Have you ever tried to bend down, and suddenly, a sharp pain goes down one leg? Even worse, the sensation is that of burning and is enough to make you wince.
More than likely, what causes this kind of sharp pain is known as Sciatica.
At Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock, our team is dedicated to helping patients who are coping with sciatica through an array of techniques that have proven to be effective in reducing or eliminating sciatica pain altogether. We aim to implement non-invasive and drug-free treatment to address our client’s problems.
The team at Optimum Health Rehab is ready to show you how we help our sciatica patients. Each treatment plan is designed with you and the cause of your pain in mind.
Reach out to us to schedule your initial consultation. You can give us a call at (770) 525-1354 or submit our online form to get started.
Optimum Health and Rehab Provides Sciatica Treatment
Sciatica pain can occur to anyone for many reasons. It can reduce one’s ability to accomplish one’s daily errands and impact one’s capacity to exercise, walk, and stand up from sitting down positions.
Fortunately, sciatica is a treatable medical condition, and in minor cases, it will often resolve on its own within a few days. However, when it doesn’t, reaching out to professionals can help you find relief sooner rather than later.
While uncommon in younger adults and children, sciatica affects about 40% of people in the U.S. at some point in their lifetime. Usually, this condition presents itself at older ages, and only the most severe cases require surgery to find relief.
Finding relief when nothing seems to work can be frustrating and take a huge mental toll. Clients find themselves trying different forms of treatment and eventually seek invasive procedures like injections and even surgery.
How Optimum Health Can Help With Your Sciatica Pain
At Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock, patients can find an alternative through chiropractic and physical therapy treatment programs.
Each patient will start with a complete diagnostic that includes a health assessment and, depending on the level of pain and type, different kinds of imaging. Our goal is to have a complete understanding of where you feel pain and find the cause of the pain.
During your physical exam, you can expect:
- Identifying difficulty in bending forward, backward, or bending your feet in and out
- Identifying difficulty walking on your toes
- Identifying numbness, especially in the buttocks or legs
- Identifying any pain when lifting legs or weakness when bending your knees
Our team at Optimum takes pride in our positive reputation and our capacity to treat multiple patients, including those suffering from sciatica pain. Our goal is to do more than just treat the symptoms but also to treat the cause of your pain.
You can expect a full and honest assessment and options for a path leading to sciatica relief.
What Is Sciatica?
The sciatic nerve is the longest and the thickest nerve in the human body that branches from the spinal cord. Sciatica is a condition that describes the irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve within the spine.
Irritation of the sciatic nerve can lead to inflammation or pinching of the nerve, which can cause a sharp pain to go down one or both legs, the buttocks, and the hips. Clients suffering from sciatica may also feel burning, tingling, pinching, numbness, and weakness in their lower extremities.
As time goes on, what starts off as dull pain can manifest into chronic and debilitating sharp pains over time. In more serious cases, some clients find that they are having difficulty controlling their bladder and bowels.
This type of nerve pain is unique because it can be felt by people at any point in their lifetime, no matter their age, level of activity, or lifestyle.
Sciatica has different root causes. It can result from repetitive stress, a slipped or herniated disc, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome (a pain disorder), pelvic injuries, fractures, tumors, and Spondylolisthesis (slip of the vertebrae in the spine).
Sciatica can impact anyone at any age, although younger adults and children rarely suffer from this condition.
How Optimum Health Treats Sciatica
Treating sciatica is more than just addressing the symptoms of the condition. Identifying what caused it helps design a unique treatment plan that is aimed at helping you recover and eliminate the pain altogether.
Treating sciatica can vary by client as the root cause of the problem can come from many different issues.
The most common cause of sciatica is a pinched nerve in the lower back or in the glutes. When the nerve is compressed or “pinched,” it creates irritation and inflammation, causing immense pain that can travel down one — and sometimes both — legs to the toes.
