Surgical And Non-Surgical Treatments For Sciatica

Sciatica pain is caused by the compression of the sciatic nerve due to different causes like herniated discs, trauma, spinal tumors, Spondylolisthesis, piriformis syndrome, spinal stenosis etc. The treatments for this condition are divided into two main categories- surgical and non-surgical. Sciatic pain can be healed based upon the causes and symptoms of pain and the duration may vary from a few days to a couple of weeks to deploy the non-surgical methods.

Non-surgical treatments
Medications: Medications which provide relief from irritation, inflammation and pain in the lower back region are available over-the-counter which include Ibuprofen, Motrin, and Aleve etc. Oral steroids are also an option to reduce sciatic pain.

Injection: In case the sciatic pain is severe, the epidural steroid injections may be used when the oral medications fail to provide relief. After the decrement in pain, you can start exercising to get long term relief.

Acupuncture and acupressure: There is a belief that the human body has an energy force. When this energy force is blocked, you can develop illness or diseases. Acupuncture is a medium which restores this energy force and its healthy and energetic flow. In this practice, needles are inserted into your body at specific points and by doing this pain dissipates out through the pathways thus  providing relief. In acupressure, the professionals use thumbs, fingers and elbows to release the sciatic nerve from compression.

Yoga: Piriformis syndrome is mainly responsible for the sciatic pain and yoga poses assist in stretching the piriformis muscle to decompress the sciatic nerve. As a matter of fact and caution, yoga poses can also worsen the condition. So, you must avoid practicing such poses which indulge severe elevation in pain.

Biofeedback: It is a mind body therapy which teaches you how to control your natural reaction to pain or irritation. This technique involves deep breathing and mental exercises for muscle tension and provides considerable relaxation.

Physical therapies: These include physical and massage therapies which are deployed to improve blood circulation and proper mobility which in turn internally heals the muscle thus causing pressure and irritation.

Manual manipulation: This is done basically by a health professional and it involves the adjustment of curvature of the spine.

Surgical treatment
When the patient does not get relief from medications and other non-surgical options, surgery is the only alternative left.

Laminectomy: In the problem of herniated disc, a part of posterior arch is removed which results in relieving of pressure on pinched nerve. When the cause of sciatic pain is spinal stenosis, the portion of bone exerting pressure on the nerve system is removed.

It is noticeable that surgery is not for everyone. When there are no symptoms of improvement, it is studied whether the surgery can provide significant relief or not. Only if pain relief via surgery is possible, it is suggested to the patient.

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