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Sciatica sucks (3 Viewers)

Judge Smails

Judge Smails

Footballguy
Have had back issues before, but never sciatica shooting down right side like this.  Glute and especially front quad/inner thigh is a new one for me (front of leg vs back may be piriformis muscle).  4 chiro sessions, multiple massages, ice/heat, stretching, advil, muscle relaxers.  3 weeks in and not much improvement.  Worst is trying to go to sleep.  Thought it would work itself out as most back issues do but now thinking have to go the doctor route.  Big golf tourney in a month - gotta get healthy.  I'm sure a lot of FBG's deal with this - any recommendations?

 
It's awful. P-therapist I know gave me a couple good stretches that helped long term. But short term was really bad.

 
Judge Smails said:
Have had back issues before, but never sciatica shooting down right side like this.  Glute and especially front quad/inner thigh is a new one for me (front of leg vs back may be piriformis muscle).  4 chiro sessions, multiple massages, ice/heat, stretching, advil, muscle relaxers.  3 weeks in and not much improvement.  Worst is trying to go to sleep.  Thought it would work itself out as most back issues do but now thinking have to go the doctor route.  Big golf tourney in a month - gotta get healthy.  I'm sure a lot of FBG's deal with this - any recommendations?
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Epidural

 
My wife is a PT.  My hamstrings are so tight it pulls on my sciatica.  She stretches my hammies and rubs any muscle knots out in my legs.  It usually helps but I am sore after.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
My chiro neighbor recommended doing the "cobra" yoga stretch. It worked for me.
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This is a solid way to go. I used this, in addition to pelvic tilt stretches, the Cow, Cat, and Child poses. It makes for a nice stretch (good way to start the morning) to ease the pain, and my sciatica has been gone for years now. 

https://www.verywell.com/pelvic-tilt-exercise-for-your-lower-back-296802

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/back/better-back-workout/

http://m.wikihow.com/Perform-Cobra-Pose-in-Yoga

 
CletiusMaximus said:
My chiro neighbor recommended doing the "cobra" yoga stretch. It worked for me.
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NOTE - No medical advice below either given or implied, just suggestions to explore and verify for yourself.

Was coming here to say this. A Western, PT/chairo version of essentially this can be found in the thin book Treat Your Own Back by Robin McKenzie (sp?), with something called the McKenzie Extension.

It makes sense. Bio-mechanically, if lower lumbar vertebrae (generally L4 & L5) are front loading on to the disc, whether from postural/slouching issues, and causing it/them to squeeze and bulge out the back, thus impinging on the nerve (in which even minimal contact can cause extreme pain and loss of nerve function), it might be expected that an EQUAL and OPPOSITE bio-mechanical action could effectively reposition and center the disc (note - if posture/slouching either caused the problem in the first place or exacerbated an existing condition, it is obviously important to be vigilant about not reverting/relapsing back to a source or fundamental root cause of the problem in the first place).

Exceptions might be if the impingement isn't coming from front to back but more laterally/side-directed, than an opposite stretch of THAT would be in order, and there are licensed McKenzie Therapists.

Someone I knew had chronic back pain for years and surgery seemed inevitable, he did the exercises, nothing changed immediately, luckily he persevered and made a breakthrough after approx. one month to five weeks.

* These don't involve a massive commitment or investment of time, maybe 5-10 minutes once or ideally twice a day?

 
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What's the underlying issue. My sciatica was so bad I'd close the door to my office, lay on the ground, and literally cry while holding in loud screams. Completely debilitating.  Root cause was impinged nerves in the lower back due to compression in the L4 and L5 spinal joints.

I had tried almost everything and was about to try the experimental and kinda scary sounding inversion and body stretching techniques which scared the crap out of me, but I was just so desperate for some relief.

Ended up getting steroidal injections in my lower back... an hour at the hospital with very minimal pain for the procedure and it worked like ####### magic. Pain relief was tremendous, and then allowed me to work on exercise, losing my gut and building the core.  Needed them a few times a year for a couple years and haven't needed the procedure in years now with only minor, time to time sciatica pain (which I'll be able to address after hernia surgery when I can work out more strenuously again)

 
Don't know the cause.  Tweaked in when golfing in cool weather the day after coming back from Cabo.  Broke my rule of never playing the day after travel.  Master's Sunday.  I've had low back pain before that's kept me away from golf.  Back then it was all due to not stretching.  I'd work out and do a ton of cardio but not stretch much. So hamstrings and hip flexors got really tight.  I have bands, a foam roller and physio ball next to my bed, and use the same at the gym religiously. I'm pretty flexible now.  I also do core stuff.  Problem is I fly a lot and travel just destroys my body.  Between long flights, luggage, backpack, etc it's not good.  I try not to sit much when I work.  Just bought a Varidesk.  

