Treatment for Sciatica Epidural: Know What Your Options Are
If you suffer from sciatica then you are going to want to be aware of what your treatment options are. Treatment for sciatica epidural is just one of the many options that you have to choose from, and is definitely one that you will want to discuss with your doctor before going through with it.
What it is
Before you can really understand about treatment for sciatica epidural, you need to be more aware of what sciatica actually is and what is involved with it. Sciatica is pain that is causes from irritation of the sciatic nerve, and which is typically felt from the lower back to behind the thigh. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body and begins from nerve roots in the lumbar spinal cord in the lower back. It then extends through the buttocks area and down into the lower limbs.
Treatment
Besides treatment for sciatica epidural, there are many other treatment options that you can choose from as well. Cold packs and hot packs are one of the mildest forms of treatment, and stretching is also often effective. Initially, passive stretching exercise for your lower back will help to relieve the pain and get you feeling better, even if only temporarily.
Over the counter medications are also very popular and this includes pain relievers. These treatments work by reducing pain and inflammation in the affected area and acetaminophen products are also ideal as well here.
Then there is the option of treatment for sciatica epidural, which is one of the more serious and therefore less often recommended treatment options. Treatment for sciatica epidural is very similar to the epidural that is used during childbirth, and works by numbing the pain in the sufferer's body.
More specifically, epidural injection of medication allows for a precise and concentrated amount of the treatment agents to be deposited and retained. This is particularly ideal because it means that the agents will be released slowly over time, thereby giving the patient a longer relief time than with other methods.
Make sure that you have a proper assessment and diagnosis of your condition done before going ahead with any particular treatment, for one because sciatica is often confused with a variety of other health problems and conditions. Because the symptoms are usually so general and subtle, it is easy to mistake them for symptoms of another condition other than sciatica.
