What is the best treatment for sciatica- injections or physical therapy?

Best is what works: The best therapy is what works. That being said, it is generally preferred that we utilize non-invasive treatments (physical therapy, medications, etc.) before we utilize invasive treatments (injections, surgery, etc.).

See below: Usually i found sciatica is best treated with physical therapy however if the patient cannot do pt because of too much pain or it is not getting better with pt, i will usually do an epidural cortisone injection and pt. This resolves things in the majority of cases. In cases where it does not resolve or if there is such severe pain that the patient cannot move or progressive weakness , surgery.

Hard to Say: Injections will give you pain relief early, but PT can be just as helpful but will take time to get relief. There is new research coming out that when you are in a lot of pain, you're body actually stops you from performing exercises so that you may not benefit from PT initially. So we believe that if you at least improve your pain first, you can then proceed with the exercise therapy programs.