Sciatica - Pros and Cons of Standard Care

Conventional treatments for sciatic pain could include lifestyle changes, drugs or if the situation is quite serious, surgery. This will depend on the length and severity of the symptoms. 

Here are the common interventions for sciatica:

• Education on caring for your back

• ​Lifestyle advice

• Exercise advice

• Advice to rest or to stay active

• Referral to chiropractor, physiotherapist or acupuncturist

• Dry-needling using acupuncture needles

• Analgesics or painkillers

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

• Surgery

What you need to know about painkillers

Pros:

• Quick

• Easy to access

• Relatively cheap to buy​

• May be effective to mask the pain

Cons:

• Does not aim to resolve the cause of sciatica (such as softening muscles).

• There may be side effects associated with them - make sure to be aware of these. Always check with your doctor.

• Can grow tolerance to it, meaning higher risk of side-effects

• Opioid addiction is a huge crisis right now, especially for those with chronic pain

​Can acupuncture help me with symptoms of sciatica? - Yes.

Next coming article: Find out how acupuncture and natural medicine can help with sciatica, how Western and Eastern medicine can work together.