Sciatica

[onencgirl]

Does anyone suffer from pain to the sciatica nerve. I have been suffering for about two weeks now. I'm taking a day from work today to try and get some relief. If anyone here has suffered from this, what did you do to get relief?

[Darlene]

I'm sorry you are in pain. For a while I took meds to get me thru, an anti spaz med and a pain med prescribed by my doctor.. Then I went to ibuprofen. For me walking is what helped, sitting for any length of time was pain city. It really does take time (took me about 3 weeks or so & I remember going back to the doc crying because I was getting so sick of it still going on & on & on) and I know it really sucks waking up everyday knowing that today isn't the day of relief. Getting out of bed, going to the bathroom & then getting dressed & trying to put my shoes on crying and going out to walk. Coming home the meds would kick in & my back would feel better so I could walk kind of normally. Day after day intil finally it started getting easier to get moving again & now I'm doing ok. When I get those twinges I get off my butt & get moving. Keep moving is the key, at least for me.
Hope your doc can help you take the edge off with some meds and that you are already on the road back to normalcy soon.
Take good care.

[Patty A]

Oh yes, and the pain is unreal with that stuff. Ice for the first 48 hours, helps ease the pain. Then heat for the next while until you get relief. Don't stop moving even if it hurts, I know how painful that sounds but if you stop moving it makes it feel even worse when you do move, sitting to long really makes the muscles stiff. Muscle relaxers are also really helpful, talk to your doctor about getting some of those. Another thing I have found helpful is to lay on the floor with my hands under my back (butt) area, it seems to help align the pelvis and take some of the pressure off the nerve. I also find some help with rubs, something like Ben Gay, or what ever type you use. Also a good lower back rub sometimes helps, you may even find some "tigger spots" that need to be rubbed out. I love heat to help with the pain, I can't tell you what it does, but it really does help my pain. Anti inflammatories are also helpful when this stuff is really hurting, it seems to help take some of the inflamation out and help with healing. If you know anyone that has a "tens unit", these really help with the pain also. I wish I could tell you what would totally take it away, but it does take time...... Don't put off going to the doctor! The pain can be caused by herniated disc's, and all kinds of back problems that put pressure on nerves. So if you don't find relief soon, go get checked.
You don't want to end up with chronic pain from this.
Hope you are soon feeling better!

[monkeywrangler71]

I hurt my lower back in 2003 and am constantly bothered by it. I went to a chiropractor, which seemed to help short term, but it keeps coming back. Long periods of sitting are definitely bad, I usually trigger an episode by going on a long car trip. Unfortunately I sleep on my stomach which is also terrible for the lower back, so I am worse every morning - sleeping on the floor every now and then offers some relief.

I do the laying on the floor with my hands under me trick as well. Walking helps more than anything. As of yet, I have not found any medication that helps at all; heat sometimes helps a little.

I'm pretty much in constant pain.

[Persimmon Lace]

When mine started up years ago, I went to physical therapy and came out, after 1 session, a new woman. My PT's advice was to not sit down or lie down all the time and keep it flexible. Icing when it first kicks up and then some heat and I rub aspercreme on the area after it's cooled down. He also said to keep it stretched and to massage the area in the most painful place until the pain subsided, that works wonders! I also invested in a good massager and massage that area when it starts tightening up. Mine first hit hard 18 years ago but I've only had 2 bouts and both times I went for PT.

((((hugs)))) It is painful but it is managable. I do keep flexeril on hand but I don't take it unless it's necessary.

[pop goes the weasel]

My dr. gave me 800 mg Motirn 4 times a day with Ultam ( Tramadel) 4 times a day also. This combo really helped mine. Hope you feel better

[onencgirl]

I went to doc yesterday. He gave me Motrin and a muscle relaxer. WOW that muscle relaxer put me out.. I was still groggy this morning. I slept pretty good tho, woke up a couple times in pain but was able to go back to sleep. This morn I'm pretty much pain-free (first time in two weeks). Thanks for all your advice. I will make note and try using the suggestions.

[Trishagirl]

I had sciatia a couple of years ago, I went to my DO and he aligned my back said my nerve was hitting my back and that's where the pain was coming from. I'm all better thank God. You can go to a chiropractor. I go to one now whenever I have neck and shoulder or back pain. They can realign you.

