Sciatica Pain Causes, Symptoms and Prolotherapy Treatments

What is sciatica pain?
It seems that everyone who suffers from any kind of lower back pain leaves their doctor’s office with a diagnosis of sciatica. Unfortunately, most doctor’s offices do not put in the appropriate time nor complete musculoskeletal examination to evaluate any other causes of lower back pain. Therefore, it is easy for them to call your back pain a sciatica problem and write you a prescription of pain medications to control this or send you to physical therapy.

Sciatica diagnosis should be given only after appropriate osteopathic or orthopedic examination and imaging, or if your doctor has confirmed a compromise or compression to the sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve is an extension of the lower end of the spinal column which extends and travels through a multitude of buttock muscles and travels to the back of your hamstrings, and down the side of your calf, and ends in your foot and toes.

Sciatica Pain Treatment in Los Angeles and Santa Monica

What are the causes?
Sciatica, as explained above, is an anatomical compression or compromise of the sciatic nerve. Such anatomical compressions can be any of the following:

• Stiffening or tightening of nearby muscles
• Myofascial syndrome
• Stiffness of the lumbar or lower extremity fascia
• Tumor or a mass
• Lumbar spinal stenosis
• Lumbar disc bulge or protrusion

Are there other processes that mimic sciatic pain, although it is not real sciatica?
Yes. In fact, this is the exact reason that one should be examined by a musculoskeletal specialist such as an osteopathic physician or an orthopedic physician/surgeon, to reassure a complete examination and thereby to avoid false diagnoses of sciatica. Visit our Los Angeles / Santa Monica pain management facility today!

Some of the most common mimickers of sciatica type pain are:

• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Sacroiliac ligament sprains
• Sacroiliac joint instability
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Dysfunctionally balanced posture
• Gluteal trigger point knots

How can prolotherapy be effective in treating the above issues?

Prolotherapy is an injectable procedure (with a fine thin needle) which is performed by specially trained physicians. It utilizes a special mixture of non-pharmaceutical solution, strategically injected to the insertion of the above connective tissue (ligaments, tendons, joint capsules) which sparks your body’s natural healing process to concentrate on the injected area. This process recruits an influx of repair cells to travel to the problem area (3-day inflammation stage), which then leads to an automatic recruitment of your connective tissue and collagen regeneration to rebuild the compromised ligament, tendon or joint capsule (3-week regenerative stage). After several sessions of prolotherapy, because of the enhanced collagen building process, your connective tissue is stronger than it was before. Therefore, this allows for more joint strength, which in turn concludes in less pain, more stability, and more function of your joints.

Prolotherapy is the optimal and only treatment for sciatica type mimickers, which can only be diagnosed by an experienced and specialized orthopedic or osteopathic physician, who is well trained in prolotherapy treatments.