Sciatica

LA Pain Doctor

Pain Management Specialists located in Metairie, Laplace, Harvey, New Orleans, and Luling, LA

Sciatica is known for causing excruciating pain that radiates from your lower back down one of your legs. If you experience sciatica that lasts longer than a week, causes severe pain, or gets worse, call LA Pain Doctor, where Firas Hijazi, MD, and Satvik Munshi, MD, have extensive experience treating sciatica with customized care that targets the source of your pain. To schedule an appointment, call one of the four offices in Metairie, LaPlace, Harvey, or New Orleans, Louisiana, or use the online booking feature.

Sciatica Q & A

What is sciatica?

Sciatica refers to the symptoms that develop when your sciatic nerve is pinched by your spine. You can end up with a pinched nerve due to an injury, but in most cases, sciatica is caused by conditions that develop as you get older, such as:

Herniated disc
Bone spurs
Spinal stenosis
Slipped vertebra
Facet hypertrophy
Degenerative disc disease

A herniated disc is the most common cause of sciatica, as it’s responsible for 90% of all cases.

What symptoms occur when I have sciatica?

The sciatic nerves leave your lower spine, then travel through both sides of your buttocks and down both legs. Sciatic nerve pain follows along the length of the nerve. When it’s pinched, you experience pain that shoots down your leg, typically affecting only one leg.

Your sciatica may feel like an aching or burning pain, and you could have mild to moderate pain. Most people, however, experience debilitating electric-shock pain.

When you have a pinched sciatic nerve, you can also develop tingling or numbness anywhere along the nerve. In severe cases, you may have muscle weakness and bladder or bowel incontinence.

What treatments can relieve sciatica?

Your provider at LA Pain Doctor performs a physical examination and may order diagnostic imaging, such as an X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) scan, or bone scan, depending on the suspected cause of your pain.

Once they definitively diagnose sciatica, they develop a personalized treatment plan that may include:

Pharmacotherapy

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), muscle relaxants, and other medications can help relieve your pain.

Physical medicine

Your treatment may include one of several physical medicine modalities, such as physical therapy, therapeutic massage, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, and a customized exercise program.

Interventional medicine

When your sciatic nerve pain persists despite conservative treatments, the physicians at LA Pain Doctor are experts in many types of interventional treatments that treat the source of your pain, such as:

Lumbar epidural steroid injection
Spinal cord stimulation
Radiofrequency ablation
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy
Dekompressor discectomy
Percutaneous discectomy

Epidural injections, spinal cord stimulation, and radiofrequency ablation relieve your symptoms by blocking the nerves sending pain signals to your brain. Discectomies are procedures that effectively treat a herniated disc.

Don’t continue to suffer from sciatica when expert help is available at LA Pain Doctor. Call one of the offices or book an appointment online today.