Sciatica Surgery - What You Need to Know

By Choll Kim

Thousands of patients undergo sciatica surgery each and every year around the world. There are times when this surgery should be considered. The first time you and your surgeon may decide it's time to consider this surgery is when you have been in constant paid for more than four to six weeks.
Before you consider sciatica surgery, it is important that you note that this is entirely your decision. Your surgeon, doctor and family cannot make the decision on your behalf, this is down to you, how much pain you are in and whether you can manage with the pain moving forward.
Your doctor is likely to recommend you consider sciatic surgery in the event your pain is unbearable and has been constant for four to six weeks. They may also advise you consider this surgery when the pain medications have been useless and you are still in ongoing pain.

Leg weakness often results in urgent surgery and the surgeon may not give you the option to go ahead or not as this can result in problems moving forward. There are two options that you need to know about when it comes to sciatica surgery; there is open surgery and then there is endoscopic surgery, both of which an provide you with improved results and ensure that you reduce the pain and give you your life back.
During open surgery a piece of disc is removed. The piece removed is the portion that is irritating the nerve, leaving the rest of the disc to reduce ongoing and further damage. Open surgery comes with a number of risks that you do need to be aware of, such as muscle damage, irritating muscles surrounding the area. Of course the benefit to the open sciatica surgery is that up to ninety five percent of patients experience relief after surgery.
With the closed or lumber laminectomy surgery, a small incision is made with a piece of bone or disc material is removed which is pinching the nerve. With this surgery the risk may be reduced when it comes to muscle damage and up to eighty percent of patients experience relief after this sciatica surgery.
Remember that having sciatica surgery is completely your decision and there are a number of important factors to take into consideration to ensure that you make the best decision to meet your particular needs and ongoing requirements. If you are in constant pain and you are living on pain killers, then having the surgery can eliminate all of this, enabling you to live a normal life completely pain free.
In addition to this, it is important that you discuss the options with your surgeon to identify which of the sciatica surgery options is the right choice for you. Discuss the outcomes and speak with your surgeon to see which of these two surgeries they feel is going to benefit you the most now and in the future.

Don't be shy to ask your surgeon questions about your sciatica surgery. Take someone to your appointment with you so that they can take notes, if there is anything you have forgotten later, then ensure that they have the answers for you. Questions such as how long you will have to remain in hospital, how long recovery takes and when you can return to work should be the most important questions to ask.
You may also want to ask about success rates and recovery rates, ensuring that if you elect to go ahead with the sciatica surgery, you can have peace of mind that your chances of a speedy and full recovery are high.

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