Sciatica Specialist

What is sciatica?

When you have sciatica, you experience specific symptoms because of inflammation to your sciatic nerve. You have a sciatic nerve running through each leg. They begin beside your lower spine, pass through your buttocks, and into your leg before finally ending in your foot.

If your sciatic nerve becomes inflamed, it triggers a variety of symptoms, including pain, tingling, and numbness. It’s easy to recognize sciatica symptoms because they radiate along your nerve, starting in your lower back and moving into your buttock, hip, and leg.

Sciatica symptoms affect one side of your body and range from mild to severe. In many cases, they can include sharp, jolting, or burning pain, and doing things like sneezing, coughing, or sitting for long periods can make them worse.

What causes sciatica?

Sciatic nerve inflammation usually occurs because of a pinched nerve in your spine. You can experience a pinched nerve in your back for several reasons, including herniated discs and bone spurs on your vertebrae.

Your chances of having sciatica increase if you:

• Have a sedentary lifestyle 
• Sit for extended periods
• Are overweight or obese
• Develop nerve damage from conditions like diabetes

Certain occupations can also trigger or aggravate sciatica symptoms, especially those involving heavy lifting, constant back movement, or lots of driving.

Without treatment, you can develop permanent nerve damage from sciatica.

What is the treatment for sciatica?

The Garden State Pain & Orthopedics team provides several different treatments for sciatica, depending on the cause and severity of your symptoms. In some cases, you can manage sciatica with lifestyle changes, including weight management, improving your posture, or hot and cold compress therapy. 

For sciatica symptoms that don’t respond to conservative treatments, your Garden State Pain & Orthopedics provider might recommend minimally invasive therapies that include:

• Lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injections - deliver steroid medication directly inside your spinal canal
• Lumbar facet block injections - target pinched nerves associated with your vertebrae
• Lumbar radiofrequency ablation - deactivate the nerve sending pain signals to your brain 
• Spinal cord stimulation - disrupts pain communication between your nerve and brain with mild electrical currents

Your provider could also recommend an intrathecal pain pump. This small device delivers consistent and steady pain medications directly into the fluid around your spinal canal.

To find relief from sciatica, call Garden State Pain & Orthopedics, or book a consultation online today.