Sciatica problem. Is there a fix for it? Or am I just screwed?

I also have suffered from bulged discs. Gentle excersise, stretching gently, and yoga gently. I started martial arts and my pain subsided as long as I knew my boundaries work at it slowly have patience, there is no 2min fix as far as Im concearned.
One excercise that helped me greatly is doing a squat PROPERLY when you rise from the squat straight to a front kick then back down up and kick with the opposte leg. strong legs and core will take the pressure of your spine and back muscles. Again it doesnt happen overnight so be patient and work on good form for whatever excersie you do.
Hope you find relief.

What a timely thread! I have chronic persistent sciatica caused by compression of the sacral nerve and pudendal nerve. Not only is it extremely painful in my bum and top of my thigh but makes me pee like crazy! (sorry if too much information there lol). Painkillers don't cure the problem, doctors don't give a monkeys just excuses i.e. age, menopause, firbromyalgia, stress blah blah, so as a last ditch attempt at some kind of a life again, my greek son in law suggested an osteopath NOT a chiropractor as they are too severe for nerve and muscle damage.

Within 8 weeks of massage and gentle stretching exercises I am walking again and able to sit. Posture is all important as are regular stretches which I do each time I stand up more or less. The relief after soooo many years of agony is brilliant!! It doesn't "cure" it per se, as the other week after spending a few hours reading in bed it went again (posture you see) but it really does help enormously.

I can't recommend a good osteopath highly enough. They are very well trained in all aspects of the skeleto-muscular system unlike g.p's who are as the name says just general practitioners.

Good luck!

Originally posted by Sly62659
It's cause by your posture. Either anterior rotation of your pelvis or slouching while you sit. Fear not friend, you are not alone, but you don't have to suffer either.

Wow! Deja Vu! My Physical therapist has been yelling at me about my posture. I will admit it is bad. I tend to slouch. I don't know why, I just do.

I'm working on it so that it becomes muscle memory, but it is hard as my mind will start to dwell on other matters of life and the next thing I know, I'm slouching again.

I'm thinking about getting a back (brace?). Something to help my posture, even when I'm not thinking about it.

reply to post by rimjaja


I did the decompression table yesterday and feel improvement. The therapist had not thought of that before. That bit of advice was quite helpful! Thank you! I have another appt again next week, so I guess I'll be able to measure it all.

However, a new pain has materialized in my hip though it is tolerable, more of a ache. The therapist seems to think that it is because pressure is being relieved from certain nerves and they are reawakining. Makes sense to me.

reply to post by TDawgRex


My farther has this for a few months, it eventually went away on its own, also my ex girlfriend got this while she was pregnant and again it went.

Just give it time, it passes.

While my dad had it he couldnt even walk up stairs he was in so much pain..

dont worry I will go mate

Regards Jamie

Originally posted by TDawgRex

Originally posted by Sly62659
It's cause by your posture. Either anterior rotation of your pelvis or slouching while you sit. Fear not friend, you are not alone, but you don't have to suffer either.

Wow! Deja Vu! My Physical therapist has been yelling at me about my posture. I will admit it is bad. I tend to slouch. I don't know why, I just do.

I'm working on it so that it becomes muscle memory, but it is hard as my mind will start to dwell on other matters of life and the next thing I know, I'm slouching again.

I'm thinking about getting a back (brace?). Something to help my posture, even when I'm not thinking about it.

edit on 7-3-2013 by TDawgRex because: spelling

buy a posture chair, there only about £100 you kind of have to kneele on it, there cool, we got one in the office.

Posture Chair

Regards Jamie

reply to post by TDawgRex


Liposomal Vitamin C?

There is an ATS member who posted about this stuff, seems to be amazing stuff.

Also Black Seed Oil, another amazing product that I have personally been using for a while (ingesting a tea spoon each morning fixed me right up).

Disclosure: I am a chiropractor. You may or may not have sciatica. There are several conditions that mimic sciatica, most notably joint pain referral or trigger points. A good exam will rule these out, and if necessary, the MRI is the gold standard for imaging these types of conditions. CT is usually best suited for abdominal imaging.

Once you are fairly certain what it is, then the appropriate course of treatment can be employed. What you have done so far has not worked appreciably, so there may be something else afoot.

