Most sciatica gets better without surgery. A few symptoms, though, mean you should be seen quickly, and a couple mean you should go to the emergency room today.
Sciatica is pain that travels from the lower back or buttock down the leg, usually because a disc or bone spur is pressing on a nerve root. For most people, it improves over six to twelve weeks with time, activity as tolerated, physical therapy, and sometimes an injection.
See a spine specialist soon if:
The pain isn't improving after six weeks
Your foot or leg is getting weaker, such as tripping or a foot that slaps when you walk
Pain keeps you from sleeping or working despite treatment
Symptoms keep coming back
Go to the emergency room now if you have:
New trouble controlling your bladder or bowels
Numbness in the groin, inner thighs, or "saddle" area
Rapidly worsening weakness in both legs
Those can be signs of cauda equina syndrome, a rare but serious compression of the nerves at the bottom of the spine that needs urgent surgery.
If you do need surgery for sciatica, a microdiscectomy through a small tube is usually an outpatient procedure, and most patients notice leg pain relief quickly.
If your sciatica isn't getting better, I see patients at Virtua Reconstructive Orthopaedics in Sewell and Cherry Hill. Request an appointment.
This article is for general education and is not medical advice.
