Sciatica

[Mick]

Originally Posted by The_Dude

I took my wallet out of my back pocket. After many months, the pain went away. You should as about some PT.

Believe me, when I had my sciatica thing, I took my wallet out of my pocket many times!

That is our health care today, they don't want to "cure" you, they want to "treat" you. I spent weeks waiting for them to give me an MRI to find the problem, meanwhile, I had to see a "pain management" specialist once per week. One time, I made the mistake of telling her that the pain meds actually worked some, that bitch literally laughed, and took away the Vicodin that was reasonably effective. Gotta keep stirring it around to make sure I show up to the appointment next week. And then they wonder why patients get addicted.

[slewfoot]

Well, "as seen on tv" is now promoting a form of Sciatica knee brace thing with a pressure point piece in it


Please get it and maybe they'll take that damn commercial off.

[Strats-N-Vettes]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

No doubt Strats has lot of dolls, each with lots of holes.

There’s no proof of that.

[Dan47]

Originally Posted by Mick

August 2016, I woke up with excruciating pain in what I called my hip. The nurses kept saying it wasn't my hip, it was my butt. Anyway, it was right where the thigh bone connects to the pelvic bone, and they all said it was sciatica, which I am sure it was.

Sciatica is a general term for pain caused by an impingement of the sciatic nerve. Said another way, saying you have "sciatica pain" really isn't very helpful, as what you really want to do is figure out what is impinging the nerve, and treat that as the underlying cause, rather than just treating the symptom = pain.

In my case, the impingement was caused by a nasty herniated disc at L5/L6. I'll save the gory details and skip to what worked: Oral steroids. I did a 7 day steroid pack, and at the end of it, I thought it didn't work. But about a week or two later, I started to notice that each day, the pain was just a tiny bit less than the day before. It was 6 months before I could sit in a chair for more than a few minutes, but after a year or so, I would say I'm basically healed.

Good luck! Make them give you an MRI!

I got an MRI and they have me on an oral steroid. I’ve also been watching videos on treating it with stretching and ice. Feels way better today than yesterday. Yesterday was a pain horror show all day long, especially at work. I could barely walk and spent most of last night awake, too.

Much better today with just the occasional reminder of how bad it could get. As soon as it hit, I’d go stretch and after, focus on keeping my posture straight. Got a freezer being delivered to my office tomorrow so I’ll have ice on hand. It seems to help a lot with this injury.

[Dan47]

Originally Posted by slewfoot

Well, "as seen on tv" is now promoting a form of Sciatica knee brace thing with a pressure point piece in it


Please get it and maybe they'll take that damn commercial off.

I’ve got one on order that wraps around one upper thigh and waist. Didn’t see it on T.V. but as soon as I searched for “sciatic treatments”, it’s been one ad after another on my computers.

[BRUIZER]

Similar issue: L5 spondylolisthesis = nerve pain running thru hip down leg.
Decades of Taekwondo and four years of collegiate rugby aka padless football had me at the chiropractor and acupuncture DR (moxibustion and herbs) weekly. Occasionally I'd utilize PT.
Added-in was/is daily stretching and maintaining core strength.

Out of the three therapys, acupuncture resolved the pain 100% at that time.

I was offered steroids and cortisone shots on several occasions and declined due to adverse reactions and long-term side effects.

I swim and/or bike daily along with stretching and that keeps any debilitating pain at bay for the most part. Heat therapy also helps in the am and ice packs to treat any inflammation.

[Olustee bus]

I had sciatica for a few years. Sometimes it got so bad I could not walk in the morning. Had to crawl out of my bedroom to the living room. Nothing helped.

Then, the damndest thing happened. I took a trip with a friend from Florida to Oklahoma and then to south Texas and then home to Florida.

After that trip, my pain was gone! Don't have a clue why for sure. What I believe happened is that the car I was riding in was a Toyota Supra (this was in the 80's. The seats were very supportive. After more than 2 weeks riding around, I was cured of the sciatica. Never really had much pain down my leg after that.

I have had back problems since (degenerative disc problems) but no pain shooting down my legsl

[RatDog]

I have DDD and have some level of back pain almost all of the time.

A couple of years ago, awful pain stared going down my leg. My doc tried a couple of rounds of anti-inflammatory injections in me lower back. The injections didn’t hurt but they didn’t help either. Then he did an RF Ablation on the sciatic nerve. It didn’t hurt either and it solved the problem. The pain was gone immediately and hasn’t come back in 2 years.

I just had an ablation in my neck last month for constant neck pain. Same results as with my back. Pain free.

Ask your doctor about it. A Pain Management doctor did my procedures.

Good luck! Pain is tough.

Steve

[slewfoot]

This could be for any of you.

Somewhere around 15 years ago I was doing PT at the VA for my back. One of the exercises was to roll up a towel about the length of your back and place it under and along your spine and lay on it for a while.

After about a week of this, didn't seem to work well because the towel went flat after a few minutes and did nothing.

I was in Dollar Tree one day and saw those foam noodles kids use for swimming. Dense but not solid and has a bit of give to it. I cut a piece about 18 inches and works perfect to this day. Also get a few pops out of it using your own body weight.

