Sciatica

Interventional Spine Medicine

Pain Management located in Barrington, Rye, Plaistow, NH

One of the more common pain conditions that can affect your back is sciatica. If you have shooting pain going from your back down one leg, Jan Slezak, MD, and Asteghik Hacobian, MD, at Interventional Spine Medicine team help. They have offices in Barrington, Rye, Plaistow, and North Hampton, New Hampshire, where they provide exceptional care for patients who have sciatica and other disabling pain conditions. Call Interventional Spine Medicine today to find out more.

Sciatica Q&A

What is sciatica?

Sciatica is a condition that causes distinctive lower back pain to spread through your hip and buttock and down one leg. It develops when the sciatic nerve is under pressure.

The sciatic nerve exits the bottom of your spine and divides into two. The divided nerve then goes down each leg and into the foot. In most cases, it’s only one branch of the nerve that’s affected when you have sciatica.

You might feel other unusual sensations in the affected leg, such as:

Tingling
Prickling
Numbness
Weakness

You might also have muscle control problems. The pain sciatica causes tends to get worse with movement.

What causes sciatica?

The cause of your sciatica could be a muscle spasm in your back, or it could be a degenerative disease that’s affecting the structures in your spine, such as:

Herniated disc
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Spondylolisthesis
Degenerative disc disease
Arthritis

You’re more at risk of getting sciatica if you’re overweight or don’t get enough exercise. Sciatica can also develop during pregnancy. Wearing high heels regularly can also force your lower body into positions that put a strain on your back and increase the chances of developing sciatica.

How is sciatica treated?

Treatments for sciatica aim to relieve the pressure on your sciatic nerve. The best way to do this is to treat whatever’s causing the pressure. Your provider at Interventional Spine Medicine might recommend therapies including:

Manual Therapy
Physical Therapy
Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
Individualized therapeutic exercise programming
Functional training/conditioning
Neurodynamic mobilization
Ultrasound
Hot/cold packs
Electrical stimulation

What can I do if sciatica pain continues?

If initial therapies aren’t proving useful, the Interventional Spine Medicine team also provides a range of advanced treatments for the causes of sciatica. Some of these include:

Epidural steroid injections

Interventional Spine Medicine pain doctors use fluoroscopy (moving X-ray) to inject steroids into the epidural space in your spinal canal. The steroids reduce nerve root inflammation, speed up healing, and give you relief from pain.

If you have symptoms of sciatica, visit Interventional Spine Medicine as soon as possible. Call today!

What We Treat