Sciatica Causes and Relief

The assumption most often left unchecked is that sciatica is a diagnosis. OrthoInfo (AAOS) describes sciatica as a very broad term for nerve pain, not a specific diagnosis. If a proposal starts from the word alone, ask what underlying problem it believes is causing the pain. A plan can only be as specific as that answer, and an overview of sciatica causes and treatment gives you a text to hold it against.

Three questions to put to a sciatica plan

Open the entry that matches the part of your plan you cannot yet explain: the suspected nerve root, the other possible sources of leg pain, or pregnancy.

• Radiculopathy and Pinched Nerve Roots: is a nerve root the suspected source, and what points to it?
• Piriformis Syndrome Versus Sciatica: was a different source of leg pain ruled out?
• Pregnancy Back Pain and Sciatic Symptoms: how does pregnancy change the questions a plan should answer?

If a proposal names a disk problem, read the page on a herniated disk in the lower back and check whether the plan uses its terms the same way.

Lining up two sciatica proposals

OrthoInfo (AAOS) says an injection of a cortisone-like drug can help to relieve sciatica-related pain. If one proposal includes an injection and another does not, ask each what the injection is meant to do and what the plan is if the pain stays the same.

Put the two proposals side by side and write the suspected cause under each. If you can see two clinicians, in the Montclair area or farther out, take this one-page comparison to both and ask them to correct it.