I've had low back pain before, but never firing all the way to my front thigh.  That was a new one. I'm gonna go see a doc.  Can't wait on treatment.  I've been doing all sorts of stretches (some that are recommended here) and the pain in all 3 places is still there.

 
Back pain is the worst.  PT and stretching can definitely help big time, but it's a constant, everyday battle. 

I know you won't want to hear it, but I would stop golfing for a while if you are in that much pain.  The kind of twisting and turning that is involved in golf will only make it that much worse. 

 
 I came here to suggest the stretching but it looks like that's been covered. 

Whenever I have back pain the only relief I can get is laying/sleeping on my back on the hardwood floors. A few days of that and stretching does the trick. 

GL

 
Stretching and heat and electric stimulation and even walking just to lossen the darn thing up is all that works. Hot compress and stretch, take advil, repeat. Good Luck

 
HellToupee said:
My wife has a script for neurontin so she can sleep when her sciatica flares up
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This. I had a bulging disk (L5) and concentrated on PT, and strengthening the core. After doing steroid injections, and sugar water (?!), I said no more to injections with large needles. Neurontin (Gabapentin)  really helped with the pain while going through that, and is not anything you can develop a habit around. 

 
I used to work in the factory that made the active ingredient for gabapentin.  I recommend asking your doctor about it.

 
I had a really bad bout a few years ago.  Couldn't even sit without pain.  Spent the first couple of weeks of a new job lying on the floor.  Pain killers did nothing to stop it and just made me a shell of myself mentally.

My relief came in stages.  First, I had to get the steroid injection directly on the nerve.  They lay you down on a table and xray the needle going in to make sure they get it as close as possible.  2 of those and instant pain relief.

After that, you have to rehab the underlying issue or the pain will be back in as little as a month.  For me, the key to rehab (and what has kept the problem away) was squats.  No weight, 50 body squats per day and it retrained my hip joints and lower back how to move and strengthened up the muscles to a proper balance.  I've just recently started doing some squats with weight just because I'm back into strength training.  I will say it took me about a year to find this out.  Several thousands of wasted dollars were spent on various treatments.

It's been about 3 years now and I've had no back pain last more than a couple of hours.  No sciatica, nothing.

You have to stop the pain and then get yourself in shape.  Whether you believe in creation or evolution, we aren't made to sit at a desk all day every day.  Sciatica is our body's way of rejecting an unnatural motion (or lack of motion).

 
Binky The Doormat said:
I hear that hurts like a mother ####er.  Anyone tried one of the teeter upside-down hanging things?
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It can be a tad uncomfortable for sure, the key is to breathe properly and not tense your body while the rolfer is digging their elbow into your back or side with all their weight behind it. I've had tears in my eyes going through a session but once they stop the pain goes away instantly. I had such back pain and sciatic issues and it was such a game changer for me.

 
Judge Smails said:
Have had back issues before, but never sciatica shooting down right side like this.  Glute and especially front quad/inner thigh is a new one for me (front of leg vs back may be piriformis muscle).  4 chiro sessions, multiple massages, ice/heat, stretching, advil, muscle relaxers.  3 weeks in and not much improvement.  Worst is trying to go to sleep.  Thought it would work itself out as most back issues do but now thinking have to go the doctor route.  Big golf tourney in a month - gotta get healthy.  I'm sure a lot of FBG's deal with this - any recommendations?
Click to expand...
I have three herniated discs in my lower back at my siatica always killed me.  2 months ago I started Pilates.  I always did an work, but apparently the hip work made all the difference.  Haven't felt this good in years.

 
So not much has changed. I miraculously was able to play in my golf tourney with biofeeze, meds, beer, etc.  Never hurt to swing and actually I played great.  Walking aggravates it so I limited that and stayed in the cart as long as possible.  Walking is still my major issue.  Anyway, I've done a ton.  Had the epidural. Worked for 24 hours. Felt great.  Then returned.  That was almost 3 weeks ago.  Meeting with doc tomorrow.  Doesn't look like the steroid part of the injection did much.  I've had 2 rounds of accupuncture.  PT.  Did 2 really deep 90 minute massage sessions.  That really helped.  Don't know if it was technically rolfing, but it's hard to imagine deeper tissue work.  I walked through O'Hare today and it was killing me.  I can sit fine.  Just walking.  Ice/heat helps temporarily.  Bought the Teeter inversion table (tried it 4 times last week at the store).  Taking stronger painkillers to help get through this. Will be one of the happiest days of my life when the nerve pinching ends.

