Sciatica Treatment in Elizabeth, NJ

Overview

Sciatica is pain that starts in your lower back and shoots down one leg. Sometimes it reaches your foot. It happens when something presses on your sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in your body. The usual suspects are a herniated disc, a bone spur, or a tight piriformis muscle deep in your hip.

The standard medical approach is painkillers, muscle relaxers, and maybe a cortisone injection. Those can help short term but they do not fix the thing that is pressing on the nerve. Chiropractic adjustments do. By restoring proper alignment in your lumbar spine, we take the pressure off the nerve at the source.

At Pain Center of Morris, we use flexion-distraction technique for most sciatica cases. It is a gentle, pumping motion on a specialized table that opens up the disc space and allows the bulging material to move away from the nerve. Most patients feel relief during the first session. Physical therapy follows to strengthen the muscles that support your spine so the problem does not come back.

If your sciatica comes from piriformis syndrome (the muscle in your hip clamping down on the nerve), Karl Cuenco, our physical therapist, uses targeted stretching and manual therapy to release that muscle. Some cases respond to acupuncture as well, especially when inflammation is a big factor.