A competent clinical diagnosis is your best friend here.

reply to post by TDawgRex


i've had that, its nasty when it really gets going. x-ray will show up nothing, its an mri scan you need, they will tell you exactly what is wrong and what they can do. pyhsio will not do a thing, waste of time. i had sciatica for 6 years before any doctor would take me seriously, in and out of hospital, i can't describe the pain, but its the worst pain i've ever had. eventually, had an mri scan which confirmed a slipped disc, they usually give it 6 weeks to see if the disc 'pops' back in and mine didn't, had a discectomy, cut a large chunk of my disc out and had a fusion, which they used 'glue',not metal rods, woke up, pain down leg had gone. 7 years on i get some sciatic pain, its more or less just a pinch in the backside, but i do get backache around that area the left side of my foot is numb still. please note, this operation is not a cure and is simply the last resort to pain relief, they will try to give you epidurals before an op, but it was the epidural that gave me sciatica/slipped disc, medication i had was pethidine, gas and air (which works a treat) and oramorph which worked a treat too. hope this helped.

I had the problem off and on for about 15 yrs. Blew out a disc which turned into a peace of "leather". The disc would slip in and out of its place. When it was out of place it would rest against my Sciatica, causing horrible pain from my lower back down my leg. It would slide back into place eventually and all would be well until the next time. Eventually I had an eppisode where it never slid back into place. 6 weeks later I could nolonger stand up for more than a couple minutes, I had surgery and the "leather" disk was removed. I woke up from the surgery and felt so good that I never even noticed the surgery or cut to my back. I was up and walking the next day. Ive been well for 14 years. It comes down to what is causing the problem, I guess.

reply to post by rbm7448


MRI and CT scan show bulged discs. L4, L5 and S1.

I've been to multiple docs and specialists. Even with insurance, it is bleeding me dry. It's been going on for three months now. The first two weeks I couldn't even get out of bed (Or off the floor, which felt better).

The decompression table has seemed to have broken my plateau, though the jury is still out on that one. We'll see.

reply to post by old_god


I've seen the post about Liposomal Vitamin C and have had acouple of recommendations here. I want to give it a try, but at the moment, my finances are dedicated elsewhere. I hate being in debt...it's my PTS.

Once everything is back in the black though, that is on my top of my "To do" list. I haven't seen anything where it could hurt and have seen more positive reviews than negative. The negative ones usually just said it didn't work for them. No bad side effects.

I don't know much about sciatica except that meditators often get numbness in the legs from pressure on the sciatic nerve. Usually just stretching the leg affected will solve it.

However, as a general message to the big the strong and the macho everywhere. Don't sneer at gentle arts like Yoga and Tai chi. A good grounding in them is like installing surveillance cameras on your bunkered property. They warn you of problems in time to nip them in the bud and when accidents occur they give you the ability to focus and fine tune your rehab. Every Terminator should consider them part of the tool box.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Decompression is great. Bulges are usually subclinical though. I look for at least some level of impingement when evaluating those studies. Likely you are getting joint pain referral through the facet joints. Decompression would be indicated then.

Best of luck moving forward.

Originally posted by TDawgRex

Originally posted by Sly62659
It's cause by your posture. Either anterior rotation of your pelvis or slouching while you sit. Fear not friend, you are not alone, but you don't have to suffer either.

Wow! Deja Vu! My Physical therapist has been yelling at me about my posture. I will admit it is bad. I tend to slouch. I don't know why, I just do.

I'm working on it so that it becomes muscle memory, but it is hard as my mind will start to dwell on other matters of life and the next thing I know, I'm slouching again.

I'm thinking about getting a back (brace?). Something to help my posture, even when I'm not thinking about it.

edit on 7-3-2013 by TDawgRex because: spelling

Slouching is a direct response to the pain. When I go to the pain clinic, the doctor can tell exactly how I feel the moment he walks in and observes how I am sitting.

Slouching forward opens the spine, taking pressure off the comressed nerves. While people see it as poor posture, it is your subconscious way of finding pain relief.

Pay attention to your pain vs posture, and you will see. When you first wake and feel refreshed, your posture will be more correct. As the day, and the pain wear on you, you start to lean forward, as if moving from the pain.

Also, when I go shopping, I will lean on the buggy that way, and each time I stop walking, the foot on the side bothering me the most gets propped on the buggy till I walk again.

When sitting, you will find yourself not only leaning forward, but even left or right. Pay attention, your body will signal you.

