Is sciatica common?
Who doesn't know someone who has had sciatic nerve pain? Do you? Well, it's not rare: it's very common! E, there are several ways to try to avoid sciatica. Nobody wants to suffer! But when a loved one has sciatica, what is the best treatment for this famous leg pain called sciatica?
Sciatic pain in the leg can range from mild to absolutely incapacitating. Yes, sciatica can occur in many different intensities. The person suffers from pain, and it is often a silent pain, a silent suffering. The person suffers “in silence”.
Can sciatica be a cause of silent suffering?
Sciatica may not be apparent to other people in the family or at work. They may suffer in silence, and they may also suffer in their soul. Like this, never disregard someone's sciatic pain. This person may be suffering a lot, and in silence.
Family members, work colleagues, wives and husbands often don't realize how serious the situation is. They often don't realize the seriousness of the suffering that the person, their husband, their wife, their employee, their boss, is carrying around in their leg. But this is not their fault! This incomprehension of others towards their pain is not out of malice or anything similar. Often, the pain may simply not be “perceived” by others, it may not be “felt” in the eyes of others.
Finally, in order to understand the best treatment for sciatica, we really, really need to understand what is causing the sciatic nerve pain. We need to know what is causing the pain, the inflammation of the sciatic nerve. And ageing has something to do with it. But we're talking here about ageing after 30!
Is sciatica related to aging? But at the age of 30?
Usually, the cause of nerve pain in the leg has to do with aging. And not aging after 60. We're talking about aging after 30!
But this is too soon! Yes, very early in life: very early in life the disk begins to degenerate. It's around this stage of life, really very early in life, that the degenerative disc disease, which is, in most cases, the cause of sciatic nerve pain.
Ah! So in order to understand the best treatment for sciatic nerve pain, I realized that I needed to understand what degenerative disc disease is! And Dr. Pinheiro Franco's book is the largest international book ever published on the subject! You are on the website of a family of great neurosurgeons, who will fight with you to help you get rid of this ailment, get rid of sciatica.. Let's go together.
Sciatic nerve pain is curable!
Sciatica is curable, but the important thing is that the right path is taken. Understanding that this is a battle and that we need to have courage and sometimes patience is important. Let's get on the right track together to win the battle against sciatica.
Remember: sciatica is curable. It can be overcome. So if you have sciatic nerve pain, find the best neurosurgeon to help you! Don't wait any longer! Sometimes, not seeking help from the best neurosurgeon can waste your time, and this wasting time can cause the compressed sciatic nerve to suffer persistent, permanent damage. Book your appointment with us now.
When is it time for surgery to treat sciatic nerve pain?
Nobody wants to have surgery, and that's normal. The abnormal thing would be for someone to want to be operated on. It's not easy to decide when to operate, when to decompress the sciatic nerve. Timing neurological decompression surgery is no easy task. Several factors have to be analyzed. Each case involves so many variables that a decision can only be reached in consultation with a great neurosurgeon. Book your appointment here.
But it is important to point out here that, Sometimes, the patient's decision not to have surgery can lead to irreversible damage to the sciatic nerve, and the pain can be perpetuated., sciatica can become irreversible.
There are situations, for example, where a patient with leg pain discovers that they have a large amount of bone (arthrosis, parrot's beak, disc-osteophyte complex) that compresses their nerve. But this bone didn't suddenly grow! The bone, the arthrosis, the “parrot's beak” didn't grow overnight!
Is there a risk of injury to my leg as a result of my decision not to operate?
The bone (arthrosis, disc-osteophyte complex) that squeezes the sciatic nerve or spinal cord has been growing for years, sometimes many years. But often the symptoms only appear strongly even when the nerve is no longer supporting the compression on top of it. At a certain point, the nerve can't stand anything squeezing it anymore, be disc herniation, be arthrosis, be spinal canal stenosis, either in the case of vertebral slippage (spondylolisthesis).
It's very important to consider this. Nobody wants a leg injury. No one wants to be left with paralysis of the limb. And often people decide to put off neurological decompression surgery for a long time. The nerve may be too tightly compressed by bone and may have been compressed for too long. As a result, the nerve may be more “sensitive” and may not be able to withstand the normal actions of nerve decompression.
In other words, sometimes the patient's decision not to have surgery, to postpone surgery too long, their decision to postpone a necessary surgery (when there is too much bone compressing the nerve), simply means (self-)putting themselves in a much riskier situation. The bone (arthrosis/parrot's beak) has grown a lot. Great skill will be required to remove it.
My sciatica is unbearable. What is the treatment for sciatica?
Sometimes, when the compression of the sciatic nerve becomes unbearable, various conservative treatments don't work and the patient (who didn't want to have surgery at all) realizes that the only solution is neurological decompression, surgery clearly becomes more risky. The nerve is more damaged, more inflamed. The bone may be bigger, and the hernia may have grown. The wait cannot be too long. The risks and benefits must be assessed.
So don't wait until you reach this point. More serious compressions require closer proximity to the nerve at the time of a surgical procedure. The neurosurgeons at Clínica Pinheiro Franco have a great deal of experience in this type of surgery where there is severe nerve compression in the lumbar spine, and also has extensive experience in surgeries in which the patient has severe compression of the spinal cord.
So make an appointment now with Clínica Pinheiro Franco by clicking here.
What do I do if the Pinheiro Franco Clinic doesn't cover my plan but I want to be treated by this respected team?
Today, even if you don't have the health plan that we serve, there are many refund options, The clinic's staff will guide you through the procedures. The Clinic's staff will guide you through the procedures. Many people with plans such as those for the elderly, Amil, Notre Dame and others have benefited from the experience of the Pinheiro Franco Clinic in preserving their nerves, safety and movement.
