Should I Have Surgery For Sciatica Nerve Pain?

Surgery is almost always considered to be a last resort for any medical condition that you might develop. If you are able to remedy or treat a problem without having to resort to surgery, this is always preferable. 

Running from the lower back right down through the legs, the sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. When anyone suffers damage to this nerve the pain will begin in the lower back or buttock area and will extend down their legs. Depending upon the severity of the condition, the pain can extend all the way down into the feet and toes. It can be experienced as a sharp and short pain or more of a tingling sensation, again depending on how severe it is.

When any sciatica damage becomes really serious it can become very uncomfortable for anyone to stand up and sit down, bend over in any sort of way, or get any sort of physical exercise involving certain movements. As such, the quality of life can be restricted significantly, and therefore treatment options will need to be sought for sciatic nerve pain relief in order to rectify the problem.

This is where sciatica surgery comes in, and you will need to ask yourself a number of questions if you want to identify whether or not you are ready to have a surgical procedure to  remedy the problem. The first thing you may want to ask yourself is whether you know the reason why you actually have sciatica. Do you know why you the pain is occurring, and whether it is because of degenerative disc disease, a slipped or ruptured disc, spinal stenosis, or anything else?

You will obviously need to know exactly what is causing your pain before you can take any steps towards fixing it. If you have never had a proper diagnosis and you have never gotten your doctor to look into the actual cause of your sciatica, it is crucial that you do this. It might well be that surgery is not necessarily required and therefore you need to make sure you have covered all bases and considered all treatment options before you look into taking this path. 

Is the discomfort severe enough for surgery? 

Anyone looking for a treatment for their sciatica will certainly be no stranger to pain, but you need to work out whether or not this pain is too severe to live with or not. If you have managed to find relief from your pain by taking certain medications then it may not be necessary for you to have surgery. No doctor will actually recommend that you have surgery  unless you have been in constant pain for at least three months. If this pain cannot be reduced by medications and other treatments, surgery might be the way forward.

What other remedies have you tried for sciatica relief?

Of course, you should also ask yourself whether or not you have tried all of the natural remedies that are available before surgery for sciatica. Have you tried things like injections and pills as treatments for your sciatica?

Have you looked into physical therapy, massaging, decompression therapy, and exercise in order to reduce your symptoms? Unless you have covered all of these bases then it is best to try these first before you actually consider surgery. You have to be absolutely certain that surgery is your last resort, and you cannot do this unless different treatments have been considered and attempted first.

Know the risks of sciatica surgery before proceeding

It is also absolutely crucial for you to really consider the risks associated with any surgical procedure as well. You need to have a frank discussion with your doctor about any associated risks that you might go through if you do choose to have surgery for your sciatica.

No surgical procedure is going to be completely risk-free, and therefore having a discussion such as this is fundamental when making a choice as to whether surgery is required for you or not.

Sciatica surgery success can have an exhilarating effect on someone who has suffered long and come to a place where they have no other choice. At the end of the day, if you really are struggling with the pain caused by your sciatica and nerve damage then surgery might be the best way forward for you.

However, this should always be treated as a last resort, and you always need to know about any risks you are taking when dealing with this sort of surgery.