Before you go the route of surgery, I would advise getting an MRI to get a better picture of what's going on in the back. Disc removal doesn't always clear up the problem. In some cases, such as my brother (who ruptured a disc) they remove the ejected material and seal the disc.
My sciatica has ranged from just annoying to crippling and I have suffered with it for nearly 5 months. Mine is due to a prolapsed disc.
My osteopath says there is no alternative but to have the disc removed - and no alternative treatments will work despite what anyone says.
I have tried simply everything to help with the pain - and the combination that enables me to get up in the morning and at least function is simply this: 2 x Anadin Extra and 2 x Nurofen Plus, 2 or 3 times a day. Added to this I try to lie down on a hard floor with legs bent (knees to the ceiling) and a book under my head for up to an hour every day (from Alexander Technique).
This may work for you and I hope it helps.
Hi Pete
I experienced sciatica for six months. I was flat out so i know how it feels. I had degenerate discs, sciatica, hyper mobility, Sherman's disease, repetitive injury. I not only recovered using Bioenergy Healing but i can now do full contact martial arts, rock climbing and running!
In hindsight i realised that these weren't just physical ailments.
When you experience pain in the body it is important to understand its origin.
Consider the following:- Each region of the brain is linked to a different part of the body via the neurological system. When you experience emotional trauma it is stored in a specific region of the brain. That region of the brain is connected to in your case the sciatic nerve/leg. For the duration that the emotional trauma is stored in your brain may it be on a conscious or sub-conscious level it causes a breakdown in communication and dis-order along the whole pathway from the brain to this area of the symptom. Then the loop kicks in because the pain and frustrations cause further psychological and emotional trauma in another part of the brain that connects to another physical part of the body and so on.
It is possible to break the loop as i did and most importantly without having to address it on a cognitive level.
I hope you are getting the picture.
Injections and surgery may need to be an option for some people but you should satisfy yourself that you have tried the least invasive options in the first place.
Best wishes
Michael Cohen