Basically, today's plans have a REIMBURSEMENT item in their application, on their website. By putting in the procedure codes, you get to the amount of reimbursement that your plan will give you. Our team is ready to help you understand this. In other words, today you can put the nerves in your spine in the experienced hands of the Neurosurgeons at Familia Pinheiro Franco.
People come, even from other cities, in search of our selection of treatments. Distance should not be an obstacle when it comes to your health. Geography should not be an obstacle to seeking the quality of your recovery and the safety of your spinal nerves that go to your arms and legs. In May 2021, we had a patient who came from Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, for a consultation with Dr. Luiz Fernando Pinheiro Franco, about a cervical spine problem.
Our team can help you with the logistics of reimbursement and your stay in São Paulo.
Why does sciatica have to do with back pain?
It's worth remembering that the place in our body where the sciatic nerve is compressed is in the lumbar spine! That's it!
Nerve, bone and disc: all these structures working so closely together, “living” in harmony, until one day, something just happens: a disc shifts (protrusion, bulging, disc herniation), the bone grows (spinal canal stenosis), the vertebra slips (spondylolisthesis)... and the nerve is compressed, and the nerve is pinched, and the nerve is crushed. And the person has pain, pain in the leg, pain in the sciatic nerve: the famous sciatica. And the sciatica is curable! But we need to make an effort to make this happen.
Degenerative disc disease and Dr. Pinheiro Franco's international books (Germany and the United States) on the subject of these lines
The largest book ever written in the world on degenerative spine disease, the degenerative disc disease (the main cause of sciatica)), was published by the author of these lines you are reading: DR. PINHEIRO FRANCO. Yes, we have published the book in English in Germany by the famous German publisher Springer. Thus, we doctors at the Pinheiro Franco Clinic have endeavored to give you the best selection of treatments among the many that exist for sciatica.
Today, there are so many options for treating low back pain and sciatic nerve pain, so many seemingly miraculous offers that, when you listen to different opinions and read about them on Google, you don't know what to do.
We at the Pinheiro Franco Clinic try to select the best treatment for each patient, because we know that each case is unique, your case is unique, with so many variables involved.
Choosing the best treatment for sciatica
Choosing the best treatment! It's not easy to decide on the best treatment! In our book published in Germany, multiple techniques are presented. But it's really only in a consultation with us that we can make a comprehensive assessment of your case. We consider the pros and cons of each technique. We weigh up the pros and cons of each technique. Make an appointment.
There is no miracle technique and no miracle treatment. We do not base our treatment decision on marketing strategy, For example, we say that we're going to do a minimally invasive technique, when often what is minimally invasive for the skin is not minimally invasive for the nerve. The important thing is the smallest possible incision for the best possible result and treatment for the nerve. Our priority is the treatment of the nerve, the integrity and safety of your nerve. We will never sacrifice the result that pleases the patient, which is the resolution of their nerve compression problem, for marketing strategies that will not allow adequate and safe treatment of the nerve.
Surgical treatment for sciatica is safe
We always, always, always value the safety of your nerves, of the your nerves, from your spinal cord, because these structures, when preserved, when treated well, is that will give you the joy you seek. This is our ultimate goal: the safety of your nerves, the structures of the human nervous system. And we have enormous experience in deciding on the best treatment for your nerve.
Every treatment strategy and technique has its pros and cons. Our team at Clínica Pinheiro Franco respects the patient and, in a serious and honest way, presents our selection of treatments for your particular case. How much is the health of your leg nerve worth? How much is the preservation of your leg movement provided by your sciatic nerve worth? The health of your nerve is a priority for our team of neurosurgeons. Book your appointment now and together we will define your treatment and your best quality of life.
Know the cause of your sciatic nerve compression
Sciatica occurs in the path of the nerve, but the place where it is pinched, crushed, compressed, is in the lumbar spine, in the back. That's why many people have lumbar spine pain, or lumbago, in addition to sciatica. The main causes of sciatic nerve compression have to do with the ageing of all of us, they have to do with the degenerative disc disease.
But what can crush/compress/tighten the nerve? Here's an overview of the main causes of sciatic nerve compression:
- Herniated disc lower back
- Contained disc herniation
- Foraminal disc herniation
- Extra-foraminal disc herniation
- Protrusion disc
- Bulging disc
- Canal stenosis
- Facet arthrosis
- Degenerative spondylolisthesis
- isthmic spondylolisthesis (isthmus fracture/spondylolysis)
- Degenerative scoliosis
Could sciatica be a tumor?
Less common causes of sciatic nerve pain are tumor or traumatic causes. So, if you have sciatic nerve pain, know that the chance that your sciatica has to do with getting older is much higher than the chance that your sciatica is caused by a tumor!
The chance that sciatica is caused by a tumor is low, and can be ruled out by performing an MRI scan of the lumbosacral spine.
Tumors that can cause sciatica are:
- Schwannoma
- Neurinoma
- Ependymoma
- Meningeoma
Choosing the right treatment for sciatica is not easy
Do you understand how complex the subject is? How difficult is it to say which sciatic nerve pain treatment is best? There are simply SO MANY causes of sciatic nerve pain! Like this, asking what is the best treatment for sciatic nerve pain would be like us asking what is the best treatment for a headache!!! There are many causes of headaches and, depending on the cause, there will be a better treatment!
OK! I've understood that we need to define the cause of my sciatic nerve pain! So what's the most common cause of sciatic nerve pain? Herniated discs are a very common cause! And what is the best treatment for herniated discs? The best treatment for herniated discs today, as defined by science, is a disc microsurgery, or microdiscectomy.