There are several different diameter sized noodles and these would be the smaller of them all-around 2 inches.

[StaticCling]

Read a book called Healing Back Pain by Dr John Sarno, it saved my life.

I’ve been through what you are dealing with and more. Way more.

There is absolutely nothing physically wrong with you, it’s stress…more specifically Tension Myositis Syndrome

[ZipZap]

Sciatica, per se, requires a really specific examination to diagnose. Much lower back pain is called sciatica, but you may have a different cause than others.

For me, the pain happened to be an issue with the piriformis muscle. I get a periodic spasm that literally causes my leg to buckle. Nothing but rest, targeted stretching and Robaxin (methocarbamol) will get it to back off to a livable level. I have a standing scrip for the drug from my doc, and take it when the spasms return. It's definitely gotten better since a hip replacement and continued stretching, but it still comes back.

The one thing you noted that I'd be careful with is the Tramadol. The horror stories with this drug can be seen in Africa right now. The whole continent seems to be headed toward addiction.

My retirement gift to myself was a spa. I'm in it almost every day, and that seems to help keep things loose.

Good luck

[vettemed]

Years ago I was within days of needing spinal surgery due to L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc disease. I started sleeping on the floor, did that for over a year, and other than minor flareups, I've been basically pain free for close to 10 years now. Never had that surgery.

[Dan47]

Had another bad night last night and thinking my armchair might be playing a role? I think it might promote bad posture so I'm going to switch to our other couch and see if that helps.

Thanks for all the responses folks. Makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one that has or is dealing with this and the advice will hopefully prove helpful. I've go so much to do with work and home and this injury is such a PITA. Peach tree needs harvesting and such, etc.

I know this much, when this injury heals, I'm going to appreciate my good health a whole bunch more.

[RatDog]

Originally Posted by vettemed

Years ago I was within days of needing spinal surgery due to L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc disease. I started sleeping on the floor, did that for over a year, and other than minor flareups, I've been basically pain free for close to 10 years now. Never had that surgery.

I started sleeping on my back in a recliner a few years ago and it has made a big difference for me. I actually find it more comfortable than a bed. I can’t sleep in a bed at all anymore.

Steve

[ToolMaker]

I've been living with it, if that's what you call it, for 20 yrs.

All I can say is, I found I'm not suicidal.

[Lakota]

I used the attached a number of times.

Mueller Adjustable Back Brace, Black, One Size Fits Most
$16.48 at Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mueller-A...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[StaticCling]

The first step is recognizing that it's in your head. The pain is real, but the cause is emotional.

Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) is a concept developed by John Sarno, MD, that treats several forms of pain conditions. The theory of Tension Myositis Syndrome is that your mind creates pain symptoms in order to aid in the repression of subconscious thoughts and feelings.

I know it sounds like quackery, but it literally saved my life. I was on the surgery table and walked out. I rejected this for years, until I finally gave in and read the book. A friend finally convinced me to read it...he suffered the same issues, multiple back surgeries etc.

Now, when I feel an episode coming on, I just say to myself "Nope" - "Something must be pissing me off right now", things like that.

Honestly, I think the multiple Steroid injections in my spine ****ed me up and caused nerve damage in other areas. The "cure" is worse than the disease...Not everything requires pharmaceuticals...

[StaticCling]

There was a study done a number of years ago where they offered random people MRI's on their backs for free. Out of that, a large percentage had back/sciatica issues, and the other people didn't.

People that didn't have pain were found to have herniated discs, cracks and other structural "abnormalities" at the same rate as the people that DID have pain. In other words, it's completely NORMAL to have these things. It's part of the aging process.

I tried EVERYTHING. Inversion Tables, Tens Units, Chiropractors, Massage, Narcotics and other meds (prescribed of course), Heat Pads, Cold Packs Multiple Steroid Shots (Fluroscapy or whatever) - NONE OF IT WORKED.

I was scheduled for surgery, I read the book and the pain went away. I went to the scheduled surgery on the day of, told the surgeon I wasn't in pain and walked out.

I haven't been in pain since...that was 5 years ago. There is SOMETHING to this.

[RatDog]

If those abnormalities didn’t pinch or otherwise impact a nerve, there would be no feeling of pain, right?

Take care,
Steve

[Dan47]

Originally Posted by StaticCling

The first step is recognizing that it's in your head. The pain is real, but the cause is emotional.



I know it sounds like quackery, but it literally saved my life. I was on the surgery table and walked out. I rejected this for years, until I finally gave in and read the book. A friend finally convinced me to read it...he suffered the same issues, multiple back surgeries etc.

Now, when I feel an episode coming on, I just say to myself "Nope" - "Something must be pissing me off right now", things like that.

Honestly, I think the multiple Steroid injections in my spine ****ed me up and caused nerve damage in other areas. The "cure" is worse than the disease...Not everything requires pharmaceuticals...

I actually have an xray and MRI showing the sciatic nerve being impinged where it exits at L5. I don't doubt that some people develop what happened to you but many of us wear out our bodies with age. Arthritis, herniated discs, etc. are real conditions.

That said, I believe it probably is possible for some people to dismiss and ignore pain through willpower alone. Not me, I use Ice and medicine.