Every individual health service provider might have their own unique sciatica prescription which is offered to patients in their care. It is common for caregivers to offer advice based on the services they offer and treatment philosophies they embrace. However, prescriptions should always be individualized recommendations based upon multiple factors including symptoms, expectations, lifestyle, general health and other case-specific considerations. In essence, the prescription for treatment should be based on criteria relating to the patient, not the preferences of the doctor.
It is sad to note that in my personal experience, the majority of care providers embrace a completely ineffectual cookie-cutter approach to treatment which rarely succeeds or even provides any true semblance of sciatica relief. They make therapy all about them and their partialities, rather than consider the patient and their needs first.
Sciatica Prescriptions Defined
Although commonly associated with drug use, prescriptions can be any advice or recommendation for care. The confusion comes in when people call an actual medical script, written out for a regulated pharmaceutical product, a prescription. For the purposes of this article, the name denotes any treatment recommended by the doctor or chiropractor who is responsible for care.
For sciatica sufferers, prescriptions can take many forms, but are rarely curative in nature. In fact, the majority of sciatica products and treatments are symptomatic in their applications, which means that the product or therapy acts upon the expression of the condition rather than the causative source. This utilization is widely regarded as poor medicine throughout the healthcare system, but is still the rule, rather then the exception in actual practice.
Prescription for Chronic Sciatic Nerve Pain
Here are the most commonly advised prescriptions for sciatica, based on clinical statistics, my own experience and those reported by the multitude of readers of this site and the other sites in The Cure Back Pain Network:
The most prevalent form of prescription is certainly medical scripts written for sciatica drugs. These dangerous substances are a form of chemical slavery and rarely even provide a reasonable degree of effective pain management for the worst symptomatic expressions.
Physical therapy for sciatica is a popular choice of more enlightened care providers, but is often ineffective, particularly for spinally-induced and non-structural pain syndromes.
Chiropractic prescriptions usually amount to an endless number of spinal adjustments which are very unpredictable in their outlook for treatment. Some patients find temporary relief, while others suffer worsened symptoms. Few patients find lasting cures through manual manipulations.
Spinal decompression may be an ideal prescription for patients with verified structural issues which are indicated for treatment. The therapy is finite in duration and cost, giving it an edge over most ongoing care practices.
Sciatica surgery is a fear inspiring Rx given by many surgeons. Who would ever think that a surgeon might advise an operation? Come on people, they operate. That’s what they do. It does not change the simple fact that 95% of spinal surgeries are not needed.
Sciatica Prescription Advice
This article seems very critical and it is. Someone has to be a critic of any medical system which costs us so much in terms of money, pain and lifestyle limitations, yet provides so few actual benefits. Do I have the universal answer for sciatica pain? No, but I wish that I did. However, I can tell you some universal truths of all back pain treatment which has helped many to find lasting respite from pain:
First, get involved in your own care. Do not be ignorant when it comes to your health or any diagnosis you receive. Ignorance is not bliss here; it is tantamount to doom.
Next, avoid endless symptomatic treatment, since you already know that it will never cure you. Instead concentrate on realizing a permanent solution for your pain.
Last, you may have to think outside the box. This includes considering alternate explanations for your pain, other than those suggested to you by diagnostic testing, since these causes are usually incurable through seemingly appropriate means. There is a reason why poor treatment results occur. Find it and you will be well on your way to finding the cure you so desperately seek.
