| Sciatica |
Sciatica we have probably all had it to varying degrees of severity and often with some physiotherapy osteopthy chiropractic it settles down nicely. Then again sometimes it does not so what can be done. Well first things first lets get the diagnosis correct. If symptoms are severe and MRI is useful to help to guide treatment and exclude other causes of pain.
For a nice explanation of whats going on visit chirogeek the explanation and images are better than I can provide, once you have had a look come back here and find out what we can do for the pain !!
Ok so just what can we do for the pain, well surgery is an option but there is also targeted flouroscopic transforaminal epidural steroid injections. Which apart from being a mouthful is also a really good targeted treatment for the leg pain element of sciatica.
Essentially we take an X-ray picture of your back and inject accurately around the affected nerve root. We use equiment like this to take the Xray while you lay on a table
Then under X-ray ( flouroscopic guidance ) we inject around the affected nerve root. Its not particularly painful as we use local anaesthetic to numb the area first. The procedure takes about 20 minutes. The injection starts to work after a week sometimes sooner. After the injection you will see one of our physiotherapists for ongoing rehabilitation. These types of injection can be repeated up to three times if needed, however are often very effective after one or two. If there is a large disc protrusion Dr Brown will refer you to one of his work colleagues in the neurosurgery department for consideration of surgery.
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