Oh, MRI showed spinal stenosis.  So narrowing of discs in L3-L4 and L4-L5.  The L3-L4 is what's causing the pain down the front of the leg

 
Judge Smails said:
Have had back issues before, but never sciatica shooting down right side like this.  Glute and especially front quad/inner thigh is a new one for me (front of leg vs back may be piriformis muscle).  4 chiro sessions, multiple massages, ice/heat, stretching, advil, muscle relaxers.  3 weeks in and not much improvement.  Worst is trying to go to sleep.  Thought it would work itself out as most back issues do but now thinking have to go the doctor route.  Big golf tourney in a month - gotta get healthy.  I'm sure a lot of FBG's deal with this - any recommendations?
Click to expand...
I have been dealing with this since I was in a car wreck in my twenties. None of that stuff did anything for me. I saw one of the top orthopedists in South Florida and he told me to cut it out. It wasn't going to help the problem was due to bulging disks caused by the accident and nothing short of surgery would really fix it. And then told me not to have surgery until it was so bad I couldn't walk.

For me the biggest thing is watching my weight. I can always tell when it's time to count the calories as I have more pain more often. And really that's been the key for me. Keep the weight manageable and don't do anything stupid lifting wise. Doing that I lead a pretty physically active life at least at work with no real issues. I also credit spending the early part of my injury time on a heated water bed. I don't have it now but I am convinced in the beginning it really helped.

 
I used to have frequent bouts of sciatica due to a herniated disc.  A year and a half ago I bought an inversion table.  I use it for only about 15 minutes a week as a preventive measure.  Haven't had any issues since getting it.

 
Make sure you do not have a ruptured disk.  Most back pain goes away in a couple of weeks.

It hit me hard about 15 years ago and went on and on.  The pain down my leg  was a killer.  I ended up having a partially ruptured L-5 and needed surgery. 

 
Ok.   Got a steriod injection in my back today at 2pm for a l3/l4 rupture/extrusion/whatever else some other doc calls it.      I know they also did the anesthesia injection with it which is supposed to wear off in a few hours while the steriod doesn't kick in for like 3 days.     Now I've been taking tramadol every 6 hours for teh past 5 days to manage the pain and I haven't had one of those since 10 this morning.     Now all night I've been high octane like i'm on some serious pain meds.   I've been hyper-focus and wanting to be super productive.   I actually brought a folding beach chair in the living room an hour sewing up one my slippers.     I've been watching that out in alaska show with that guy otto and his fam and i thought i was being one of those nuts fixing my clothing and living off the land.   My daughter kept asking me what I was doing.     So back to the meds.  I didn't think there's any ####### way in the world i was getting to bed at any reasonable hour.   So I figured I smoke a joint (how i scored that joint is another story; haven't smoked in a few years now with the kids; but that's changing soon enough;  i'm talking to you massachusettes) to help me come down a bit but now i'm feeling an amalgam of both states like i'm almost tripping.  the  scene that comes to mind is johnny depp in one of those pirates of the caribean where he's deserted somewhere on a ship and there's multiple versions of himself and each one is talking to the other.   what ya think?

 
NutterButter said:
Ok.   Got a steriod injection in my back today at 2pm for a l3/l4 rupture/extrusion/whatever else some other doc calls it.      I know they also did the anesthesia injection with it which is supposed to wear off in a few hours while the steriod doesn't kick in for like 3 days.     Now I've been taking tramadol every 6 hours for teh past 5 days to manage the pain and I haven't had one of those since 10 this morning.     Now all night I've been high octane like i'm on some serious pain meds.   I've been hyper-focus and wanting to be super productive.   I actually brought a folding beach chair in the living room an hour sewing up one my slippers.     I've been watching that out in alaska show with that guy otto and his fam and i thought i was being one of those nuts fixing my clothing and living off the land.   My daughter kept asking me what I was doing.     So back to the meds.  I didn't think there's any ####### way in the world i was getting to bed at any reasonable hour.   So I figured I smoke a joint (how i scored that joint is another story; haven't smoked in a few years now with the kids; but that's changing soon enough;  i'm talking to you massachusettes) to help me come down a bit but now i'm feeling an amalgam of both states like i'm almost tripping.  the  scene that comes to mind is johnny depp in one of those pirates of the caribean where he's deserted somewhere on a ship and there's multiple versions of himself and each one is talking to the other.   what ya think?
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:popcorn:  

 
And when the nurse asks you what drugs you've been taking recently, do you really tell her everything.   i mean since last wed when i went to the er, they gave me a shot of something stronger than the oxy i was getting according to the nurse, then an oxy prescription which i took just one of that night before switching to the tramadol, then at the beginning of the week, while taking the tramadol i had 4 of those kratom teas(wife got me that) so probably about 20g of that, a peanut butter edible cookie (wife got me that) and a joint (wife got me that).     ####### women hit for the cycle for team nutterbutter this week.  i've also been taking a muscle relaxer all week and some anti-inflammatory. in addition, the last few nights i just couldn't get to sleep even with the tramadol so i was able to acquire some sleeping meds from my mother in law.   should i have just shown up at the doctors appointment with that all printed out to save us the dictation time.

