Sciatica Red Flags: When Leg Pain Needs Urgent Care (Uijeongbu, Korea)

Most sciatica settles with non-surgical care, but some symptoms need emergency assessment. Here is how to tell the difference.

In short: Most sciatica settles with non-surgical care, but some symptoms need emergency assessment. Here is how to tell the difference.

Usually not an emergency

Leg pain, tingling and pain worse on sitting are typical of disc-related sciatica and usually improve with treatment.

Go to the emergency department if

You have numbness around the groin or buttocks (saddle area), new difficulty passing urine or controlling your bladder or bowels, rapidly worsening weakness in both legs, or a foot that suddenly drops.

See a doctor within days if

Pain is severe and not controlled with simple medication, you have mild weakness, or symptoms last more than two weeks.

What a pain clinic can do

Examination, MRI referral, selective nerve blocks, epidural injections and adhesiolysis to calm the nerve.

Book: call 031-874-7500. Yonsei Leaders Neurosurgery Clinic, 3F Yugyeong Bldg II, 181 Hoeryong-ro, Uijeongbu, Korea, 1 minute from Balgok Station Exit 2. Open Mon–Fri 09:00–20:00, Sat 09:00–14:00. See directions and international patient help.

Frequently asked questions