What is the best treatment option, apart from surgery or minimally invasive surgery, for sciatica?

Question

Hi doctor,

My father had sciatica on his lower left leg and back pains. This has continuously happened for the last five months. In the past two years, it only pains periodically. What are the best options of treatment, without surgery or minimally invasive surgery?

Answer 1

Hello,

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The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) shows the lumbar spine's degenerative disease, mainly at the L45, L5S1 level. The main indications for surgery are as follows:

Presence of neurological deficits (i.e., weakness of legs or numbness of legs or numbness or tingling in the perianal region and loss of bowel and bladder control).
Severe, intractable pain not responding or partially responding to medications.

Thus the decision for surgery is generally based on both patient perception as well as thorough clinical examination. He needs to visit a surgeon for an examination. Generally speaking, the surgeon usually recommends a non-surgical treatment first if there are no neurological deficits. These may include rest, activity modifications, medications, physiotherapy, a combination of nerve blocks or facet blocks.