Back pain is one of the most common and most costly ailments in our society. Four out of five American adults experience back pain sometime during their lives. That adds up to millions of Americans who suffer from chronic back pain and the lost mobility it causes. The cost of treating back problems, time lost from work, insurance, therapy, and surgery runs into the billions of dollars.
The pain management specialists at The Spine Diagnostic & Pain Treatment Center, with six locations in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana, can help you beat back pain. They are fellowship-trained, double-board-certified anesthesiologists and pain management specialists dedicated to relieving pain and getting you back to your life again.
When it comes to spine-related conditions like sciatica, our pain management specialists help patients overcome their back trouble and avoid future problems through a variety of advanced, proven therapies. Most patients are able to avoid invasive surgery and large doses of medication. Read more about treating lumbar pain (low back pain) specified below.
To see more conditions that cause back pain, please visit our patient education center.
Treating Sciatica at the Source
Radicular pain, or radiculitis, is pain that radiates along the sensory distribution of a nerve due to inflammation or other irritation of the nerve root at its connection to the spinal column. A common form of radiculitis is lumbar radicular pain, also known as sciatica, which radiates along the sciatic nerve from the lower spine to the lower back, gluteal muscles, back of the upper thigh, calf, and foot. It is often caused by nerve root irritation from a spinal disc herniation or from osteophytes in the lumbar region of the spine.
Sciatica is a sharp shooting pain. Typically, pain is felt as a narrow band of pain down the length of the leg, both superficially and deep. The symptoms may change from one person to another depending on which nerve root is affected.
If the L5 nerve root in the L5-S1 lumbar region is compromised, for example, a typical symptom is big-toe numbness. Moving up the leg, the outside of the calf may feel like it is on fire and hip flexor pain may be so acute that it is extremely difficult for the person to move his or her leg. These are all areas that the sciatic nerve runs through.
Approximately half the time, sciatica pain can be controlled with simple analgesics. Significant and lasting pain relief can usually be achieved with lumbar epidural steroid injections. This involves injecting a steroid, and sometimes a painkiller, directly into the problem area in the low back to treat the inflammation that is irritating the nerve root to begin with.
Surgery is indicated for those people with progressive neurological deficits or severe pain that is unresponsive to minimally invasive interventional pain relief measures.
Learn more about treatments for back pain.
At The Spine Diagnostic & Pain Treatment Center, we always put patients first. If you have not responded well to other treatments and therapies, including a past surgery that failed, you may experience significant, lasting pain relief through our comprehensive therapies and personalized care.
For more information on back and lumbar pain relief or to schedule an appointment, please contact a location near you.