I Have Severe Lower Back Pain: Is Radiculopathy the Answer?

Severe, persistent lower back pain may signal an underlying nerve problem. Radiculopathy, or pinched nerves, causes back pain and other pain symptoms for many adults in the United States each year. When your lower back pain gets too bad to ignore anymore, radiculopathy treatment may hold the answers you need for lasting pain relief.

At the Total Spine Institute, our team, led by Dr. Andrew Fox and Dr. Ryan Mattie, specializes in spine surgery and pain management. We provide radiculopathy support for new and existing patients from our locations in Sherman Oaks and Calabasas, California. Here’s what you need to know about treatment for pinched nerves and related pain symptoms.

Why radiculopathy causes low back pain

Any nerve in your body can become compressed or pinched. When this happens, your body registers the compression as pain. Depending on the location of the pinched nerve, you may feel pain in your neck, arms, upper back, lower back, or even in your buttocks, legs, or feet.

Your spine gathers major nerves that connect to areas around your body. Radiculopathy refers to compressed nerve issues occurring near the spine. In your upper or cervical spine, pinched nerves result in neck pain. In your lower or lumbar spine, nerve compression causes low back pain, or pain radiating into your lower extremities.

Lumbar radiculopathy often causes a pain condition known as sciatica. This happens when compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve results in pain symptoms felt in the lower back, buttocks, and legs. Sciatica is a common type of lumbar radiculopathy, but not the only type that may negatively affect you.

Pain isn’t the only disruptive potential symptom of a pinched nerve. You may also experience numbness or tingling, or notice impaired reflexes or muscle weakness in the affected area of your body. Your symptoms may worsen at night, or when you’re physically active.

Intervention to relieve your radiculopathy symptoms

When you seek treatment for severe low back pain at the Total Spine Institute, we use diagnostic tools, including nerve block injections, to determine if a pinched spinal nerve could be at the root of your troublesome symptoms.

Sometimes, spinal nerves experience compression due to a neighboring structural issue with your spine. A herniated spinal disc or spinal bone spur might disrupt the space around a nerve. 

Spinal narrowing, known as spinal stenosis, can also result in painfully pinched spinal nerves. And, arthritis and spinal ligament thickening are additional potential causes for radiculopathy.

Your provider at the Total Spine Institute works with you to learn more about your condition and develop the right treatment plan for you. In some cases, you may find pain relief with simple lifestyle changes, physical therapy, or over-the-counter pain medications. Pain injections may also be a good option for you.

However, if an underlying spinal problem is the source of your symptoms, that will need to be addressed. At the Total Spine Institute, we use cutting-edge spine surgery techniques, including robotic-assisted surgery, to keep your procedure as minimally invasive as possible while still delivering effective results.

To learn more about relieving your severe lower back pain, including finding out if you’re dealing with radiculopathy, contact the team at the Total Spine Institute online or over the phone and schedule your initial consultation appointment.