Any manifestation of pain requires an immediate response, as it is the best way to anticipate any worsening and, with professional diagnosis, get to the root of it so that treatment or other solutions can be applied. When it comes to sciatica, even more so, because it is a more common medical condition than people realize, especially among adults ages 30 to 50.
But what most people don’t know is that a prompt response for sciatica highly increases the recovery probabilities while also preventing the most painful symptoms and limitations that come after the early stages. Letting a sciatica specialist in NJ from The Painless Center take charge of a specific case makes its way manageable in the short term and even provides you with definite solutions depending on your specifications.
What’s Causing The Sciatica?
It all starts by addressing the issue that impedes the natural movement of your body when walking, after long sitting periods, or even after walking up with the feeling of not having rested. Once you’ve a professional diagnosis that your sciatic nerve is the one sending pain signals due to some kind of affection or medical condition, it’s time to take action. And in order to do that, it’s fundamental to know the root cause of your sciatica, which will set the pace of the steps to follow.
Depending on what’s causing it, there are several paths to take, from immediate pain relief options, passing physical therapy, to more invasive solutions like surgical intervention. Each one has its pros and cons, and, as a matter of fact, in most cases there’s a progression of options to consider, depending on the source but also on the extent of sciatica pain and nerve inflammation.
Most of the causes behind sciatica are somehow related to the lumbar spine, among which the commonest is having a lumbar herniated disc, but it could also be the following conditions: lumbar spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, or spondylolisthesis. Besides those, there could be other non-spinal causes, such as piriformis syndrome, spinal trauma, or tumors, and even pregnancy. But in any case, it would be the sciatica specialist in New Jersey who would make the professional examination to get to the specifics of your case.
Pain Relief Options
Although getting to the root of the problem is fundamental in the process of understanding what’s causing you the sciatica pain, which could turn into a chronic condition if not treated promptly and properly, that’s just the beginning. It should all lead you to find the best option that helps you find that expected pain relief sensation but not just that but, even more, regain body movement and quality of life.
Progressive Treatments
Here at the Painless Center, our sciatica specialists are versed in finding the most suitable option depending on your particular conditions. Behind every patient there are singularities which are important to take in consideration so that an exact diagnosis is followed by a suitable treatment with the most probabilities of relieving pain.
Our team of sciatica specialists in New Jersey is guided by Dr. Jason Chiu, a double board-certified Pain Management Specialist and Anesthesiologist, making us one of the top options to treat this condition.
Oral Medication : This first option is for the early stages when there’s an acute yet momentary pain that can be alleviated by medication like ibuprofen or naproxen, or muscle relaxants. When the pain sensation is a little bit stronger, we usually prescribe antidepressants or steroids.
Epidural Injection: When immediate pain relief is the objective, this treatment provides that quick, mid-term alleviation. It is a steroid or anesthetic medication applied to the epidural space of the lower back, which completely blocks all the pain signals from the lower parts of the body.
Nerve Block: A slightly similar but not the same as the epidural, a nerve block provides more targeted pain relief without immobilizing half of the body. It is a localized anesthetic solution injected in the dorsal root ganglion, which targets the pain sensation caused by the compressed sciatica nerve.
Additional Treatment: In parallel with the mentioned treatments, Dr. Chiu incorporates physical therapy for spinal decompression to relieve pressure. Plus, when it is accompanied by constant at-home exercises that focus on strengthening the lower back and improving posture, long-lasting results are the consequence.
When Is Treatment Enough?
In the first stages and even when the sciatica pain has become a chronic condition, any of the mentioned treatments could provide the expected pain relief. As in most of the cases, the pain relief is momentary, although it could last for several weeks in some cases; it’s important to know that the priority is to treat the underlying cause, like the herniated disc, as that’s how long-term alleviation is accomplished.
That explains why our sciatica specialist approach puts so much emphasis in further accompanying any of the treatments with in-house physical exercises indicated by our professionals.
McKenzie Press-Ups
This is the choicest for disc-related pain patients, as it provides relief while also strengthening the lower back. Think of it as doing press-ups but keeping the hips, pelvis and legs completely relaxed against the floor.
Flossing
Instead of prolonged static stretches, which can worsen the nerve irritation, doing smooth back and forth movements while stretching (which is called flossing) creates soft tissue pathways, breaking up adhesions that generate pain.
Reverse Pigeon Pose
When the pain sensation has significantly extended from the lower back to generate deep gluteal pain or piriformis muscle spasms, this stretch increases the space where the sciatic nerve exits the pelvis by extending the hip rotators.
When Is Surgery Required?
Although here at the Painless Center our sciatica specialist focuses on non-invasive treatments, as the ones already mentioned, it doesn’t mean that we can’t refer to specific or emergency cases when surgery is required. When there’s no significant amelioration after 6 to 12 weeks of doing one or several treatments during which the pain, instead of receding, has worsened, considering surgery is the way to continue.
It could also happen that, during the diagnosis, through MRI or CT scans, the imaging reveals causes such as a large herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or bone spur, to which surgical options provide a long-lasting solution. Finally, some emergency symptoms like bladder or bowel trouble or extreme leg weakness (also known as cauda equina syndrome), and also when there are serious motor deficits, are when surgery is the solution.
FAQ
When is it time to see a sciatica specialist instead of my primary care doctor?
The initial inconveniences and pain sensations that come with sciatica are not usually related to this specific condition but to other causes; that’s why it usually takes some time to attend to a sciatica specialist, but the truth is that the sooner you schedule a consultation with a professional focused on this condition, the better.
What makes an epidural injection different from a nerve block?
Although both treatments provide sciatica pain relief, the procedure, medications, and results widely differ. In the case of epidural injections, the application of anti-inflammatory steroids is done over a broader area of inflamed tissue, providing a more widespread alleviation. On the other hand, nerve blocks are applied to specific ganglion cells with fast-acting local anesthetics, resulting in a quicker pain relief sensation while also acting as a diagnostic to find the exact ganglia sending pain signals.
Does it take too long to see pain relief from non-surgical sciatica treatments?
It depends on the treatment. Both oral medication and epidural injections take hours or days to start alleviating pain sensation. The most rapid treatment is a nerve block due to the medication injected, which is almost instant to relieve pain. In any case, the only thing that’ll assure enduring results is the inclusion of exercise routines to stretch and strengthen the lower back and the leg suffering the pain.
Contact Us For The Finest Sciatica Specialist in NJ
Each Painless Center sciatica specialist is ready to provide you with professional assistance so that an initial diagnosis is quickly followed by the best treatment for your specificities. Over the years, helping patients with different pain manifestations, Dr. Jason Chiu has become an authority on the matter while also sharing the keys of the best possible ways of finding the relief anyone going through these conditions is looking for.
Call us at 201-592-7246 or fill out this online form to schedule an appointment with us and start taking action.