 
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I had pretty bad sciatica problems for over 2 years on and off . Best I can surmise it was linked to stress and lack of exercise. 3 years sitting behind a desk it turned in to daily suffering that I could only try to just ignore and go on with my laugh. Now after a few months of at least daily light exercise, reduced stress and adequate sleep it’s nearly completely disappeared. The worst is some tightness when bending I’ve but no sharp pain.

 
I can't sleep because on top of my back pain, I have this really dull pain from my left waist line to my scrotum.  It hurts like a mofo whenever I move.  Gonna go to DR. later today.  I'm thinking Kidney?

 
PIK95 said:
I can't sleep because on top of my back pain, I have this really dull pain from my left waist line to my scrotum.  It hurts like a mofo whenever I move.  Gonna go to DR. later today.  I'm thinking Kidney?
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Too obvious to be ball cancer.  Maybe **** cancer?

 
PIK95 said:
I can't sleep because on top of my back pain, I have this really dull pain from my left waist line to my scrotum.  It hurts like a mofo whenever I move.  Gonna go to DR. later today.  I'm thinking Kidney?
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Did you slip on ice of fall lately? Last year I thought I hurt my groin ,waist & hip area + ball pain . Turned out I tore my hip labrum. Good times

 
My Dr. was off today so I'm at the walk in now.  I seem to be the only non-Flu patient.  Now I'm gonna get the flu!  Wife had it last week and I fought it off.  Fml.

 
PIK95 said:
My Dr. was off today so I'm at the walk in now.  I seem to be the only non-Flu patient.  Now I'm gonna get the flu!  Wife had it last week and I fought it off.  Fml.
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When I went to the ER the other not for my back, place was just packed with flu people.    Luckily I didn't get it.     Bring one of those respirator masks construction workers use when working with a lot of dust.  

 
NutterButter said:
When I went to the ER the other not for my back, place was just packed with flu people.    Luckily I didn't get it.     Bring one of those respirator masks construction workers use when working with a lot of dust.  
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Theu were passing out those masks.  Dr. said it's back related which surprised me.  Getting bad pain all the way down to the boys.  I gotta get a new MRI apparently.

 
PIK95 said:
Theu were passing out those masks.  Dr. said it's back related which surprised me.  Getting bad pain all the way down to the boys.  I gotta get a new MRI apparently.
Click to expand...
They pass out the medical masks which are really only good for droplets like if someone sneezed on you.   Anything airborne just goes right through those.    

I'm talking about one these bad boys

Cool on the mri.   I wish I could get those regularly but insurance ain't covering that.  Cool to know where you stand with some actual imagery.  

 
So after suffering from this miserable sciatica that kept me from sleeping for more than an hour at a time, I opted for surgery last week.   I had sort of convinced myself it wasn’t a big deal since it was microscopic (microdisectomy) and outpatient.   

Had the surgery at NYU in the city on Monday  and felt immediate sciatic relief

First night was hard, next day was miserable as was the following night.   But since then it’s gotten progressively better    

I stopped the percocets after the first day and went to 600mg of Advil every six hours 

cut that back to every 8 hour and then cut that back to 400mg every 10 hours

went on a nice walk today and even hung out in the backyard to watch my daughter kick around the soccer ball

i’m a bit sore today but happy that I did what I did. 

 
NutterButter said:
And when the nurse asks you what drugs you've been taking recently, do you really tell her everything.   i mean since last wed when i went to the er, they gave me a shot of something stronger than the oxy i was getting according to the nurse, then an oxy prescription which i took just one of that night before switching to the tramadol, then at the beginning of the week, while taking the tramadol i had 4 of those kratom teas(wife got me that) so probably about 20g of that, a peanut butter edible cookie (wife got me that) and a joint (wife got me that).     ####### women hit for the cycle for team nutterbutter this week.  i've also been taking a muscle relaxer all week and some anti-inflammatory. in addition, the last few nights i just couldn't get to sleep even with the tramadol so i was able to acquire some sleeping meds from my mother in law.   should i have just shown up at the doctors appointment with that all printed out to save us the dictation time.
Click to expand...
Your family seems fun

 
Righetti said:
So after suffering from this miserable sciatica that kept me from sleeping for more than an hour at a time, I opted for surgery last week.   I had sort of convinced myself it wasn’t a big deal since it was microscopic (microdisectomy) and outpatient.   

Had the surgery at NYU in the city on Monday  and felt immediate sciatic relief

First night was hard, next day was miserable as was the following night.   But since then it’s gotten progressively better    

I stopped the percocets after the first day and went to 600mg of Advil every six hours 

cut that back to every 8 hour and then cut that back to 400mg every 10 hours

went on a nice walk today and even hung out in the backyard to watch my daughter kick around the soccer ball

i’m a bit sore today but happy that I did what I did. 
Click to expand...
What surgery?

 
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