Best Treatment for Pinched Nerve in Lower Back Pain

Pinched nerves in the lower back are painful and limit mobility, but the best treatment for pinched nerve in lower back can help.Pressure or compression on a lower spinal nerve causes pain, numbness, and tingling. Fortunately, there are many effective treatments to relieve symptoms and speed healing. This article discusses lower back pinched nerve treatments.

What is a Pinched Nerve?

Pinched nerves, also known as radiculopathy, are compressed by surrounding tissues like bones, muscles, tendons, or cartilage. Pinched nerves are most common in the spine, especially the lower back.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of a pinched lower back nerve are sharp, stabbing pain, numbness, or tingling. Additionally, you may experience:

• weakness

• muscle spasms

• reflex loss

• Lower back pain during sex

Sciatica

Sciatica describes symptoms that occur when the sciatic nerve that extends between your lower back and feet is either injured or compressed. This may cause sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in your: hip pain and lower back pain’ buttocks, legs, feet, and ankles.

These symptoms may also be a sign of lumbar radiculopathy. This happens when one or more nerve roots in your lower vertebrae are compressed or damaged. If you only have lower back pain, then you likely don’t have sciatica. Symptoms of sciatica or lower back pain that radiates to front pelvic area female typically worsen or radiate when you make certain movements, such as sneezing, bending, or quickly twisting.

Causes of Pinched Nerve in Lower Back

A pinched nerve in your lower back may appear out of nowhere or result from a traumatic injury, such as a fall, requiring the right treatment for pinched nerve in lower back to relieve pain. You're more likely to have symptoms between 30 and 50. Your intervertebral discs are most vulnerable then. A herniated disc is a common cause of a pinched nerve in the lower back. Aging, wear, or vertebral defects can cause this. Herniated discs are more common in 20- to 50-year-old men.

Other causes of lower back pinched nerves include:

• Bulging disc

• Spinal stenosis

• Osteophytosis (bone spurs)

• Spondylolisthesis

• Lower back pain during sex in female 

• Foraminal narrowing

• Rheumatoid arthritis, metastatic or benign tumors

• Some fungal, viral, or bacterial infections

• Diarrhea and lower back pain

Treatment for Pinched Nerve Lower Back

Your treatment will depend on the cause of your lower back pain and the severity of your symptoms. A treatment plan may combine baseline treatments like:

• OTC painkillers and NSAIDs

• Prescribed oral steroids

• Physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, home remedies

Pain doctors in Fort Worth will usually suggest lifestyle changes to treat your symptoms. These changes may include:

• Altering activity: Certain seated positions or activities that twist or lift can worsen pinched nerves. It may be best to avoid these activities for some time to alleviate symptoms.

• Ice and heat: Applying ice or heat for 20 minutes a few times a day may help reduce pain and muscle spasms. Heat should be avoided for 48 hours after a lower back injury.

• Lots of movement: A 2020 study found that lumbar stabilization and thoracic mobilization exercises effectively relieved pain and prevented nerve pain.

• Sleeping position modifications: Your sleeping position may aggravate symptoms of nerve pain. Discuss the best sleeping position for the pain with a doctor and determine how to practice proper sleeping habits.

It can take several weeks for baseline treatments to take effect. If these don't relieve lower back pinched nerve symptoms, pain management in Dallas may consider more invasive treatments. Surgery or spinal injections are examples.

Diagnosis of Pinched Nerve

Your pain doctor in Dallas may use several methods to diagnose a pinched lower back nerve, including:

• Physical Exam: The doctor of the pain control clinic will examine your reflexes, range of motion, and tenderness.

• Imaging Tests: X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans create detailed spine images and identify structural abnormalities.

• EMG: To detect nerve damage, EMG measures muscle electrical impulses. Click here for more. A non-surgical treatment using EMG.

Non Surgical Treatments 

Pain clinic in Plano may first suggest non-surgical treatment for pinched nerve in lower back to relieve pain and improve mobility. Some treatments are listed below:

• Rest: Resting from strenuous activities and adopting an ergonomic posture can reduce nerve pressure.

• Physiotherapy: A personalized physical therapy program can strengthen back muscles, improve flexibility, and relieve nerve pressure.

• Medications: Over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen may reduce inflammation.

• Heat/Cold Therapy: Heat or ice packs can relieve pain and inflammation.

• Injecting epidural steroids: Lower back pain treatment in Dallas includes Corticosteroid injections around the nerve to reduce inflammation and pain.

Surgical Options

If conservative treatments fail, surgery may be considered. Surgery for a lower back pinched nerve includes

• Discectomy: A discectomy removes the herniated disc to relieve nerve pressure.

• Laminectomy: A laminectomy involves the removal of a small portion of the vertebral bone or lamina to widen the spinal canal and reduce pressure on the nerves.

• Spinal Fusion: Spinal fusion surgery fuses two or more vertebrae together, stabilizing the spine and eliminating motion between the fused segments.

Conclusion