What To Do If You Have Sciatica From A Pinched Nerve

A herniated disc sometimes pushes on a spinal nerve and causes sciatica. The sciatic nerve is actually not one nerve root but a compilation of multiple nerve roots including the fourth and fifth lumbar nerve route along with the first sacral nerve root which combines together into a large nerve call the sciatic nerve.

This is why when the sciatic nerve is being compressed, in layman's terms called a pinched nerve, it is termed sciatica. Typically depending on which nerve root of the sciatic nerve is actually being compressed up around the spinal column, is where the patient will have the pain in his leg anatomically. In order to avoid surgery from a herniated disc, what are the treatment options available in the acute phase of having sciatica?

First of all, the best way to avoid surgery is to undergo a series of treatments at a pain management center. The first treatment that will probably be initiated will include narcotic medications along with muscle relaxants and starting physical therapy. In addition, it is prudent to start Tylenol and anti-inflammatories as well. Patients should take a gastric protection medication such as an H2 blocker so that they do not get a gastric ulcer.

Physical therapy may help substantially along with treatment from the chiropractor of spinal decompression therapy to decompress the sciatic nerve. The medications may make life much more tolerable, and if the patient is also having back pain a back brace may help as well. A lot of the time narcotic medications do not work very well for sciatica pain. If this is the situation then taking Lyrica or Neurontin can help with the nerve pain and can help modulate this type of pain.

Along with the medications,a treatment agenda helping substantially with the acute pain from sciatica would also include interventional pain treatments. This would include an epidural injection or series of injections which consists of steroid medication being injected under x-ray guidance around the area of the pinched nerve. This will not fix the area of the pinched nerve, it will simply bathe the area with soothing steroid medication to help decrease inflammation and hence the pain associated with it.

Some people still think it is a good idea to spend time in bed when you have back pain and leg pain from a pinched nerve. Studies actually show that this is a bad idea as you can actually make the situation worse. Getting out of bed and ambulating along while trying to do most of your activities of daily living is much better in the long run.

So the combination of medications along with a back brace, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment and spinal decompression therapy, along with interventional pain treatments is the best combination of treatments that we have in this day and age to try and prevent the need for surgery. Although a discectomy surgery has small risks associated with it, they are real and it is much better to avoid surgery if at all possible. We know that at a years time after surgery, if the patient was able to avoid surgery, the results are equivalent.