Anyone Have Sciatica ?

Man I feel that.

Get you some bubba

My chiropractor is my best friend. 

And acupuncture 

Worked in radiology for a decade, and if memory serves (i'm stoned, so not likely), there are 4 primary nerves that can cause sciatica nerve symptoms, but the sciatic nerve is only one of them.  Where the specific pain occurs can help localize which nerve it is, etc.  

Imagining (MRI, Cat Scan, X-ray) can demonstrate some of the damage to the lumbar spine. Arthritic changes around the foramen in the spine another cause (vs buldging discs, etc).  That's very common in the cervical spine as well, causes many arm / wrist / hand issues.  

One observation, if you get steroid injections (many acronyms depending on who does it),  in Radiology, they inject some dye before injecting the steroid, make sure the medicine gets to the correct location...  amazing how often the dye would escape into a vein!  The other specialists don't use the dyes, they just inject.  Having done both, it's quite common for the treatment to have a chance if the numbing medication works well in relieving the symptoms.  

i hear laying flat on your back and resting your legs on the coffee table will help take some strain off

I used to have mild sciatica issues @ 2 that occasionally would flare to 8, but I bought and inversion table and using it has all but eliminated the pain. I actually have considered selling the table because I haven't needed to use it in about a year. I worry though that once it's gone the pain will flare up and I'll have to use the one at Sporting Goods store because they are a huge pain to assemble new.

Sorry that sucks. There isn’t anything that’s worse than dealing with that day in and day out.

From my experience you have to find what works for you and I have tried them all except for surgery which I know I’m just putting off. Beware body workers/healers who have never had a real injury. I don’t let anyone young anywhere near my back. For me the modalities that require me to participate like Pilates work better than ones where I’m passive like acupuncture.

A couple of years ago I decided to take one potential cause off the plate and started 4 times or more a week practice of working to open my hamstrings, quads, and hips. Pretty much if I smoke out I stretch. That did more for me than anything else I tried.

You mentioned heat I would try some ice to go along with the heat. You can go back and forth. Hope you find what works for you.

For mine I would do what Turtle said, then start a sit up, getting shoulders moving forward, and hold that position. You will feel it in your stomach muscles. Hold it as long as you can a keep repeating. That would relieve the pain going down my leg.

I had a bad case in 2016, constant pain for months and then one day it just went away....

 The Last 10 Days Or So<<<

Hang in there, that's not all that long in the grand scheme of things & will likely get better on its own.

I've had sciatica that I thought was "permanent" reverse course and remain being nominal ever since after being vigilent with PT.

One thing I learned that seems counter-intuitive, but really helped, is not to stretch my leg when there's a flare-up and can feel the pain.  Instead, do "nerve glides".

I'm right there with you brother.  10 days ago my lower back locked up and it's bothering me.  It's only the second time I've had to deal with it.  Last time was over five years ago.  Back then I relied on warm baths with Epsom salts and ibuprofen and like Woz said, one day after five days or so, I woke up and it was gone.  Ever since then, I regularly stretch in the morning and have added yoga and core conditioning the last three years, so this current flare up puzzles me.  I am still doing the stretching/yoga workout in the morning and it helps my back get loosened up, but it seems to tighten back up once I sit down.  
 

My sister-in-law was telling me this week that one of her favorite sayings of her mom was "growing old is not for sissies".  No doubt.  Good luck, I hope you get relief soon.

Perhaps relevant

In January I pulled a muscle in my butt from lifting heavy garbage cans of dirt

Well I found that having a sore spot on my way lower back / buttocks has caused what I call sciatica
or significant pain on my left leg

And I've been doing landscape project basically seven hours a day for a few months

And it still hurts     it's really hard to even walk the dogs sometime from the pain on my left leg   Ibuprofen helps a bit and helps me sleep

i should roll on a tennis ball and flicking take a break from projects as I am not as  young?

Haven't done acupressure in many many years.  Might be a good idea......?

Have you ever tried a tens unit. Put it on zap it and sometimes it loosens things up for you or neutralizes the pain.

Plf,  I had a 360 degree L4 L5 S1 Anterior/interior spinal fusion in 2015. It took around 3/4 years to totally heal. I am left with limited range of motion 

I was lucky with the surgeon I chose. I did a shit ton of exercise a d stretching (pt) afterwards. I felt like a beast.

No more spinal ,sciatica issues.  Just the usual muscle aches now.

Zero regrets.

I consider it a sucess.

Best o' luck, online friend. 

