Sciatica has long been a difficult and unrelenting symptom to treat. Many treatments have failed to produce long term results, until now. A new treatments provides relief in the majority of cases without the risk on invasive procedures.

The complaint of Sciatica is often used inappropriately to define any pain down the leg, the true description, however is irritation to the sciatica nerve which is comprised of several nerves as they leave the lower back and join together to travel down the leg. The most common cause of true sciatica is either a bulging or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. The discs are soft structures in between each bone int he spine that acts as a shock absorber.

The inner portion of the disc has a much higher water content then the outer portion and as is much softer in consistency. One the outer fibers become weaker or are damaged the softer material begins to move it’s way outward because of the positive pressure on the disc itself. As it moves out it begins to create a bulge or what’s called a herniated causing the disc to protrude outwards and narrowing the hole where the nerve exits. The narrowing can cause direct pressure on the nerve itself or create inflammation that can then irritate the nerve creating symptoms of pain, numbness or weakness down the leg.

The most common treatments for sciatica include medication, injections and potentially surgery.While medications like muscle relaxers and NSAIDS can provide temporary relief they don’t actually fix the problem. When the problem becomes more then just inflammation and is the result of actual nerve compression from the disc these medications rarely help. Treatments like injections may also be effective at temporarily decreases the swelling of the nerve, but again once the medication wears off the pain will return. These approaches also carry with them significant risk of side effects.

One of the most common treatments from the above list are spinal injections or epidurals. This treatment may offer a short term solution to a debilitation problem, however it offers very little in the way of a long term benefit. The injections work by combating inflammation and reducing swelling of the affected nerve, however side effects may be associated with this treatment. These may include a spinal headache, a spike in blood sugar for diabetics and the potential of a rebound effect where the pain returns with greater intensity. The relief these injections bring may be worth the risk but a long term solution needs to be combined for the treatment to be truly effective.

Some of the worst cases of sciatica may be referred for surgery. This approach may help a small number of these cases and may in fact be the treatment of choice, however it brings with it significant risk factors and a poor success rate. Spinal surgeries have about a 50% success rate and often can lead to a condition called failed back surgery syndrome. This condition is usually caused by scar tissue formation, spinal instability or another disc being involved due to increase stress on adjacent levels. It is also very likely another surgery may be indicated in the future.

Fortunately a new treatment exists that is highly effective and doesn’t bring with it the risk of side effects associated with other treatments. Spinal Decompression is a new, advanced form of spinal traction with a patented computer monitoring device. This device allow a gently and logarithmic pull of the spine safely bypassing the guarding reflex muscle contraction associated with traditional traction. Bypassing this muscle response allows a therapeutic negative pressure to develop inside the disc space drawing in nutrition and fluid to help the disc heal, but also reducing herniated or bulging material and relieving the sciatica nerve. The treatment is safe and gentle and brings with it a very high success rate in the high 80 percentile and because it physically treats the cause of sciatica the problem is not likely to return.

As more studies are done on this technology a consistently high success rate is achieved. The long term benefits are also very promising because as I stated previously the treatment is aimed at healing the disc and removing the pressure and irritation from the nerve, not just masking it. While spinal decompression is not right for everyone with sciatica, it certainly represents a true breakthrough and a safe long term option for this condition.