Sciatica Treatment for Riverdale, NJ

Leg pain has more than one source

A leg can hurt because a nerve is irritated, because a joint is referring pain into it, or because its veins are struggling. This practice treats all three, so a single examination can weigh each of them. From Riverdale, our office at 624 Main Road, Suite 2B, Towaco is roughly seven miles by the Newark-Pompton Turnpike and Jacksonville Road.

Nerve pain: the sciatica pattern

• Sharp, burning or electric rather than a dull ache.
• Running from the low back or buttock down the back of one leg.
• Pins and needles or numbness in the leg or foot.
• Worse on sitting, coughing or sneezing.
• Sometimes a leg that feels heavy or gives way.

Vein pain: a different story

• A heavy, tired ache rather than an electric one.
• Worse as the day goes on and after standing.
• Ankles that swell by evening.
• Cramps or restless legs at night.

That pattern comes from valves in the leg veins that no longer close, and a standing duplex ultrasound answers the question in about thirty minutes. See varicose veins.

Joint pain that imitates both

The sacroiliac joint, low in the back, can send pain into the buttock and the back of the thigh, though rarely past the knee, and it often protests most as you get out of a car. The hip can produce something similar. Separating these from true nerve pain is why the examination takes the time it does.

Finding the pinch point

When the pattern is sciatic, the next question is where the nerve is being squeezed: a disc pressing on a root, a narrowed spinal canal, the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock, or the sacroiliac joint. Dr. Donna D’Alessio, board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, works this out from your history and from an examination of reflexes, strength, sensation and the straight-leg raise. Treatment then follows the answer: trigger point injections for a tight piriformis, joint injections for a joint source, PRP where tissue needs help to heal, and a rehabilitation plan for the mechanics underneath.

Riverdale patients ask

My commute is a long ride on the 194 bus. Could that be making it worse? It can. Long spells of sitting are a classic aggravator, especially when the piriformis is involved. Breaking up long sits and moving gently and often is the general advice, refined once you have been examined.

What would make it urgent? Weakness in a leg or foot, numbness in the groin, inner thighs or buttocks, or losing control of your bladder or bowel. These can signal cauda equina syndrome — rare, but time-critical — so go to an emergency department at once rather than waiting for an appointment.

Read more on sciatica and back pain, or sciatica care for neighbouring Pequannock Township.