Sciatica News and Research

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Sciatica is a symptom of a problem with the sciatic nerve, a large nerve that runs from the lower back down the back of each leg. It controls muscles in the back of your knee and lower leg and provides feeling to the back of your thigh, part of your lower leg and the sole of your foot. When you have sciatica, you have pain, weakness, numbness or tingling. It can start in the lower back and extend down your leg to your calf, foot, or even your toes. It's usually on only one side of your body.

Artificial intelligence may influence whether you can get pain medication

Elizabeth Amirault had never heard of a Narx Score. But she said she learned last year the tool had been used to track her medication use.

30 Aug 2023

Surgery may be better option to relieve leg pain and disability in some people with sciatica

Surgery to relieve leg pain and disability in some people with sciatica may be better than other non-surgical treatments, but the benefits are short-lived, lasting only up to 12 months, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.

19 Apr 2023

Pulsed radiofrequency combined with steroid injection leads to better outcomes in patients with sciatica

Researchers found that a minimally invasive procedure combined with epidural steroid injection treatment led to superior pain reduction and disability improvement over one year in patients with sciatica.

28 Mar 2023

UQ spin-off company to develop precision painkillers for treating debilitating conditions

Precision painkillers that are more accurate and less harmful to the liver are set to be developed by a University of Queensland spin-off company -; potentially changing the lives of millions of people.

3 Nov 2022

Gait analysis in animals: Treadmill versus non treadmill system

This interview will look into talking about different systems used for analyzing gait in animals, in treadmill versus non-treadmill systems.

From Noldus Information Technology 8 Aug 2022

Researchers assess the evidence basis for medications used to treat spine-related pain in older adults

Spine-related pain is increasingly common in older adults. While medications play an important role in pain management, their use has limitations in geriatric patients due to reduced liver and kidney function, comorbid medical problems and polypharmacy (the simultaneous use of multiple drugs to treat medical conditions).

28 Jun 2022

Study shows anti-itch and pain relief potential of protein in tick saliva

A protein found in tick saliva could be turned into a drug that eases itching and chronic pain in people.

8 Mar 2022

More than 50% of space travelers experience back pain, experts say

With growing numbers of humans venturing into space, experts predict an increase in the number of people experiencing the physical toll of such travel, including highly common forms of back pain.

21 Oct 2021

Effort to decipher hospital prices yields key finding: don’t try it at home

A federal price transparency rule that took effect this year was supposed to give patients, employers and insurers a clearer picture of the true cost of hospital care.

9 Jul 2021

Study shows antidepressant drugs are largely ineffective for back and osteoarthritis pain

Antidepressant drugs are largely ineffective for back and osteoarthritis pain, despite being widely used for these conditions, suggests a review of the evidence published by The BMJ today.

20 Jan 2021

Antidepressants are not effective for treating back pain, osteoarthritis, shows study

Antidepressants are commonly used worldwide to treat pain, however new research from the University of Sydney shows they offer little to no help for people suffering chronic back pain and osteoarthritis and may even cause harm.

20 Jan 2021

Researchers find potential new target for chronic pain treatment

A research group at Hiroshima University observed a potential new target for chronic pain treatment. Further research using this receptor could lead to new, more effective drugs to use in pain-relieving treatment for chronic pain.

7 Mar 2019

Researchers develop electroencephalography-based test to objectively measure pain

If you've ever visited the emergency department with appendicitis, or you're one of the 100 million U.S. adults who suffer from chronic pain, you're familiar with a row of numbered faces, with expressions from smiling to grimacing, used to indicate pain levels.

6 Nov 2018

Physician-scientists treat first patient in the U.S. with focused ultrasound for neuropathic leg pain

University of Maryland physician-scientists have treated the first patient in the United States with MRI-guided focused ultrasound for neuropathic leg pain as part of a pilot clinical trial.

30 Oct 2018

Effective dose of cannabidiol for safe pain relief without the typical 'high'

In the wake of cannabis legalization, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center and McGill University have delivered encouraging news for chronic pain sufferers by pinpointing the effective dose of marijuana plant extract cannabidiol for safe pain relief without the typical "high" or euphoria produced by the THC.

25 Oct 2018

Daily exercise facilitates elimination of toxic proteins from muscles

A study published in Scientific Reports by researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, in partnership with colleagues in the United States and Norway, shows that the lack of muscle stimulus results in a buildup of inadequately processed proteins in muscle cells and consequently leads to muscle weakness or wasting.

27 Sep 2018

Medical marijuana may alter brain connections to provide relief from chronic nerve pain

When medical marijuana is taken for chronic nerve pain, it may provide pain relief by reducing connections between the areas of the brain that process emotions and sensory signals, according to a study published in the September 5, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

6 Sep 2018

Alpine HC launches new range of electric adjustable beds for comfort and mobility

Alpine HC Group, the manufacturer of Opera care beds and mattresses, have launched a new range of electric adjustable beds for comfort and mobility. The beds have an adjustable base for orthopedic support that enables the elderly/disabled user to sit up in bed and elevate their legs.

From Opera Care 31 May 2018

Study finds neuroinflammation in spinal cord, nerve roots of patients with chronic sciatica

A study by Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has found, for the first time in humans, that patients with chronic sciatica - back pain that shoots down the leg - have evidence of inflammation in key areas of the nervous system.

10 May 2018

Post-surgical opioids can prolong pain for more than three weeks, study shows

Giving opioids to animals to quell pain after surgery prolongs pain for more than three weeks and primes specialized immune cells in the spinal cord to be more reactive to pain, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.

16 Apr 2018