I was diagnosed by the top spinal guy in Ct 5 years ago, I had excruciating sciatic pain in the right butt cheek with numbness down the right leg. This is after 2 herniated L3 disc surgery's 20 years and 15 years earlier.  He recommended a total L1 thru L5 fusion. Then he proceeded to show me the hardware that would permanently be installed in my body. I said, thank you I'll think about it. Having been involved in healthcare I saw the aftereffects of such a surgery, in most cases not good, folks going from bed to a wheelchair and back. I opted out on the knife and opted in on certain exercises and a chiropractic adjustment once a month, 40 bucks a crack. The chiro changed my life, all but eliminating the sciatic pain, but still have to watch every move I make, literally. Everything is ergonomics now, how I sit, type of chair, lift bend all that shit. A dropper of high test cbd in the am coffee, 2 droppers in noontime icetea, and 3 with the evenings beers does the trick. Smoking less these days, better for my well worn pipes, lungs.

Good luck all brothers and sisters of the shaky bones.

Plf  and Jaz, et al, I had an L4-L5 fusion in 2013 and healed enough to continue most of my routine after trying alternative PT methods.

Last spring the pain returned. It caused major sleep disruption and inability to work on the worst days. After an MRI, I was told there was more slippage and a cyst growing on the spinal nerve bundle. I had an L2-L3-L4-L5 fusion and the cyst removed. 10 months later the recovery is slower than hoped/expected.

I have been doing regular, more traditional PT this time around, but I'm waiting to turn the corner on pain management and the regular sleepless nights.

PAIN SUCKS!!!!!

I'm sitting here with an ice pack on my back as I type. 

Here's hoping we can all Get Back To Where We Once Belonged!

Feel better soon!

I find this guy has great exercises https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fDkw-Zi5MBg

Lots of good suggestions in here. As someone with multiple chronic spinal conditions, the things I’ve found to work (for me) are something like:

Swedish massage and chiro

lots of weed

no dairy products (directly causes inflammation)

regular, daily activity (sounds dumb but staying moving is actually the best medicine)

accupuncture (regularly, like twice a week. You can’t just go once or twice. The results are cumulative)

cut out all fast food and as much packaged food as possible.

stay hydrated

get a car with proper lumbar support

get a good mattress (expensive, yes. We spend a third of our lives in bed. You deserve it) pillows too.

yoga or a good stretching routine every morning and throughout the day

A good firm back roller tube to assist ^

inversion table as willows said

hot tub or hot springs (if you don’t have one, maybe look into a gym or ymca membership where one is)

tiny amounts of Percocet (5mg) when absolutely necessary. Opiates and cannabis actually seem to increase the efficacy of each other, but this takes discipline. Obviously don’t get carried away with the pill part. 

Ibuprofen. Again, don’t get carried away. It’s liver toxic in high doses. No more than a gram a day and this still might be pushing it.

get good shoes, and even proper orthotic inserts. Have a few pair so you can change them throughout the day if you are on your feet a lot. Keep a spare pair in the car.

no alcohol or cigarettes 

none of of these things are really effective just on their own, they’re more each like a five or ten percent solution, coupled with other methods to form something of a regimen

Surgery aside, there’s really no silver bullet. (I personally decided the risks were too high, and it would always be there as an option on the back burner anyways. Might need it some day, but probably not until I’m literally crippled.) For some, it’s necessary right away. Developing a whole quiver of treatment options for myself and employing each one as necessary throughout the day, for me, so far is how I’ve managed to deal going on ten years now. Back pain can really rule your life if you let it. 

Good info team

thanks

feel well all.
I'm buying a tens unit today and I seem to recall many years ago getting acupressure or maybe it was a chiropractor who used the electro stimulation as part of treatment 

I did acupuncture with only a tiny bit success and commitment    Quit 

i have been given CBD but not used it

dont know why. Don't smoke either.  A little Makers mark in the evening halos me a bitter 

i fucked my lower back when i was 16 and it has never left me. I've had sciatica so bad at times I couldn't roll out of bed or walk. Never had surgery due to lack of insurance. 

already mentioned above are 4 critical items: footwear: when we aren't in bed we're on our feet. Improper shoes can easily contribute to back pain. Exercise (just move your body all day, walking is excellent if you can, sitting too much is a disease), a memory foam mattress, not Tempurpedic, but a cheaper online one, made more permanent improvement than anything else. Seriously, I was foolish for not investing in better bedding earlier in my life, and an inversion board. The first time on the inversion board, my lower back audibly popped and I have felt even better ever since. I use it monthly just to "maintain".  Also mentioned. take care of yourself through a decent diet. Try to keep your refined sugar intake down.  I smoke and eat everyday. Weed works for me for minor aches and pains, but I've yet to find a strain or any combo of thc/cbd that cuts through the pain of a pinched nerve,  That shit is brutal.  Best wishes, plf

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144873.Healing_Back_Pain

I'd highly suggest looking at Dr John Sarno's work in this area.

