Do you have a sciatica problem? Are you considering to go see a doctor about it? Maybe you already have seen a doctor for your sciatica issue. I’m going to cover the Top 5 Things that doctors often forget to tell their patients when it comes to sciatica. 

My name’s Dr. David Middaugh and I’m the owner of El Paso Manual Physical Therapy and I’m an expert physical therapist. Let me go into the top five things for you:

1.) Sciatica is Complicated

Let me tell you what I mean by this – most people know that sciatica refers to the sciatic nerve, so they know that it’s a nerve, and they think, “well, if I have sciatica, could I have a problem with my nerve?” Well, that’s not the full picture, and doctors often forget to explain that there’s a bunch of things surrounding the nerve.

There’s joints, there’s discs in the back, there’s several bones in the area that the nerve travels through and around a lot of muscles. We have to consider your posture and your movement. There are so many factors to consider when it comes to helping a sciatica problem for the long term.

2.) Sitting Makes Sciatica Problems Worse

Of course, doctors prescribe medications and they’re hoping that their patients will be able to tolerate sitting better, but if you’ve got a desk job or if you have to sit for any extended period of time, you have to drive for long periods of time, then you’re likely contributing to making your sciatica problem worse, unknowingly. It’s important that you find some natural solution so that you can continue doing what you need to do during the day and at night so that you can solve this sciatica problem without more medications.

3.) How to Know if Your Sciatica Problem is Getting Better or Worse

One of the biggest things that you should look for if you’re getting treatment right now for a sciatica issue is it should begin to gradually improve and you should notice some improvement within days, at the most a couple of weeks.

Now, I’m not saying it’s going to go away 100% in that timeframe, but it should be getting better and better and better. You should see some sort of continual progress over time as you continue your treatment. And obviously, if you’re staying the same or worse yet, it’s worsening. You’re having trouble sitting, sleeping, moving around and doing everyday things, and as time goes on, despite doing some sort of sciatica treatment (which most commonly start with medications) that’s not working for you, you need to communicate with your doctor about that.

I recommend two things: 1 – call your doctor, whoever’s doing your treatments and just let them know what’s going on. Tell them about your situation so that they can have a shot at guiding you in the best direction possible in in healing your sciatica issue. 2 – talk to an expert like us who can guide you through this situation so that you can get this problem resolved for the long term.

4.) The Sciatic Nerve Travels From the Lower Back into the Foot

The sciatic nerve travels from the back down into the buttock, down into the thigh, down into the calf muscle, into the heel of the ankle, all the way through the arch of the foot, and all the way to the tips of the toes. That whole pathway can be effective.

Oftentimes we see patients that come in here going crazy because they’re seeing multiple doctors, multiple specialists, one of which might be a podiatrist or somebody that’s given them some sort of foot orthotics and it’s not getting better. Maybe their sciatica problem is up in the hip and thigh isn’t too bad or it’s tolerable for them, but the foot pain is driving them nuts.

Or sometimes they’re getting a lot of cramping and they’re thinking they need to do something about their diet or their electrolyte or hydration to address a problem when really it’s all related to their original sciatica problem that just isn’t being fully addressed properly so that they can resolve the issue. It’s confusing when you’ve got plantar fasciitis diagnosis for instance, and you’re seeing a specialist for that, but it’s really a sciatica  problem.

So it’s important to understand that if you’ve got an active sciatica problem and you’ve got problems also down the back of the thigh, the back, the lower leg, the calf area, the ankle, the heel, and anywhere in the in the foot or toes, it is very likely related to your sciatica problem.

5.) Surgery May Not Work

Now for a moment, imagine yourself visiting the doctor or maybe you’ve already visited the doctor and that memory is fresh. Think back to that moment recently, the doctor probably outlined a short plan involving 3 things for your sciatica problem.

• 1 – Take medications that they will prescribe you, if they haven’t already done so. If that doesn’t work, then the next step is…
• 2 – Injections. And if that doesn’t work, that doctor’s probably gonna refer you out to step three….
• 3 – Referral to see a surgeon or an orthopedic specialist.

The assumption that doctors don’t fully explain is that surgery is the last option and it’s going to work. Unfortunately, we see some patients that have had some sort of surgery and they’re still having their sciatica problem. We recently saw case where a woman came in having had a lumbar fusion a year ago (meaning she got rods and screws inserted into her L-4/L-5 vertebrae, in her low back, to fuse the area), to allow more space for the nerves and I’m sure it was a wise choice by the doctor, but unfortunately,  the full picture wasn’t addressed in this lady’s case. She’s got issues elsewhere down the pathway of the nerve that needed to be addressed so that she could fully resolve this sciatica problem.

Now, it’s questionable to know fully, if she could have maybe resolved the issue without having had surgery at this point. She knows full well that you can’t undo the past and we’ve got to just proceed, but she’s looking to have a tremendous outcome as the weeks go by because we’ve identified all the issues down the pathway of the nerve. We’ve talked about posture. We’ve talked about the complexity of her issue, the strength, the joints, the movement that she’s going through in her everyday activities. So she’s got an excellent shot at recovering from this sciatica problem for the longterm.

So there you have it guys, The Top 5 Things That Doctors Forget To Explain To Their Sciatica Patients.

Please explore website to learn other things about sciatica and more ways that we help patients stay healthy, active, and mobile while avoiding unnecessary surgeries, injections and painkillers. If you’re interested in hiring us to help you, you can call us at (915) 503-1314 and ask about a free discovery visit for our Facebook followers.

If you’re skeptical, uncertain, or worried that we might not be able to help your sciatica problem, I get it. I completely understand. We actually hear that all the time in the clinic. People that call us think that nobody can help them because they’ve been let down by so many medical professionals in the past.

It’s completely understandable, but I’ve got something for you. I’ve written this guide that’s called The Top 10 Tips To End Annoying Sciatica Pain Using Natural Solutions To Avoid Unnecessary Surgeries, Injections, and Painkillers. You can request this guide right now, online! Just find the button nearby and type in your details and it’ll be automatically sent to your email. If you’re in the El Paso area. You can also call us at (915) 503-1314 and request that we mail a copy of this to your home.

This guide is filled with the Top 10 Tips that we’ve compiled over the years of treating sciatica patients successfully for the long term. We’ve put it all together in this guide and made it available to the public at currently. No charge. You can start implementing the tips at home right now! Best of luck to you moving forward. Have a wonderful day.