When you find yourself slouching, and are able, lay down and give your back a rest. Though the slouching feels good to the nerve pressure by offering relief, it can cause muscle spasms due to trying to maintain awkward positions.

PS - be careful with braces, too. Brace overuse can weaken muscles, worsening the problem. People have actually become brace dependent from over use.

reply to post by TDawgRex


I would recommend strength training. Specifically squats and deadlifts (might as well bench too) will strengthen your spinae erectors and help keep your vertebrae (and hence the electrical system that runs through them) stable.

I had sciatica from a fall injury, both legs hurt, felt like a knife in my back. SQWATZ will fix you up.

As a 31 year old sufferer of lumbar stenosis, cervical stenosis, cervical radiculopathy, and sciatica, the only advice I can give you is: cautiously and carefully try everything. I've had relief from everything from sleeping in a different position, to ibuprofen, to licorice root, to acupuncture, to acupressure, to physical therapy, to meditation, to walking, to... you get the idea. Because it differs so much from person to person (and from day to day, and year to year,) it's really difficult to nail down one solution that helps everyone. Most objective physicians would agree with that too in my opinion.

Personally I've had the most relief from 1) core strengthening, and 2) sleeping with good posture. Meaning, with my lower back and neck stable, and my feet elevated slightly. But I've also known people for whom this worsens their condition. I've heard chiropractic works for some. But I've also heard of people literally being made far worse as a result of chiropractic manipulations (and many suggest that chiropractic may not even have a solid medical or scientifically supported basis.) I've had a lot of success with acupressure and acupuncture as well. But with varying results depending on where I go and who does it. And I can't really assert how much of that is real relief versus a placebo effect. (The same applies to all of these suggestions, for that matter.)

Some people benefit from surgery, but my understanding is that surgeons usually only operate if it's the cervical area, as opposed to the thoracic or lumbar, except under emergency or very specific circumstances. I've had multiple surgeons tell me that lower back surgery just isn't supported by the literature and data anymore these days, and that it could make me far worse.

It's a really painful, strange feeling, uncomfortable condition. The important thing in my opinion is to start the process of trying different things, both on your own (with a lot of caution and research) and under a doctor's supervision or referral (with equal caution.)

I really hope you feel better. It sucks. It's a level of pain that's almost unimaginable at times. You know that pain that's so bad you just feel electrical sensations because your brain can't even process the pain as "pain" anymore? (I'm not talking about neuropathy "tingling" or other neurogenic sensations - though that's part of it too, of course - I'm talking about pain that starts out as pain but then gets so bad progressively that you literally can't feel it as the thing we normally call pain anymore. Lol.) If you've been there... you have my sympathy. Get well.

Peace.

I certainly do not mean to be an alarmist...My wife went through breast cancer and eventually succumbed to it.
After one remission...she began experiencing all of the classic symptoms of sciatica...but doctors could not find the cause.
It wasn't until she was tested again for cancer (bone) that doctors realized that her cancer had returned and spread to her hip and leg.

I'm sure this is not the case for you...but it might be worth looking into...if only to rule it out.

reply to post by TDawgRex


The Healty Back Institute - Lose The Back Pain worked for me.
A few years ago I had come down with excruciating pain twice within a period of one year. I could barely move for a full week, much less work. Then I found the mentioned link, purchased the "Lose The Back Pain System" and applied it. Since then I have been doing the exercises recommended for my specific condition and have now been pain free since several years. I am also working out fairly heavily for my age without any problems.

They have a free PDF "THE 7-DAY BACK PAIN CURE" for downloading. This e-book already gives you valuable insights and will let you judge whether you like their approach.

Essentially it is about determining which muscle imbalances you have. Correcting them will relieve stress on the column.

DISCLAIMER: I like all their back pain related products. But I do not recommend the ElectroCleanse Zapper. I had tried a similar machine many years ago and found it to be useless. The theory behind it is flawed in my opinion. They added that product later. It is from a 3rd party and is not related to their treatment approach for back pain.

reply to post by TDawgRex


I struggled with Sciatic pain for close to a year. Eventually it left me nearly crippled due to the pain. I had an MRI on my back, they found a herniated disc, and the extrusion was pushing against my sciatic nerve. I had a discectomy done, and had immediate relief. Within 3 weeks I was back at work and within a few months I felt close to 100% better. I'd get the MRI and talk to a neurologist who can diagnose it.