Sciatica nerve is the nerve that branches from the lower back through your hips and buttocks while continuing down each leg. Sciatica pain is the pain that you feel radiating along the path of this sciatica nerve, commonly this sciatica pain only affects one side of your body. Many patients deal with sciatica pain when they have a herniated disk, bone spur located on the spine or the narrowing of the spine (which is known as spinal stenosis) and it compresses part of this nerve. This can lead to inflammation, pain and many times numbness in the affected leg. Sciatica pain can be moderate to severe, and in most cases patients are able to find relief from this pain with non-operative treatments within weeks of being diagnosed. However, anyone dealing with sciatica that notices severe leg weakness or bowel/bladder changes might be candidates for surgery. Talk to Dr. Morchower at OmniSpine Pain Management to find out if the sciatica pain you are dealing with can be easily treated by an epidural steroid injection or if you may need surgery.