Caused by issues affecting the sciatic nerve, sciatica can cause significant pain and other debilitating symptoms in your back, legs, and feet.

The experts at Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine® are pain management physicians with a stellar reputation for effectively diagnosing and treating conditions like sciatica. With offices in Arlington, Addison, Cleburne, Fort Worth, Plano, and Rockwall, Texas, these top-rated medical specialists are highly valued for their innovative, nonsurgical, patient-focused approach to resolving pain.

Read what these talented professionals have to say about sciatica and how it’s treated.

Understanding sciatica

Sciatica describes nerve pain that’s caused by irritation and/or compression of the largest nerve in your body, the sciatic nerve. It connects your spinal cord to the skin and muscles of your lower extremities and travels from the lower spine through the buttocks, down the backs of the legs to the heels and soles of your feet.

Causes of sciatica include:

In 9 out of 10 cases, a herniated disc is responsible for the nerve compression/irritation related to sciatica.

Symptoms of sciatica

Because of the large distribution of this vital nerve, symptoms of sciatica can occur in your lower back, buttocks, thighs, lower legs, and/or feet. Sciatica symptoms most often occur on only one side but may occur on both, vary in intensity and frequency, and can include:

  • Sharp, stabbing, or burning pain that’s typically more intense in the lower legs/calves than the back
  • Tingling, numbness, and other changes in sensation in the buttock, thigh, lower leg
  • Pain that intensifies or decreases with changes in posture

The discomfort associated with sciatica often worsens with sitting or standing. You may experience relief with walking or lying on your back with your knees elevated. These actions help decrease the pressure on the irritated/inflamed nerve root.

Treating sciatica

At Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine®, we specialize in innovative, nonsurgical, and highly effective treatments that address the cause of your pain while relieving your symptoms. Each treatment strategy is developed for your individual needs.

Effective treatment for sciatica typically begins with physical therapy and medications designed to relieve your pain by decreasing inflammation and relaxing muscles. As interventional pain specialists, we also focus on the reducing pain signals from the sciatic nerve to your brain with therapies that may include:

  • Spinal cord stimulation
  • BurstDR™ stimulation
  • Dorsal root ganglion stimulation
  • Epidural steroid injections
  • Nerve blocks
  • Radiofrequency ablation

Regenerative medicine therapies that include platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cell injections can also offer relief from your symptoms by enhancing your body’s natural healing ability.

For true relief from sciatica, call the office or use our online tool to schedule a visit at Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine® today.