Sciatica in Cottleville, MO. Anyone who has ever experienced sciatica will struggle to find words powerful enough to convey the caliber of pain it causes and the degree of distress and disability the condition can wreak on your life. If you suspect that you may have sciatica or have been diagnosed with a sciatic nerve condition, seek expert medical care right away.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of fifteen Cottleville, MO area physical therapy treatment clinics. Our locally-owned and operated movement wellness offices bring you thoughtful, personalized, intelligent care for your sciatica or other movement complaints near Cottleville, MO. Talk to a physical therapist in the Cottleville area about sciatica care for you today or schedule an appointment online now.

What You Should Know About Sciatica

Sciatica is the irritation of the sciatic nerve, which happens to be the largest nerve in the human body. The sciatic nerve originates from the nerve roots located in the lower spine, then from the pelvis it reaches back to each buttock and travels down and through the back of each leg. People frequently mistaken low back pain for sciatica, but sciatica is distinct in that the pain because the pain from sciatica follows this precise nerve path.

Sciatica itself is not a diagnosis — contrary to popular assumption. In fact, sciatica describes a number of symptoms tied to the sciatic nerve that surface when an underlying medical condition results in the irritation, inflammation, pinching, or compression of the sciatic nerve. Sciatica symptoms vary wildly, but generally include various forms of pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling that can extend from the buttock all the way down the leg. Unlike low back pain, you may find that your sciatica symptoms exist down into the glute area, legs, or feet and heels.

Do I Have Sciatica? – Sciatica Symptoms

Each sciatica patient experiences symptoms differently. Your sciatica’s exact presentation depends on where the damage or pressure is along the nerve root. Sciatica typically includes symptoms like pain, numbness, loss of muscle function, tingling, and pain that worsens when in certain positions.

The distinguishing marker of sciatica is pain that follows the path of the sciatic nerve which begins in the lower spine and travels through the hips and posterior, down the back of each leg. Typically, a patient with sciatica will experience symptoms only on one side — either down the right buttock and leg or the left buttock and leg. However, it is possible for a patient to experience sciatic pain and symptoms down both nerve paths. This simply depends on the position of the compression or pinching of the nerve.

With sciatica comes undeniable pain for anyone with the condition in Cottleville, MO. This nerve-related pain is described by patients as:

• Sharp
• Jolting
• Shooting
• Burning
• Electric
• Stabbing
• Tingling

If you are suffering from the debilitating pain and other limiting symptoms of sciatica, reach out to a medical professional with spine health expertise immediately. The physical and occupational therapists of Axes Physical Therapy near Cottleville, MO will guide you on your journey to a full recovery and craft a plan with the best chance of success of restoring your mobility and freedom from pain.

What Causes Sciatica?

For most individuals, their sciatica is caused by the irritation or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. These cases are nearly always successfully repaired with physical therapy in the Cottleville area designed to target the underlying cause of your sciatica symptoms, or may even heal naturally over time with proper exercise and self-care. However, for patients suffering from sciatica due to the direct compression of the sciatic nerve, more aggressive treatments like invasive surgery may be used.

A lot of times, people with sciatica do not know what caused their pain to begin with. You may have been in an accident or developed nerve irritation over time. Whatever the case may be, our Cottleville, MO area physical therapists have the clinical success and up-to-date evidence-based knowledge you need and deserve from your sciatica treatment professional.

Common Reasons for Sciatica

• Herniated disc
• Slipped disc
• Bone spur
• Spinal stenosis
• Piriformis syndrome
• Degenerative disc disease
• Spondylolisthesis
• Pregnancy
• Vertebral fracture

Risk Factors for Sciatica near Cottleville, MO

Certain activities and conditions could put you at a higher risk of developing painful, restrictive, debilitating conditions like sciatica. Risk factors tied to sciatica include:

• Age. Over the years, the tissues in our bodies undergo natural wear and tear and the bone and soft tissue in joints including the spine can wear away and increase your risk of sciatica.
• Weight. The back muscles in heavier individuals are forced to work harder to keep the body upright, and their spinal discs and other joints are under more pressure.
• Other medical conditions. Diabetes causes a higher rate of nerve damage in patients, and joint-related diagnoses like osteoarthritis can result in pain and pressure on your spine and sciatic nerve.
• Occupation/Daily activities. Trades where you are required to lift heavy loads, perform frequent bending and twisting motions, or drive for long periods of time (which shakes the body through the vibrations of the vehicle on the road) can cause sciatica.
• Lifestyle. Lifestyle habits like a sedentary lifestyle or smoking can lead to weakness and eventual irritation related to sciatica.

What Sciatica Treatment Options Do I Have in Cottleville, MO?

There are a variety of approaches that are commonly used for sciatica patients. These treatments, ranging from conservative recommendations like cold and heat applications to intensive operations, vary in proven efficacy. Regardless of their respective disciplines, medical providers who work with sciatica can all agree that being physically active is a critical part of managing and treating sciatica. This is contrary to outdated recommendations to confine sicatica patients to bed rest, which is no longer an accepted treatment fo sciatica as it is not effective in addressing disabiity or pain in patients.

Remember that it is your responsibility to turn to a licensed medical professional before making any decisions about your own medical care. The physical and occupational therapists of Axes Physical Therapy in the Cottleville, MO area are committed to to guiding individuals of all types in the Cottleville, MO area to optimal movement health. For you, that means understanding your medical history, sciatica symptoms, and other critical details. Your Axes medical professional specializing in movement health in Cottleville, MO will complete a complimentary screening prior to beginning any treatment so that we can best understand your condition and formulate an individualized treatment plan for your needs.

