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Sciatica Specialist

Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute Our Services Sciatica

Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute

Board Certified Pain Management Physicians & Stem Cell Specialists located in Plainsboro Township, NJ

Compression of your sciatic nerve where it exits your lower spine can cause pain that travels down into your buttock and leg. If you have this typical symptom of sciatica, double board-certified pain management specialist Ronak D. Patel, MD, of Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute, can help. With locations in Plainsboro Township and Manalapan, New Jersey, the practice offers expert physical therapies alongside advanced treatments for sciatica, including steroid injections and radiofrequency ablation. The team welcomes residents of Plainsboro, Manalapan, Hamilton, and other local communities. Call to schedule an in-office or telehealth consultation or book online today.

Sciatica Q&A

What is sciatica?

Sciatica is a complaint that develops when a nerve in the lower end of your spine comes under pressure from the surrounding tissues. It causes referred pain, where damage in one part of your body causes pain in another. With sciatica, the referred pain travels down your leg.

Pain is the main symptom of sciatica. Typically a shooting or searing pain, it might be accompanied by:

  • Numbness
  • Weakness
  • Tingling
  • Prickling
  • Burning sensations

The lower part of your back is the lumbar region, and pinched nerves in your spine are known as radiculopathy. Sciatica is, therefore, a symptom of lumbar radiculopathy.

What causes sciatica?

The nerve compression that causes sciatica is most often due to degenerative disorders such as:

  • Lumbar disc herniation
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Osteophyte formation
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • Foraminal stenosis

These conditions all result from gradual wear-and-tear on your spine over the years. Your spinal discs harden and flatten, ligaments thicken, you lose cartilage from the bones, and your body develops bone spurs to try and reinforce your weakening spine.

The result is less space for the nerves exiting your spinal cord. With sciatica, it's the large sciatic nerve that's under pressure. This nerve exits the bottom of your spine then divides into two. One half then branches into each leg.

The nerve goes down to your feet, so you could get referred pain from your buttock right into your foot, or it could stop at any part of your leg.

How is sciatica treated?

Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute has considerable experience helping patients recover from sciatica using noninvasive physical therapies. To enable you to participate when activity might be uncomfortable, your provider might prescribe anti-inflammatory medications.

If the most conservative approaches aren't relieving your symptoms, Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute provides advanced, minimally invasive treatments for sciatica, including:

  • Regenerative medicine
  • Epidural steroid injection
  • Transforaminal epidural injection
  • Selective nerve root block (SNRB)
  • Lumbar sympathetic block
  • Radiofrequency ablation
  • Medical marijuana
  • Spinal cord stimulation 
  • Peripheral nerve stimulation 

To find out how to recover from the pain and disability sciatica can cause, call Regenerative Spine and Pain Institute today or book an appointment online.

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