the doctor might recommend interventional pain strategies to boost your comfort. Some of the available sciatica treatment plans include:
Steroid Injections
Steroid injections administer steroid medications directly into the area around your sciatic nerve. Steroids help ease persistent inflammation and pressure off your nerve to treat your lower back pain. Dr. DeLaney may also administer steroid and anesthetic medications into the epidural space of your spine to relieve the lower back pain and pain in your legs, feet, and hips.
Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative medicine utilizes stem cells or platelet-rich plasma to help your sciatic nerve heal from the inside out. The substances develop naturally in your body and trigger the production of new cells. The new cells replace the old cells reducing inflammation and nerve compression that causes sciatica associated pain.
To sum up, do not let sciatica prevent you from enjoying your life. If you are not physically active due to sciatica, call or schedule an appointment online with Balanced Pain Management today.
