The Best Sciatica Treatment Options in Seattle and Tacoma

22 May The Best Sciatica Treatment Options in Seattle and Tacoma

Sciatica affects millions of Americans at any one point in time, and results from a nerve being pinched. This can be from a disc herniation, spinal stenosis or inflammation of a nerve root from degenerative disc disease. The pain from sciatica may be excruciating, consisting of shooting, electrical type sensations in the buttock and legs.

Top Seattle and Tacoma pain management doctors are able to alleviate the pain from sciatica with top notch treatment. This often consists of both medication management and interventional procedures.

Here are the top treatments available for sciatica relief:

1. Medication management – medications may consist of opiates, neurogenic medications (Neurontin/Lyrica), muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories or a medrol dose pak of prednisone. These medications are excellent for short term use. At a certain point, opiates begin to have more risk than benefit.

2. Epidural Steroid Injections – these are a gold standard for sciatica treatment. There are 3 types of epidural injections including caudal, interlaminar and transforaminal. Over 75% of the time, epidurals are effective at relief by reducing the inflammation that is causing the pain. The nerve compression itself is not painful, it’s actually the inflammation it sparks up that causes sciatica pain.

3. TENS Units – these devices are about the size of an iPod and run on batteries. They are effective by emitting slight electrical impulses through the skin and helping change the way the body perceives pain signals.

4. Spinal Decompression Therapy – this treatment involves intermittent computerized traction that helps relieve nerve root compression. Studies have shown that nonoperative spinal decompression has an 85% effective rate for sciatica pain relief. It often helps people avoid surgery for sciatica.

Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural

5. Physical Therapy – PT can be great for relief, and it’s often performed with modalities such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation. This may include active and passive ROM, all designed to relieve sciatica pain.

6. Acupuncture – numerous studies have shown the benefit of acupuncture for sciatica relief. It was invented thousands of years ago, and is a very safe procedure.

7. Trigger Point injections – these are superficial injections that are excellent at relieving spasms associated with sciatica.

These procedures are over 95% effective for pain relief with sciatica and helping patients avoid surgery. Seattle and Tacoma pain management doctors offer all of these procedures for patient benefit.

At Seattle Pain Relief, a Double Board Certified physician helps patients for sciatica relief and all types of acute and chronic pain. Most insurance is accepted, call (855) WASH-PAIN today!