Laser acupuncture versus ultrasound in treatment of discogenic sciatica

The aim of the study is to compare the effect of laser acupuncture treatment and ultrasound therapy in patients with sciatica caused by a herniated disc. we recruited 30 patients (17 male and 13 female) with symptoms of discogenic sciatica and they were distributed into two equal groups ( A \ B ), in the group (A) we used laser acupuncture, infrared and therapeutic exercises and in group (B ) we used ultrasound, infrared and therapeutic exercise , we used visual analogue scale (VAS) to assess pain level, modified oswestry disability questionnaire (MODQ) to assess functional disability, straight leg raising test (SLR)to assess range of motionand speed test (ST) to assess walking performance.We found that there were statistically significant differences in measurements before and after treatment within both groups, alsothere were statistically significant difference in measurements after treatment between both groups. So we could conclude that the physical therapy program is an effective program to achieve good results in cases of discogenic sciatica also laser acupuncture therapy and ultrasound therapy in patients with discogenic sciatica giving a marked improvement in the patient’s status, but laser acupuncture treatment gives a more noticeable effect.