What Causes Sciatica Pain?
In this video Dr. Castanet explains sciatica treatment in Atlanta. He explains what is sciatica (pain in the distribution of the sciatic nerve, i.e. pain in the buttock/hip, thigh, leg and foot). He explains the most common nerve roots affected(S1 and L5), the typical lesion(disc) causing compression of the nerve roots and giving rise to the pain, and the most effective treatment for this problem.
Improving sciatica pain requires reducing pressure on the compressed nerve root. Dr. Castanet explains that treatment with spinal decompression is the most direct, effective way to improve the disc problem, get pressure off the inflamed nerve and reduce the pain.
Using spinal models, Dr. Castanet will show you what a typical herniated disc looks like, and how it compresses one of the sciatic nerve roots to cause pain and disability. Most patients will have a limp on the affected leg and have pain moving, sitting, bending and getting out of chairs.
Can You Treat Sciatica Without Surgery?
All day long, every day, for 35 years, is how often I’ve treated this scourge of humanity. Many people come to me, or call me, diagnosing themselves with sciatica. And they are usually right. It’s such a common problem that many people know what it is. It is named for the sciatic nerve, the body’s largest nerve. It is comprised of 5 nerves roots in the lower back and sacrum (L4-S3). These nerve roots, coming from the spine, coalesce in the buttock region and then continue down the leg to the foot. As the nerve descends down the leg, nerve branches disperse to innervate muscles, skin, blood vessels, and other tissues.
The sciatic nerve supplies tissues in the back of the buttock and thigh, the back and outside of the leg, and the bottom and outside of the foot. If you have pain in this region, the sciatic region, you have sciatica. The common cause of such pain is a disc herniation in the lower back, which pinches one of the nerves roots that contribute to the sciatic nerve, i.e. L4, L5, S1, S2, or S3.
How to Treat Sciatic Nerve Pain
This pain will persist until you get the disc herniation off of the sciatic nerve root. This requires a physical movement of the disc off of the nerve root. Only getting the pressure of the disc off of the nerve root will relieve the pain. Sometimes anti-inflammatory medication will help, because it will sometimes reduce the inflammatory consequence of the pressure on the nerve root. But medications will not take pressure off the nerve root, so they won’t resolve the problem.
Unfortunately, most treatments for this problem involve having patients do exercises, which makes no sense. The most effective treatment you can provide for patients, without surgery, is to pull the vertebrae apart, to encourage the disc material to get off of the nerve root, and reduce the pain. That is my specialty, using a relatively new, uncommon treatment, called spinal decompression. This requires a very specialized table that few clinics have.
Unfortunately, most clinics just won’t invest the money in a specialized table for spinal pain. This is driven by financial considerations, not medical considerations. I can tell you that after 35 years in clinical practice, including 18 years in orthopedics, physical medicine, and physical therapy, and 4 years part-time, in neurosurgery, this specialized table is the most effective treatment for sciatica, that I have found, by a very large margin.
If I can help you, please call 404-558-4015.
So if you need sciatica treatment in Atlanta, and you’re looking for Decatur physical therapy, Atlanta physical therapy or Tucker physical therapy, or you’re looking for a Tucker chiropractor, Atlanta chiropractor or Decatur chiropractor, Dr. Castanet is your best choice. Dr. Castanet also treats patients from all the surrounding Atlanta metro cities including Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Tucker, Decatur, Norcross, Johns Creek, Marietta, Alpharetta, Peachtree City, Doraville, Lilburn, Stone Mountain, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Suwanee and more. He has even treated patients from other states, such as Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and more. So it’s not just sciatica treatment in Atlanta. Call Backstrong today to start getting relief.
