Denver Sciatica Treatment
If you're experiencing excruciating pain or an electric shock-like sensation that travels from your buttocks down one of your legs, it may be sciatica. Metro Denver Pain Management (MD Pain) provides treatment for sciatica to help relieve your symptoms, whether your sciatica is acute or chronic.
If you're dealing with sciatica, you know just how debilitating the condition can be. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body, and sciatica is the name for a group of symptoms that result when the nerve is compressed. These symptoms can include leg pain, numbness, and weakness. Sciatica can make it difficult to walk, stand, or even sit. Treatment for sciatica depends on the underlying cause of the condition. In some cases, sciatica can be treated with over-the-counter pain medications and home remedies. In other cases, more aggressive treatment may be necessary.
If you're dealing with sciatica, it's important to talk to your doctor about your treatment options. There are a number of ways to treat sciatica, and the best course of action depends on the underlying cause of your condition. If you live in or around Denver, Colorado, call the office to schedule an appointment at the office most convenient to you or use the online booking button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sciatica is a condition that causes you to experience pain or tingling down your sciatic nerve, which is a pencil-thick nerve that travels from your lower back through your buttocks and down your leg on both sides of your body. The sciatic nerve pain is usually caused by some sort of irritation to the sciatic nerve, such as:
- Spinal stenosis, narrowing of your spinal canal column
- Herniated disc
- Piriformis Muscle Irritation or Piriformis Syndrome
- Bone spurs
Although not common, you may also develop sciatica if diabetes damages your nerve or you have a tumor that presses on the nerve.
With sciatica, you can feel pain along any part of the sciatic nerve, but it most often causes you to feel a pain that starts at your lower spine and then travels through your buttocks and into your leg. Sciatic nerve pain severity varies and may be mild to severe. You may also experience muscle weakness and a burning sensation, tingling, or electric shock-like sensation.
While you can treat mild symptoms of sciatica at home with over-the-counter pain medications and rest, if your sciatic pain fails to improve after a week and it’s affecting your ability to do your everyday tasks, call the pain specialists at Metro Denver Pain Management (MD Pain) for an evaluation to get your sciatica diagnosed and for a sciatica treatment plan.
Your pain specialist at Metro Denver Pain Management (MD Pain) creates an individualized sciatica treatment based on your symptoms and health history.
Medications used for treating sciatica pain include:
- Anti-inflammatories
- Muscle relaxants
- Antidepressants
- Anti-seizure medication
If oral medications fail to relieve your pain, your specialist may recommend a steroid injection at the site of the nerve to reduce inflammation and alleviate your pain.
Surgery isn’t usually necessary for sciatica. But if the nerve compression is severe and causing excruciating and severe pain or you’ve lost control of your bowel or bladder, surgery may be recommended to remove the bone spur or herniated discs compressing your nerve.
You may be referred to a physical therapist after your sciatica pain resolves so you can learn exercises and body mechanics to reduce your risk of sciatica recurring.