DCJobber's blog

Talk to akrob about it. He’s had some trouble along those lines

Thanks will do, Jeff/Geoff ?

You can also treat it by resting it and taking ibuprofen 800 mg twice a day for a few days routinely and taper down. I haven’t had sciatica in a few years but used to get it routinely when I worked on my feet all day.

To simplify things a bit: Sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Sciatic pain can have a variety of causes, ranging from a herniated disc, SI-Joint issues, spinal stenonis, a muscle impinging on the sciatic nerve (most commonly, but not exclusively, the piriformis is the culprit here) and there are a few other, less common possibilities. In severe cases it may require an operation, but mostly it is fixed/managed through physio therapy. It shouldn’t be a career-ending condition if you co-operate with your therapist and do the prescribed exercises regularly.
The first step is to see a therapist/doctor and get it diagnosed.

My sciatica pain is from a narrowing of the spine pathways for the sciatic nerves. I received ablation s which are like electric shocks to kill the nerves. After a varying period of months the nerves heal and I’m back to the pain again. When you rest your back the inflammation of the nerves can quiet so the pain disappears. At its worst the pains shot down my legs from my aching butt. The pain was like getting tasers shot into the back of my legs.

The pain is in my glutes and shoots down my right leg and to my spine. I am using Flexeriland ibuprofen mostly. I am getting used to it and learning how to avoid certain sudden movements. We'll see how it goes... The pain is not so bad once I get moving but getting up and sitting still gets pretty intense. Especially trying to get in the car is bad.

Tutsi is right DC that Sciatic is a symptom which occur for a variety of reasons. AkRob’s issue is spinal stenosis which is one cause. If you have not been checked out by an Orthopedist I suggest that you consider seeing one and start there. Do you tend to carry a wallet or cellphone in your back pocket? If you do try and stop this practice. I use to get frequent sciatic pain and it was all due to my wallet pressing against my sciatic nerve. Once I stopped placing it there it went away and has not come back.

Hmnn. Looks like I asked the right group of guys. I don't put a wallet in my back pocket though.I won't start now. Thanks...

I've had that before. was from a slipped disc. decompression therapy with a chiropractor took care of it in a few weeks. was horrible getting in and out of the car, felt like electric shock to my leg and butt with every movement before corrected. that was years ago, so can be fixed!

Chuckie
Those are my symptoms alright. Thanks for the hope.
I am glad I have an SUV and a car because it was almost impossible to get in my car. I thought I was going to faint.
El

hope you can get it corrected quickly, El. it's some of the worst pain i've known, and i didn't have an suv to use then. my car was a low sitting one, which was even worse, and eventually had to give it up due to that. I still won't buy anything that sits low since then, just in case...

I agree with Tupsi and Akrob. Before the pain gets any worse, see an orthopaedic or any doctor (not a Chiro) that will prescribe the x-rays (to rule out fracture) and MRI's (to look for disk herniation, etc.) and who can prescribe real pain killers, e.g., percosets.

I was diagnosed with herniated disk at L5-S1 (the lowest of the lumbar region). I had two episodes of immobilizing pain. The first in 1994 was far worse in terms of pain: even with percoets, the pain was nearly unbearable. My entire day was measured in seconds before the pain became unbearable. Stand - 10 seconds; sit - five seconds at best; lying flat on my back - 20 seconds; siting in a reclined position - 40 seconds (longer with triple dose of the percocets) lying on my back with my legs over the bed or couch (I called it the astronaut's take-off position) - 90 seconds to 4 minutes. A very humbling experience (try eating, showering, or going to the bathroom within those time frames). When numbness started in my right foot (a sign of permanent nerve damage), I decided to have surgery with a neurosurgeon, a microdiskectomy. Yet, two days before the surgery, I discovered that I could stand and sit for a longer period of time. Doctor said, the issue is resolving itself and surgery no longer necessary - get to a physical therapist.

My hats off to the physical therapist. I had already been out of work for 2.5 months. The main thing she found after pulling and tugging my arms and legs in various directions and watching how I grimmaced: I should have been lying on my stomach all this time instead of lying on my back. She showed and trained me in core exercises. I was back to work in days (had to lie on the floor of my office now and then).

Chiropractor
Stretching exercises
Massage therapy
Tumeric Curcumin extract. (Natural anti inflammatory).

Thanks, Shoot. My roommate is a health nut and will love that I am taking something natural.
El

I've had sciatica in the past and it can be pretty painful. The way I got it was from too much sitting especially in the car. You have to get out and move around every so many miles. If you have a job where you need to drive a lot, you're more prone to it. I found that moving around and getting the blood flowing helped alleviate the pain, altho it was painful to start. No sense in being a hero so take an ibuprofen if u need it for the pain. Wrestling actually has been great for shoulder and leg pain...I need to move around a lot more than I do! Damn these sedentary jobs....

There are treatments that make the pain go away for a time. The most severe one is an ablation. The doctor uses a needle to administer electricity and actually burns the nerves. The nerves heal gradually but in the meantime there is no pain. The painless period has lasted over a year for me. More recently, the pain returns in about 7 months. There are other things to be done before this. Gabapentin is a drug that helps with the pain. I am on this too. At first, just the medication was enough to help with the pain. I don't know how severe your pain is, but I'm at the point where I feel some pain when walking more than a few blocks but I can keep going on the walk dealing with the slight pain in my hip area.