Chronic Sciatica: Is It a Tell-Tale Sign of a Herniated Lumbar Disc?

Are you one of the many worldwide who cope with low back pain? Unfortunately, 2020 research found that this uncomfortable and life-limiting condition impacted 619 million people across the globe. Even more concerning? Numbers are expected to reach an eye-popping 843 million by 2050 — just 14 short years from now. 

But something that may mystify and worry you is when that lower back pain radiates down your legs. This is a hallmark of a condition known as sciatica, which affects about 40% of people at some point in their lives. 

Before you can receive effective treatment for sciatica, your provider must find its root cause. That can be challenging, and we explain why in this month’s blog.

Fortunately, David Westra, MD, and Katherine Wagner, MD, at Ventura Neurosurgery in Midtown, Ventura, California, can help you get to the bottom of what’s going on through sophisticated testing and listening closely, with sensitivity. From there, they create a customized treatment for you alone. 

With an impressive history of treating patients, you’re in the best hands here.

The challenges of chronic sciatica

Your sciatic nerve runs from your lower back, down each of your legs, to your heels, and it’s your body’s thickest and longest nerve. 

Aside from severe pain that can be jolting and run from your hips down through your buttocks, thighs, and calves, you may experience:

• Loss of sensation
• Tingling
• Muscle weakness
• Balance challenges
• Symptoms that become more intense with certain movements, like bending and twisting

You’re at higher risk for sciatica if you carry extra pounds, live with diabetes, perform work that requires frequent heavy lifting, sit a lot, or are otherwise sedentary.

Sciatica can originate from a host of conditions, including spinal fractures, compression fractures, spinal stenosis, and osteoarthritis, but there’s a primary cause to which we can trace the majority of sciatica diagnoses.

A herniated lumbar disc and sciatica: The connection

Your discs, which have tough exteriors and spongy centers (nuclei), are essentially the shock absorbers between your vertebrae and serve a vital purpose. Sudden injuries, repetitive strain, or lifting something too heavy can all lead to a herniated disc, where your disc’s soft center pushes through a weakened outer layer and into your spinal canal.

When the disc that herniates, or slips, is located in your lumbar spine — the lower part of your back — it often leads to ongoing sciatica.

Effective treatment approaches for a herniated disc and sciatica

Ideally, we want to treat your herniated disc before it ever leads to sciatica, but if you’re already suffering from sciatica, we’re able to treat that as well. 

Your Ventura Neurosurgery provider’s first approach for a herniated disc is usually conservative treatments, depending on the severity of your symptoms. These include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, and epidural steroid injections, but surgery is sometimes necessary. Your provider may recommend:

• Microdiscectomy
• Artificial disc replacement
• Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS TLIF)
• Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF)

With MIS TLIF surgery, your surgeon replaces your bad discs with bone grafts, which assist in the creation of new bone that connects your vertebrae.

With XLIF surgery, your surgeon accesses your spine through the side of your body, as opposed to the back or front. After removing the problematic disc, they place an implant filled with bone graft, so fusion can occur. They may also use hardware, such as rods, screws, or plates, to support the fusion process.

If you develop sciatica, we’re here and ready to provide you with advanced treatment as well, including physical therapy, spinal injections, and surgical solutions like spinal fusion, laminectomy (removal of the arch portion of the vertebra, the lamina), or discectomy, to remove the pressure on your sciatic nerve and provide lasting relief.

Minimally invasive surgery: A game-changer

A technique that has revolutionized spinal procedures is minimally invasive surgery, in which your surgeon makes only a few small incisions and uses specially designed instruments to access your targeted treatment area. 

The many benefits of minimally invasive surgery include less pain, faster recovery, reduced post-surgical bleeding and scarring, and decreased likelihood of infection after your procedure. 

These procedures are also often outpatient, so you’re back home the same day. Depending on the surgery you’re scheduled for, you may require only localized anesthesia instead of general anesthesia. 

Our compassionate Ventura Neurosurgery team is deeply invested in finding the correct solution for your back pain and is proud to be your partner in care. Contact our office by calling 805-590-4365 to schedule an appointment today or book online anytime.