Judge Smails
Footballguy
As stated in my Sciatica thread, I've been a gimp since April 9th. Felt a tweak on my 2nd hole playing on Master's Sunday. Done everything I can think of, including:
It's been really challenging. Terrible sciatic pain mostly down the front and outside of my right thigh down to the shin. Have the spot in my lower back that is problematic and it radiates to my glute and hip, but the real problem is my leg. It's basically dead. I can bend, rotate, sit, etc. Can actually play golf (though I've shut it down). I just can't walk much without it hurting. I've got a bag full of meds. Lidocaine and anti-inflammatory topical creams, other anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxers and then finally when flare ups get too bad I have Norco. Mostly I just use ice and heat. I took all of the above during my golf tourney a few weeks ago and when I went for a checkup now my blood pressure, which was 116/76 during my physical last October, was 150/106. I got it re-checked when I saw my GP on Friday and is was down to 130/96, but it's still elevated. Getting a blood pressure cuff to monitor. He thinks it's 90% related to my body dealing with the pain and loss of flow in my leg and is not concerned, but will put me on a temporary blood pressure med until we get through this if it doesn't go down. Obviously less exercise is not helping my blood pressure either.
The epidural didn't work. Basically I had 1 day of pure bliss, but this was just the pain killer. The steroid part did nothing. It was back on day 3. The plan now is just to do physical therapy, start some cardio again with a recumbent bike, and then see where we are in a month. If no progress then it's referral to a surgeon. My GP says with what I have (spinal stenosis, L3-L4 and L4-L5, very narrow on both right and left sides but only pain in right for now) it's very, very likely that surgery will be needed. Even though the spinal specialist who does injections is with the famed Kerlan-Jobe Clinic I'm investigating all doctors in So Cal with my insurance to try and find the best.
When I first started this I was in the mindset that surgery was absolutely the last resort. But I'm seeing zero improvement in 2 months. I can avoid flare ups by not walking (usually walk my chocolate lab twice a day for over an hour combined each day I'm not on the road, love it), not going to the gym, not golfing, not having sex, etc. But I sorta like all 4. So if I have to do surgery to fix this I will.
So if you've had back surgery please share your experience/recommendations. One golfing friend said his wife had the exact same scenario as me, she did an outpatient procedure and walked out of there like new - instantly. I've also seen the Steve Kerr/Tiger Woods stories. I'm looking for a specialist who does minimally invasive procedures. Likely a laminectomy to create space but not sure if a fusion will be necessary to make the space permanent (otherwise can reoccur with arthritis, and I have some of that being 55). Heard a regular laminectomy has a much longer recovery time.
- 4 chiropractic sessions, including STEM and ice
- Probably 8 deep tissue massages
- 2 acupuncture sessions
- XRay and MRI
- Epidural
- Multiple physical therapy sessions, and doing the stretching exercises daily
- Bought an inversion table and using that twice a day. Feels great - supposed to help with with spinal compression
It's been really challenging. Terrible sciatic pain mostly down the front and outside of my right thigh down to the shin. Have the spot in my lower back that is problematic and it radiates to my glute and hip, but the real problem is my leg. It's basically dead. I can bend, rotate, sit, etc. Can actually play golf (though I've shut it down). I just can't walk much without it hurting. I've got a bag full of meds. Lidocaine and anti-inflammatory topical creams, other anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxers and then finally when flare ups get too bad I have Norco. Mostly I just use ice and heat. I took all of the above during my golf tourney a few weeks ago and when I went for a checkup now my blood pressure, which was 116/76 during my physical last October, was 150/106. I got it re-checked when I saw my GP on Friday and is was down to 130/96, but it's still elevated. Getting a blood pressure cuff to monitor. He thinks it's 90% related to my body dealing with the pain and loss of flow in my leg and is not concerned, but will put me on a temporary blood pressure med until we get through this if it doesn't go down. Obviously less exercise is not helping my blood pressure either.
The epidural didn't work. Basically I had 1 day of pure bliss, but this was just the pain killer. The steroid part did nothing. It was back on day 3. The plan now is just to do physical therapy, start some cardio again with a recumbent bike, and then see where we are in a month. If no progress then it's referral to a surgeon. My GP says with what I have (spinal stenosis, L3-L4 and L4-L5, very narrow on both right and left sides but only pain in right for now) it's very, very likely that surgery will be needed. Even though the spinal specialist who does injections is with the famed Kerlan-Jobe Clinic I'm investigating all doctors in So Cal with my insurance to try and find the best.
When I first started this I was in the mindset that surgery was absolutely the last resort. But I'm seeing zero improvement in 2 months. I can avoid flare ups by not walking (usually walk my chocolate lab twice a day for over an hour combined each day I'm not on the road, love it), not going to the gym, not golfing, not having sex, etc. But I sorta like all 4. So if I have to do surgery to fix this I will.
So if you've had back surgery please share your experience/recommendations. One golfing friend said his wife had the exact same scenario as me, she did an outpatient procedure and walked out of there like new - instantly. I've also seen the Steve Kerr/Tiger Woods stories. I'm looking for a specialist who does minimally invasive procedures. Likely a laminectomy to create space but not sure if a fusion will be necessary to make the space permanent (otherwise can reoccur with arthritis, and I have some of that being 55). Heard a regular laminectomy has a much longer recovery time.