Sciatica

If you or someone you know has got sciatica pain, it is not uncommon for people to think "If I ignore this, it will go away on its own." It can be quite easy to think that the cause was from not sleeping properly, maybe from golf, lifting, or carrying something... Or that the pain you are experiencing is something you must live with because you are aging... and that is just what happens as you get older.  Maybe you have done nothing at all to hurt your back (that you can recall) ... but it just isn't getting any better.

If any of these describes you, we want you to know that you are not alone... And we hear our clients talk about these "feelings" and "thoughts" all the time. In fact, Sciatica symptoms are THE most common problem that we see in our physical therapy clinic in Encinitas. We see people like this all the time and they all want the same thing!

And when it comes to living with Sciatica Pain, everybody we see wants to know...

Most people think that when they get Sciatica Pain, it’s simply going to go away on its own. The hope is that they may wake up and the sciatica pain will have disappeared like Houdini, almost like it had never even occurred.

But then the sciatica pain returns and the same "hope" you had before to magically drive it away does not happen.  Several months later you're still living with sciatica pain, which often gets worse than it was before.

Another scenario that we see quite frequently in our Physical Therapy Clinic is when people go to the Doctor, and the Doctor tells them to just rest and “try these painkillers”... and “let's see how it goes".  Does that sound familiar?

But wait... it gets even better! This approach rarely offers significant positive outcomes and after 6 weeks, you return to the Doctor because so little change has occurred.  Now, the Doctor may refill your prescription pain pills.  Remember, they did not do much in the first 6 weeks.

The irony really is, that the "wait and see" approach to treating sciatica pain is highly ineffective.  It often causes more frustration because the passive approach does not work for most people.  And then they tell you to rest some more or to order high-level imaging, like an MRI.  And we wonder why we have such a problem with managing sciatica pain here!  It's madness... and even borderline insanity (that we keep doing things the same way and expecting a different result each time).  This can even explain why so many people aged 40+ are suffering with chronic sciatica pain.

If you’re currently living with sciatica pain, here’s just 8 more reasons why it could be lasting longer than it should be:

1. You went to the Doctor who told you to just rest and take painkillers - but the pills did not do anything to help your sciatica pain, and as soon as they wore off, sciatica pain struck again
2. A family member, or friend, told you that everybody gets sciatica pain as they get older, so it should just be accepted
3. You tried other Healthcare Professionals, or a Physical Therapist in the past, but nothing they said or did seemed to help very much
4. You tried Googling "Sciatica Pain" and have used YouTube videos to do exercises but they either didn’t do a thing, or perhaps made your back pain much worse
5. You thought it would be a good idea to rest because your sciatica pain was so bad, but all that did was make it feel even worse or more stiff and tight
6. You decided to get a few “massages” hoping that would fix the pain, but all they did was feel nice and relaxing, and didn’t do anything to fix it long term…
7. You thought using a back brace would alleviate your sciatica pain for good, but that won't get to the underlying cause of the problem

If any of these have ever happened to you, we would love to help you and invite you to book in a call to talk with one of our sciatica pain specialists at our Encinitas Physical Therapy Clinic to find out what can be done to help your specific problem.

And here is some good news for you...

Because you may have tried any or all of the things we list above, it is actually a GOOD THING.  The good thing is that we will be able to determine what doesn’t work... making you closer to finding the thing that does!

Click the button below to schedule a call with us... If you would like to get some really helpful advice given to you over the phone. The phone call is complementary and there is no obligation to book any appointments with us after the call is over. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next for your health.

Well, here's 4 things you can do:

1. First things first, you need to make a decision about getting proper help. So many people procrastinate for so long, thinking that back pain will "just go away with time," but then 6 months down the line they’re still putting up with it.  Worst off... nothing has really changed… Or it gets worse
2. Next, you need to do the RIGHT exercises. One of the best things that we do to help you ease your sciatica pain is to do the right SERIES of progressed exercises.  The right exercises given to you by a Physical Therapist will help ease pain, and allow you to quickly move more freely again.  We make sure that the problems don’t come back anytime soon or aggravate your sciatica pain anymore, like some exercises will do.  How does that sound?
3. You will want to avoid sitting and long periods of time.  The irony is that rest is usually the worst thing that you can do for your sciatica pain.  Have you ever tried to get up from the couch after resting for a while, only to find that it is painfully difficult because of stiffness and tightness?  One of the absolute worst things you can ever do that adds to sciatica pain is sit for prolonged periods of time or rest in the same position for more than 30 minutes at a time.  If you rest too much, you will feel that stiffness and tightness.  And sitting in awkward positions will also make your back feel the stiffness and tightness. It would really help if you were given the appropriate strengthening exercises for improving your posture, combined with the appropriate hands-on treatment, to get you active and healthy as quickly as possible.
4. You need to get​ some real, “hands-on” Physical Therapy treatment. Physical Therapy is proven to help people with sciatica pain. In fact, at LEVEL4 it’s one of the most common injuries we see. If your sciatica pain is affecting your job, your ability to keep active, if it threatens your independence or gets in the way of spending quality time with family and friends, the Physical Therapy can help get you back to living the life you deserve as quickly as possible.

If you would like to know how the Physical Therapy team at LEVEL4 in Encinitas can help you live with less sciatica pain, then we invite you to start with a completely free, no-obligation, risk free discovery dession at our clinic:

Note: This Free Discovery Session is something that we offer to people who are very nervous or skeptical about Physical Therapy, they are unsure of its benefits or if they don't know if it's right for them. If that sounds like you, then please start with a free discovery dession so that we can work with you to find out what is wrong and what can be done.  This is a great way to start without any financial risk on your part.

So the next question is...

Here’s just a few of the things our Physical Therapy Team can do for you:

Basically, we can help you get back to living life free from the curse of chronic sciatica pain.

Have you been told you have any of the following conditions?

Do NOT live victim to the diagnosis! You certainly may have one of these conditions, but it doesn't mean that it is the source of your pain. It also does not mean that you need expensive imaging to confirm this condition. In fact, more people have similar issues, but have little to no pain and function actively without limitations.