[Patty A]

Glad to hear your feeling better! That pain can really get to you, and with it sometimes being non-stop it really eats at you. I am so glad to hear you finally are getting some relief!
Keep doing what your doing and be careful so it can heal.

[Persimmon Lace]

One thing that I have noticed about mine is that there are days that it flares up but doesn't get full blown if I'll take the time to get it ramped down. A hot bath, advil and some aspercreme. Ahhhhh! Plus a good butt massage.

[Monner 1]

I have had it off and on for years from hurting my back shoveling snow. I finally went to the chiopractor and had adjustments and haven't been bothered in a long time. It is an awful hurt to say the least. Glad you are feeling better.

Monner

[Debbie-cat]

When my sciatica bothered me 12 years ago...it really bothered me! It got to the point that I had to go to a chiropractor. Now, I had worked for this chiropractor 5 years prior and left on really good terms. I had gone to him off and on after I left that job. So I knew the best thing to do was go get an adjustment.

Well, he made the mistake of adjusting me without x-rays first. I left the office feeling a little better but by that night I could not walk. Apparently I had a herniated disc and when he adjusted me, he blew my disc. The pieces were lodged throughout my spinal column. Emergency surgery ensued and I had the pieces of the disc and the remainder of the disc removed.

My advice is be careful if you decide to go to the chiropractor. I am not saying anything bad about them as I still go to them for my neck. (I can never be adjusted again on my lower back) Just make sure that they take an x-ray first as if it is a herniated disc, they can NOT adjust you until the swelling has gone down.

I am glad you are feeling better and hopefully it will ease up more each day. Take care because that is the worst pain I have ever felt in my life.

[AdamantEve]

Debbie, sorry to hear about the adjustment that went wrong.

I wanted to add that if the sciatica is from (or being aggravated by) your muscles, that I would work on the Piriformis muscles (you can find drawings of where it is in the gluts online). I would massage the gluteals with my hand in a fist, kind of rotating my whole lower arm whilst keeping my wrist straight. I would go all around the gluteals and then I would work the piriformis more directly.

I wouldn't hesitate to see your doc and see if you can't get some prescription relief for this, btw. I hope that you can get it sorted ASAP

[shellyrhds]

You need to go to the doctor. I had this same problem repeatedly for over 10 years. Then one evening, two discs that had herniated (unknown to me, just thought it was the same old pain, just about 10 times worse, so I was just taking ibuprofen) had huge pieces break off of them. They lodged in my spinal canal. I ended up with emergency old fashioned spinal surgery because of risk of paralysis. I now have permanent nerve damage and non-stop pain. It is true that I do have have some genetic issues that I was unaware of at the time (degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis), but the damage DONE by the discs degenerating can happn to anyone, and sciatica pain is your body trying to tell you.. hey, stop doing what's making me hurt. Re-evaluate your every-day life and try to find what's stressing your back, and eliminate it as much as possible. It's a warning sign that could be a symptom of something much larger. Learn from my mistakes! I'm 34 and am constantly on narcotic pain medication and nerve damage medication just so I can get out of bed and walk around with the rest of the world. I'm not trying to scare you, but people should take this pain more seriously. That being said, doctors should take people COMPLAINING of this pain more seriously!

[SweetCasey]

My mom has suffered from this most of her adult life. She was hit by a car when she was 2 years old (they lived in the city and there were not many cars around in 1931, but one of them found her and did not even stop ). She was nearly blinded in one eye (she can see peripherally out of it) and her spine was pretty twisted. She did not notice sciatica until she got pregnant and then it hit her hard.

She still has issues with it and has tried just about everything. She is now getting cortisone injections for her pain and it works quite well for her. She receives them on an as-needed basis, but no more than 3 times a year. She is not a candidate for surgery because of both her age and the fact that the arthritis in her back is really bad. She does take ibuprofen for the pain and it helps a bit. She also uses both cold and hot packs - sometimes one works better than the other - and this brings some relief.

I am sorry you are suffering from this problem. I understand the pain can be overwhelming; my mom fainted from the pain once - and this is a lady who used to suffer from migraines, so she knows a bit about pain! She is now retired, but worked in a very physical job, which undoubtedly made her issues worse.