Recurrent Sciatica: Is Physical Therapy the Key to Resolving Persistent Leg Pain?

After your first bout with sciatica, you hope to never again experience the lower back pain and excruciating shooting pain in your leg.

Many people will heal and move on with life. But for some, the first episode turns into recurrent sciatica that strikes repeatedly and unexpectedly.

Will physical therapy help? Definitely. Physical therapy is an essential treatment and may stop recurrent sciatica.

However, several variables influence your results, affecting sciatica’s long-term course and potentially limiting physical therapy’s success.

At Alliance Spine and Pain Centers, our experienced healthcare providers and board-certified physicians create a comprehensive care plan that includes pain management, exercise, and physical therapy.

Variables influencing your recovery

Four variables affect your recovery from recurrent sciatica:

1. Sciatica’s cause

The reason you have sciatica has a significant influence on stopping recurrent episodes. Spinal conditions in your lower back cause sciatica when they pinch the sciatic nerve. A few of the most common causes include:

• Herniated discs
• Degenerative disc disease
• Spinal stenosis (narrowed spaces in the spinal canal)
• Bone spurs
• Thickened ligaments
• Facet joint arthritis
• Spondylolisthesis (slipped vertebra)

Herniated discs are the primary culprit, causing 90% of all cases. Having a herniated disc also increases the chance of overcoming recurrent sciatica with physical therapy.

Sciatica that’s caused by bone spurs, spinal arthritis, or a slipped vertebra poses a bigger challenge, lowering your chances of stopping recurrent episodes. However, physical therapy is still crucial because it will improve your pain and mobility no matter the cause.

2. When treatment begins

The earlier you start physical therapy, the better your chances are of overcoming recurrent sciatica. Putting off treatment gives spinal conditions time to worsen and cause more damage. As a result, physical therapy may not eliminate recurrent episodes.

3. Lifestyle barriers

You may need to improve your posture, avoid prolonged sitting, or lose weight to eliminate recurrent sciatica. These challenges can reverse the effects of physical therapy because they put excessive stress on your lower back. Physical therapy can help improve all three. 

4. Exercise commitment

Exercise is so important that it’s recommended as part of the first line of treatment for sciatica. Whether or not it helps stop recurrent sciatica depends on how you begin and if you stick with the program.

It’s essential to begin with safe, gentle activities like stretching and gradually increase your activities. You also need to stick with an at-home exercise program to gain optimal results.

Most people have physical therapy appointments two or three times a week. Your hard work at home accelerates your recovery and is the key to progress. Occasionally following your exercise program may do more harm than good and won’t help stop recurrent sciatica.

Physical therapy for sciatica

Physical therapy is one of the best steps you can take for sciatica. A personalized physical therapy program:

• Relieves pain
• Promotes healing
• Reduces inflammation
• Improves movement and flexibility
• Reduces pressure on the sciatic nerve
• Prevents tight muscles and cramps
• Strengthens muscles and ligaments
• Prevents recurrent sciatica

While exercise is vital, moving the right way is just as important. You need exercises that are challenging enough to produce results, yet safe for your lower back.

You also need to learn the proper form when exercising so you don’t overstress your back or aggravate the sciatic nerve.

Physical therapists help you achieve these goals with customized programs targeting each person’s unique health needs.

Your therapy may include many physical therapy modalities. These are a few examples:

• Strengthening exercises
• Flexibility and stretching exercises
• Therapeutic massage
• Mechanical traction
• Posture improvement
• Aerobic exercises
• Balance training
• Posture improvement and ergonomic training
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

Your physical therapist will teach you how to do each exercise during your appointments and create an exercise routine to follow at home.

Pain management supports physical therapy

Don’t let pain stop you from participating in physical therapy. We offer many proven interventional treatments, like nerve blocks, epidural steroid injections, and radiofrequency ablation, that ease your pain.

We may also recommend regenerative medicine treatments like platelet-rich plasma to promote healing in a herniated disc.

Call Alliance Spine and Pain Centers today or use online scheduling to request an appointment and learn about your treatment options for recurrent sciatica.