He contends that a huge percentage of lower back pain has emotional roots.  We used to, as a society get a lot of "ulcers" now those are gone and its a lot of lower back pain because in this world, having a broken body is much more acceptable than having a broken soul.

Science is even starting to catch up to his ideas.  His patients used to swear by him.  

Intermittent fasting and a good osteopath along with a little self forgiveness will do wonders for your pain. I promise.

There is definitely a mind-body connection, and depression and other emotional challenges can manifest as pain, as ghost pain, and especially where real, mechanically debilitating issues have existed prior and the pain receptors are already very trigger happy. Self care really is #1. That sounds like an interesting book.

glue/Cement.  I had an L5-S1 fusion a couple of decades ago.  Have tried most of what others have mentioned - to include radio-frequency ablation - burning of the nerves.  Had a recent scan of my lumbar area and there were micro-fractures in my sacrum.  had some glue/cement and the pain in my lumbar area and the pain reduction in that area (to include sciatica) has greatly been reduced.  I also bought a pilates reformer which I use daily to help me stretch areas that I have difficulty getting to on my own - but definitely recommend that you get expert advice on how to use reformer else you could do more harm.

one thing that i do every morning and evening which is helpful is being grateful for being alive and knowing that i have it relatively great compared to most other human beings.

I've heard it said pain is 90% mental, the other half is physical

No no no that was baseball, sorry.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/2/16338094/dr-john-sarno-...

The above link reminded me of that ABC movie of the Week that came out in the 70s.

Tribes, starring Jan Michael Vincent.  He could mentally block out the pain as a draftee in bootcamp on his way to Vietnam. 

>>I Have Orthopedic Shoes They Are Awesome ! They Are Called The Carnegie

You went Velcro?  Heady!

The above link reminded me of that ABC movie of the Week that came out in the 70s.

Tribes, starring Jan Michael Vincent.  He could mentally block out the pain as a draftee in bootcamp on his way to Vietnam.<<<

I know one person who swears by it.

Perhaps many of us around these parts have witnessed how the senses from "afar", but personally I've never been able to detach myself from the back pain.as just another input.

FaceonMars link is good backup to exactly what I was saying.

His article is about the same guy I mentioned.

Jesus, we're an aging lot, aren't we? Lol

Phil is 80

Phil rocks, to be able to play bass standing on stage as long and as well as he does is amazing.

2014 I had my left knee replaced at Christmas time. I went back to teaching and had to go up and down stairs for my job pushing in and out of classes. My leg started going numb from my knee to my foot. I thought it had to do with the new knee.

Come to find out after a nerve test and seeing a specialist I had periformis syndrome. Hurt like a mofo. The performis muscle in your ass pinches your sciatica. It took 6 months of PT and 2 cortisone of to get me back to normal.

I walk daily and do stretching and work on my fat core to stay away from that again. I couldn't walk a half mile without having to sit down let alone dance at shows. My dad had spinal stenosis and I'm afraid I'm heading that way. Stand tall while you can

Man that sucks, hope you didn't fracture your hip. My right hip hurt like a mofo for a year. Tried all sorts of treatments and ended up with a replacement. The Dr says I guess your hip was hurting, you had a crack in it. Good luck brother, stay off it and ice it.

what are you doing mentally to help heal?

If your insurance will cover it, go for a replacement. You will be up and walking the same day as the surgery. You will be home.after the 

replacement within 2 days of less. I was walking a mile two weeks after I got the New hip. No pain, huge change. The longer you wait, 

The more screwed up your back and other joints will get. Leg home connected to the thigh bone, thigh home connected to the knee bone. You get the picture......

>>> Not So Sure you think my mind Can Heal Something Physical  - <<<

It's all relative man

have you tried the dmt?

When you get your hip replacement, biggest fuck up is putting it in at to shallow an angle, end up with a lot of dislocations...  you don't want a lot of dislocations, FWIW  

Git-er-dun, my doc grew up in Ithaca and interned at Stanford before returning to upstate. Real good guy, did a helluva a job.

My sister-in-law suffered with a bad hip for 7 years until it became unbearable before getting it fixed. Believe me 2 weeks after the surgery I was walking mile and a half with no pain. 

Thanks for the link on those exercises BlackPeter.  I have added them as a warm-up to my regular daily stretching/yoga routine, and have had diminishing pain and tightness each day.  2 minutes of each day very well spent.