Physical Therapy in Atlanta

1
Atlanta Physical Therapy
Sciatica is the most common problem I treat, all
day long, every day, since 1987. Thats 35 years
of treating sciatica. I have seen many
treatments for it over all those years, and the
most effective, fastest, and longest lasting
treatment for sciatica is traction, but nowadays
we have more sophisticated tables for this
purpose, which we call spinal decompression. The
reason that spinal decompression works the best
for sciatica is because sciatica is almost
always caused by a disc bulge or herniation that
puts pressure on the sciatic nerve. And the only
treatment that will make the pain better is to
get the pressure off of the sciatic nerve root
that is being pinched. That means you have two
entities, the nerve and the disc which are pushed
together, and only getting those two entities
away from each other will relieve the pain
lastingly. To get a better mental picture of
what is going on, imagine a nerve next to a
jelly donut. Compressing the donut more, will
make the disc bulge out more and put more
pressure on the adjacent nerve root. You can
find plenty of images on the internet showing you
what happens. So you must use a treatment that
reduces the pressure on the disc, so that the
jelly goes back, away from the nerve, in order
to get relief. No treatment which fails to get
pressure off of the nerve root will provide
relief. In truth, there is also an inflammatory
component to the pain, but that subsides when
you get the pressure off of the nerve. You dont
have to get all the pressure off the nerve in
order to get relief, but you have to get almost
all the pressure off the nerve to feel
better. The body also has a tendency to improve
with time, but that time can be very long and
the pain can be incapacitating until, and if,
2
it improves. Sometimes a cortisone injection will
help and can be a blessing, but I only refer
about 5 of patients for epidural steroid
injections, because most people will improve with
spinal decompression treatment, which, in my
view, is preferable as treatment, since it only
helps by improving the anatomical problem, hence
the consequent inflammation. 80 of patients will
improve with the first treatment, but a series
of treatments is necessary. The number of
treatments will usually vary from 6 to 20
treatments, over 2 to 8 weeks. Rarely, one or two
treatments will suffice. Also, rarely, more than
20 treatments are necessary.
3
When you experience sciatica, it is usually the
endpoint of many years of slowly, progressive,
degenerative changes to your disc, and it
finally herniated or bulged out far enough to put
pressure on your nerve. The cause of the pain
was only a very small incremental change in your
disc. Accordingly, it only requires a small
incremental improvement in the anatomy of your
disc in order to feel relief. Usually, we
ignore our spines and give them little thought
until they give us grief. I understand why. I
have a spine too, so I understand if it doesnt
bother me, I dont bother it. But when you
finally have your episode of sciatica or back or
neck pain, you should be patient with improving
a problem that took decades to finally occur.
Patients ask many questions these questions
because it understand that sciatica is
about makes not a
sciatica and I love answering me a better
doctor. I also common experience for patients
patients feel as though it is a
and the pain can be so severe that
dangerous problem. That is because our brains are
hardwired to construe severe and incapacitating
pain as a threat to our survival, as it was
prehistorically when incapacity might make you
prey to a lion. But nowadays, sciatica is well
understood and almost always treated,
effectively, without surgery or injections. If
you are looking for sciatica pain relief ASAP,
call me at 404- 558-4015. To learn more, you can
go to backstrong.net or go to my YouTube channel
by searching for Dr. Castanet.