Treatment of lumbar sciatica

In many cases, lumbar sciatica treatment is effective enough at home.

• OTC anti-inflammatory and pain medications to help control the symptoms of sciatica Symptoms of sciatica - what could be the manifestation Until the damaged tissues regenerate. Usually, doctors recommend patients to take paracetamol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen - usually they are well relieve pain, allowing a person to work properly, sleep, and so on. Despite the fact that these drugs are sold without a prescription, they should not be abused; they can cause side effects and interact with other medications. Pregnant women and people with chronic diseases before taking any medication you must consult with your doctor;
• Packs. Both cold and hot compresses to help relieve the pain and some other symptoms of sciatica. Apply a compress to the waist for 10-15 minutes several times a day. In very severe pain compresses can be done every hour. If you use a cold compress ice packs or frozen vegetables, do not put them directly on the skin, and a thin towel - this will avoid damage to the skin as a result of prolonged exposure to low temperatures. Typically, cold packs relieve pain faster than most, but some patients better help a hot compress and sometimes the most effective is the alternation of hot and cold compresses - try all options and choose the most suitable for you;
• Healthy sleep. Studies have shown that lack of sleep leads to the fact that people with different diseases felt a severe pain compared with those who regularly gets enough sleep. Try to find at least 7-7.5 hours of sleep Dreams: how to understand our dreams And go to bed every night at the same time. If you have sleep problems - for example, you are a long time can not sleep or wake up in the middle of the night, talk about this with your doctor;
• Control of Stress How to beat stress? Create an oasis . Stress also affects the level of pain that a person feels. If you are constantly experiencing stress and feel that it has a negative impact on your state of health, consult a psychologist, or try to learn on their own or another relaxation technique Relaxation and stress - calm, not panic! .
• In cases where the above-described methods of treatment do not help to cope with the symptoms of lumbar sciatica, your doctor may prescribe:
• Antidepressants and muscle relaxants. Preparations of these types often effective in relieving pain caused by lumbar sciatica;
• Opioid analgesics can be used in very severe pain that does not work to facilitate other drugs. However, even this type of pain killers are not always sufficiently effective for pain caused by compression of the spinal nerve roots;
• Oral steroids. Acceptance of this type of medication for one to two weeks, as a rule, allows to stop the inflammation and relieve the pain in his back. However, since these drugs can cause serious side effects, they are assigned only in case of emergency;
• Injections of steroids also reduce inflammation and can reduce the total dose of drug that a patient receives. Due to this risk of certain side effects is reduced, but still injections can not be considered completely safe way to relieve the symptoms of lumbar sciatica, and well appointed with great care;
• Surgery. If the patient fails to facilitate using conservative methods of treatment, it is necessary to resort to surgery. Typically, patients tolerate surgery, but to save the results of the treatment, they will need to perform regular exercises to strengthen the back muscles, maintain a healthy weight, as well as the right to lift weights and perform strength exercises, avoiding excessive load on the spine.

Diagnosis and treatment of seropositive polyarthritis

After the appearance of the first symptoms of arthritis diagnosed seropositive arthritis it is difficult - the symptoms may be caused by other types of arthritis. To confirm the diagnosis is usually used a combination of three methods:

• Analysis of the observed symptoms
• X-ray examination, which allows to determine the degree of joint damage
• Blood test - the main method of diagnosis of seropositive polyarthritis. The analysis detects the presence of antibodies in the blood Antibodies - "soldiers' immunity   cyclic citrullinated peptide, and is considered the most accurate method of diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis . If the analysis confirms the presence of antibodies, ie, the analysis results are positive, diagnosed seropositive polyarthritis What is arthritis - when it hurts everywhere   (hence, in fact, the name of the disease)

Seropositive arthritis treatment should be started as early as possible because the disease can seriously damage the joints. Effective drugs for seropositive polyarthritis does not exist, and the basic methods of treatment aimed at suppression of symptoms, slowing disease progression and prevention of damage and deformation of the joints due to arthritis Arthritis - a variety of forms and complications .

Antirheumatic

The basic method of treating arthritis seropositive - antirheumatics, not only suppressing the symptoms of the disease, but also prevents damage of joints due to arthritis .  Antirheumatic drugs suppress inflammation by blocking certain chemicals that trigger inflammation .  The most common such drugs - methotrexate, sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil .  Typically, use of these drugs is recommended to begin as soon as possible after confirmation of the diagnosis .  Very often seropositive for treating arthritis, a combination of two different antirheumatic drugs - for example methotrexate and any other similar product .  The sooner treatment begins, the greater the effectiveness of anti-rheumatic agents .  Immediate action of antirheumatic agents should not wait - to achieve the first results of such drugs must be taken for several weeks or even months .

Monoclonal antibodies

One of the newest treatments for seropositive polyarthritis - special preparations, the so-called monoclonal antibodies is very similar to the substance produced by the human body (eg, antibodies). Biological products are made from active cells - for example, cloning of white blood cells. The most common treatments for seropositive polyarthritis - adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, rituximab. Such drugs as standard antirheumatic drugs block the release of chemicals that provoke the inflammation of the joints. Typically, these drugs are recommended only in cases where the standard treatments do not help.

Suppression of symptoms

For quick relief of symptoms during an episode of seropositive polyarthritis recommended nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, steroids or standard painkillers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are effective in relieving pain and suppress inflammation in the joints. Take at the same time they can be with conventional painkillers such as paracetamol or codeine. If these drugs do not help, usually recommended steroid injections directly into the affected joint space - steroids are effective in suppressing inflammation and alleviate symptoms of arthritis. Typically, a course of injections is very short - regular injections for more than a few weeks may cause serious side effects.