Everything You Need to Know About Sciatica Treatment in Decatur

The best sciatica treatment in Decatur is on Lawrenceville Highway, and I’ll explain why.

Sciatica is pain in the distribution of the sciatic nerve, and you have two sciatic nerves; one on each side. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve and it starts in the buttock and travels all the way down to the foot. The sciatic nerve is made up of 5 nerve roots that exit the lower back and sacrum, and then those nerve roots combine in the buttock to form the sciatic nerve.

The reason that back problems can cause sciatic pain is that if any of those 5 nerve roots is pinched, such as by a disc, you will feel the pain wherever those nerve roots travel. And all 5 of them travel together, as the sciatic nerve, all the way to the foot.

When you go to a doctor and he takes a history and does an exam, he is looking for clues as to which one of those 5 nerve roots is pinched. Three basic things can give us a clue; where do you feel the pain, what reflexes are affected, and what muscles are weak. Of course, if you had an MRI scan, that may tell us where the problem is too.

Sciatica means that something is pinching the nerve. And that something is almost always a herniated or bulging disc. The difference between a herniated and bulging disc is a technical definition, but it is not clinically important. Rarely, and doctors should never forget this, the sciatic nerve can be pinched by something serious, like a cancerous tumor. The good doctor never forgets the possibility of the improbable, until the patient resolves their problem. When the pain doesn’t improve, we know we have to dig deeper to make sure the problem is not dangerous.

Let’s proceed, assuming that, like 98% of people, your Sciatica treatment in Decatur is caused by a herniated disc. So what causes herniated discs? That is important to understand, because then you can understand what is the best treatment for it. This discussion is also going to explain 98% of all back and neck pain.

The story starts with your spinal disc- there are 24 of them, starting from your upper neck, down to your sacrum. From the time you are a child, this tough, fibrous disc, between each vertebra, starts to wear out. These changes are microscopic, and some discs, in some people wear out very little. But many discs in most people will wear out, i.e. degenerate. As they degenerate, they lose water content, and we can see this on an MRI scan. Why do they wear out? Well, like the rest of our musculoskeletal system, they are subjected to physical demands every day, which can cause microscopic tears. As we consume nutrients and rest, our body tries to repair these injuries but, alas, their is a net loss of ground in some discs, in almost everyone.

So everyone will have some disc degeneration. But pain varies from person to person for a variety of reasons. One protective influence is your strength. Muscles are the only meaningful way for your body to protect your discs, joints, tendons, and discs. The muscles, when splinting, can prevent movements of joints that can cause injury and pain. And if you are subjected to potentially injurious loads in your daily life, then muscles can protect you.

What loads can injure a joint? Almost any movement, done thoughtlessly, can be injurious. And most people, doctors included, are not vigilant in avoiding injury during their postures and activities. All postures and movements impose loads on your joints. Often, simple, trivial movements can cause injury. So strength, used deliberately, and even without thought, due to the natural properties of strength, are protective, and valuable to possess. 

Going back to disc degeneration, a degenerating disc is prone to larger tears, and all these tears accumulate, often, eventually, resulting in a disc bulge or herniation. This means that the disc sticks out where it doesn’t belong. And, unfortunately, the spinal nerve roots are right behind the disc, so when the disc sticks out, the nerve can get pinched.

All of these changes of disc tears, degeneration, loss of water, bulges and herniations, and pinched nerves, are compressive problems. Your spine gets compressed. If you can reverse the compression, i.e. decompress your spine, these changes to the disc will improve, and your pain will get better. And that treatment has been my specialty since 2006.

Before 2006, I worked for 18 years in an orthopedic, physical medicine, and physical therapy clinic. And the treatments we did there were not as effective as spinal decompression treatment. So we had to send many patients for injections, because we didn’t have great treatment for pinched nerves.

So if you’re looking for sciatica treatment in Decatur, or treatment for sciatica in Decatur, I offer the most effective treatment for the cause of sciatica. To learn more, go to or call 404-558-4015. I’m Dr. Craig Castanet, and I approved this message.