While the sciatic nerve is addressed as a singular nerve, it is actually made up of two separate nerves stemming from five different branches. This is why clients sometimes can feel pain in both legs since there is a possibility that both nerves are compressed at the same time.
At Optimum Health Rehab, our goal is to identify where the compression is happening and design a plan to treat the pain. Our programs are tailored with you and your needs in mind, using a drug-free and non-invasive approach in our treatment.
Optimum’s Approach to Sciatica Uses Both Popular and Alternative Medicine
The approach at Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock is to use every available non-invasive means, including alternative medicine, to treat and eliminate pain. For many clients, before opting for surgery or localized injections, they heavily consider alternative options when seeking treatment for their sciatica pain.
Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock provides our clients with the best alternative treatment options.
Alternative Medicine Treatments for Sciatica
Seeking treatment that is not used in traditional medicine can be found here at Optimum Health Rehab. Our approach not only serves to absolve you of any pain but also serves as a preventative measure for any future sciatica cases.
Rehabilitative exercises are found to be an effective method to treat sciatica. From chiropractic adjustments to physical therapy, patients find that they experience fewer episodes or have completely recovered from their pain.
Our Woodstock team are experts in providing care that involves the use of:
- Chiropractic adjustments
- Physical therapy
- Neurological therapy
- Diet and nutritional therapy
- Exercise and mobility
- Weight management
Traditional Methods to Treat Sciatica
Pain management treatment plans using traditional methods provide temporary solutions to a much more complex problem. Your medical provider may opt to prescribe:
- Anti-inflammatory medication — Medicines like Advil or Aleve help in providing temporary relief from sciatica pain; however, it is not a permanent solution to the problem. These medicines can be acquired over the counter unless you are prescribed a much higher dose, to which your medical provider will write a prescription for you. While this helps reduce pain, taking these medications can have other side effects and conflicts with existing prescriptions that you are already taking.
- Corticosteroids — Administered either through an injection or orally, these drugs are strong and may provide quick, temporary relief. However, this drug also has side effects, especially for diabetic patients. Generally, clients can encounter bone thinning, the likelihood of infections, damage to existing cartilage, and nerve damage. For diabetic patients, the risks are much higher as they cannot naturally manage their blood sugar without the help of other medication. When taking Corticosteroids, diabetic patients see a significant spike in their blood sugar levels that remain high for a longer than normal period of time, which can lead to more complex medical complications. In some cases, patients will require higher doses of insulin (if Type 1 ) or higher dosages of medication (if type 2 diabetic).
- Surgery — As the last resort in many chronic cases of sciatica, clients will undergo surgery to help remove whatever is causing their sciatica pain. While this resolves the problem, recovering from it takes time and assumes any risks associated with going under the knife.
Serious Complications Caused by Sciatica
Understanding the symptoms of sciatica can help someone know where to look for help for a diagnosis and treatment. However, although sciatica can become chronic and extremely painful, it should not be accompanied by other symptoms.
If you are feeling sciatica pain and these symptoms as well, it is advised to seek medical attention immediately.
- Burning while urinating or blood in the urine
- Pain increases when one lies down or keeps them up at night
- Pain traveling below the knee
- Redness or swelling on your back or spine
- Sciatica lasting longer than four weeks
- Unexplained fever alongside sciatica
These symptoms, when paired with sciatica, can indicate that there is a more serious medical condition that must be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible.
Visit One of Our Georgia Clinics for Sciatica Pain Management
Suffering from Sciatica Pain? Let Optimum Health Rehab Help
Coping with the sharp pains of sciatica when going about your day can truly impact your quality of life. While the most severe cases may require surgery, the majority of those who suffer from this condition find that it resolves itself over time with some help and home remedies.
Don’t wait until your sciatica gets worse. Our staff at Optimum Health Rehab is here to help.
With our custom treatment plans, we have been able to help many clients resolve their sciatica issues much faster than they would have had they treated it on their own.
Give us a call today to schedule your first consultation with a member of our staff. You can call us at (770) 516-7477 or complete our online form to get started.