Sciatica Treatment Options

Sciatica treatment options. Chymopapain, an enzyme found in papaya, is sometimes used as a sciatica treatment for pain caused by a herniated disc that would normally require surgery. It was approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1982, is quite widely used in Canada and occasionally used in the UK.

The drug has been controversial ever since it was introduced as a treatment for sciatica, but some patients have found it very effective. However some people are highly allergic to chymopapain, so it is important to have an allergy test before using as a sciatica treatment.

Injecting this papaya extract to remedy ruptured disc pain is less traumatic, invasive and costly than surgery, and is an effective sciatica treatment as long as it is administered by an appropriately qualified and experienced medical practitioner.

However, as with surgery, it is important to remember that chymopapain is just one step in the recovery process towards sciatica relief. It is not in itself a cure.

How It Works

Taking chymopapain injections as a treatment for sciatica sounds almost too good to be true. ‘One injection completely cured me without me need for surgery,’ said an estate agent in the US.

When used as a sciatica treatment, a chymopapain injection is administered under local or general anesthetic by a neurosurgeon, orthopedic surgeon or anesthetist. You lie on your side on an X-ray table. Depending on whether you are awake or asleep, different techniques are used to pinpoint the exact area where the gel portion of your disc has broken through its casing and is putting pressure on a nerve root.

The injection itself takes about 5 minutes. The entire procedure, from entering to leaving the treatment room, takes about half an hour, and can start providing sciatica pain relief almost right away.

If the injection is successful, the chymopapain dissolves the gel from the ruptured disc, thereby lessening pressure on the nerve root. This should offer some sciatica pain relief in your legs almost immediately.

Some patients who get chymopapain injections as sciatica treatment leave the same day they are treated, but most are hospitalized for one to four nights for observation or for treatment of other back pain caused by the procedure itself.

Disc surgery patients, on the other hand, are hospitalized for an average of eight days. And chymopapain patients have another advantage over disc surgery patients. They usually experience full sciatica relief and are back in full swing in six weeks, while surgery patients may need three to six months to resume the activities they pursued before the ruptured disc episode.