In addition to specializing in treating Cottleville, MO area sciatica patients, our seasoned Cottleville area providers will deliver the care you need. We apply our knowledge and experience working with kinesiology and the musculoskeletal system toward providing people like you in Cottleville, MO with many forms of care. Learn more below.

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

Types of Treatments for Sciatica in Cottleville, MO

Healthcare professionals and especially those who are specialists in spinal care have found the following methods to be helpful in the treatment of sciatica for certain patients. Your physician, Cottleville, MO Axes physical therapist, and all other members of your treatment team will collaborate to lay forth and carry out the most promising sciatica treatment plan for you.

• Medications. There is some disagreement regarding which drugs are recommended for patients with sciatica, but just like with any medications for any condition, pharmaceuticals come with the risk of side effects, which can be severe. Largely used in mitigating the experience of sciatica symptoms, some drugs that can be used for sciatca patients include:
  • Anti-inflammatories
  • Muscle relaxers
  • Antidepressants
  • Corticosteroids
  • Anticonvulsants
  • Opiod pain medications
• Physical therapy. Physical therapy is a powerful sciatica care approach that should be included in most sciatica treatment plans. Your physical therapist will use a variety of treatment modalities that address the body as a whole and directly heal the root cause of your sciatica pain. Working with a physical therapist in the Cottleville, MO area can help you achieve freedom from pain, improve your mobility, become physically healthier, avoid permanent damage and disability, and protect against future injuries or sciatica flair-ups. Your Cottleville, MO physical therapist will provide care that works to improve your posture, restore balance, increase flexibility, improve strength, and relieve pressure.
• Injections. In some cases, your health care professional might recommend one more more injections to the affected area. Common injection treatments for sciata are nerve root blocks, which apply a steroid and local anesthetic directly to the root of the irritated nerve, or epidural injections, which deliver the steroid and anesthetic to the epidural space surrounding the nerve. As a sciatica sufferer in Cottleville, MO, you may use injections as a way to temporarily supress the irritation of the nerve to provide pain relief and maintain the ability to function. Injection treatment effects can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.
• Surgery. Because of how invasive and high risk it often is, a surgical operation is usually reserved for patients with the most severe symptoms or those who have not responded well to more conservative approaches. There are a number of operations for sciatica depending on the cause of the condition, such as a microdiscectomy to remove a herniated disc or a laminectomy to remove bone spurs or parts of vertebrae putting direct pressure on your sicatic nerve. To optimize your ability to be successful in your surgery, any procedures should be paired with pre- and post-operative physical therapy care.
  You should consider surgery for your sciatica if:
  • you have loss of bowel or bladder control
  • imaging shows that you have bone spurs, known as spinal stenosis, putting direct pressure on your sciatic nerve
  • you have significant neurological dysfunction
  • other treatment methods have not helped or are no longer effective

Benefits of Cottleville, MO Physical Therapy for Sciatica

Staying active is one of the most important things for people with sciatica to do. Keeping an active lifestyle, stretching, and performing exercises designed to help address sciatica are highly effective and critical parts of any Cottleville, MO sciatica treatment plan.

Coincidentally, these are all major elements to any physical therapy care we provide Cottleville, MO area sciatica patients through the Axes Physical Therapy network of physical therapy offices. By working with a physical therapist near Cottleville, MO, you can strengthen and mobilize tissues in the lower back, pelvis, abdomen, buttocks, and thighs and heal the source of your sciatica.

The goals of physical therapy and exercise in treating sciatica are to:

• Improve functional movement
• Relieve sciatic nerve pain
• Reduce muscle spasms
• Restore function of the lumbar spine and the sacroiliac joint
• Improve mobility of the lower body
• Foster a better healing environment in the lower back
• Restore overall balance and proper posture in the back and legs
• Promote neurologic adaptations to reduce the perception of pain
• Prevent future pain flareups and permanent nerve damage
• Foster confidence in your ability to move pain-free

Your dedicated Cottleville, MO physical therapist will design a plan incorporating a number of different treatment modalities in your sciatica treatment plan, such as:

• Hot and cold therapies
• TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stiumlation
• Ultrasound
• Flexbiliby and strength exercises
• Joint manipulation
• Soft tissue mobilization
• Dry needling
• Education and training for posure, safe technique, and activity modifications

Trust your spine and musculoskeletal expert at Axes Physical Therapy to identify the sciatica treatment modalities best for you. Your Cottleville, MO physical therapist will act as an integral player in your larger medical team to help you manage your sciatica symptoms, alleviate the underlying irritation of your sciatic nerve, and reclaim the strength, flexibility, and full range of motion of a healthy individual. Speak to a medical provider in Cottleville, MO now to explore your sciatica treatment options, including a quality, tailored physical therapy plan.

Get Relief for your Sciatica in Cottleville, MO Now

When the agonizing pain and insurmountable limitations of sciatica get in the way of the life you want and the activities you enjoy, get quality care for your sciatica right away. Timely and effective physical therapy for your sciatica in the Cottleville, MO area can relieve your pain and restore the mobility you require to go about your life.

Axes Physical Therapy offers accessible, convenient, and proven sciatica treatment near Cottleville, MO. Our fifteen Missouri physical therapy locations make it simple for you to get the care you need. Find the location nearest you or request an appointment online right now.