Sciatica sucks!

So I know exactly when I did it on Monday, picked up a bag of blasting media and turned quickly to put it in the back of my truck. I haven't been able to do much since then but go get some muscle relaxers and Naproxin. Checking out all the video's on stretching, anyone here have had it and know the best stretches?

Long story short ..

Hurt my back 2 years ago and each time it got just a bit better from visits to bone cracker, time, etc .. then, once again I would re-injure it and start the process all over again , This January on a nice drizzle / ice day . I took two steps outside a normal path I don't often use around our building and although I caught myself , hurt it again

turned around to head back in and then, went down ..

That one did it , It pinched it in my back , felt like it burned all the way from right hip all the way down my left leg and exited behind my left knee . pain would not stop ..tried everything over the counter
found some relief from a product called backaid max , and those stick on heat pads helped

I had to find a new back doc and his method was much less intense than back doc #1 -- couple trips to him , I got a cooling bucket from a fellow employee , its a cooler with a pump , put ice in it ..and wrap it around the most paiful spot and slept for couple days ..

Every day it got better , I'd say I'm about 95% now, best I've been in almost 3 years

Periodically I think I'm 20 again and my back tells me I'm not. Of everything I've tried, and I mean everything, the only thing that works for me is an Icy Hot patch.

Icy Hot

Do you have a chiropractor?

The last time the radial nerve in my arm got pinched the doc prescribed Naproxen in 500mg tabs. Told me to take 4 to start and 1 or 2 as required every 4 hours which is a boat load more than the OTC dosage at 225mg per tab, 1 every 12 hours.

Make sure you take it with food because it will burn a hole in your guts and can cause bleeding. Also it doesn't play nice with anticoagulants like warfarin.

Kevin

I did that a few years back, that sucks baaaaaaaaaaaad! I found the one thing that helps the most is hanging upside down on an inversion table. The chiropractor helped butt I was not about to keep spending that much money every week so he said find a used table on CL or in a thrift store (found mine at salvation army). 5 minutes on that seems to help a bunch immediately. If I use it for a few minutes right before sleeping it helps me sleep way better or also I use it as it starts to flare up again in the day. I been doing it a few years now (yes it takes a long time to recover) and it has absolutely been a life saver. Once I got functional I imposed a 50# limit on myself for lifting as anytime I push it the sciatica lets me know it is still there.

It's been 20 years since I had a bad case, thank the diety of your choice. Similar to an inversion table, they put me on a modern version of The Rack. Basically a girdle around the hips and another around the ribs, then lay face down on a table where the bottom half slides. The one I was treated on used a big vacuum cylinder to pull the bottom half. After laying down, they'd pile hot sisal mats (like the old floor mats) on my back to make the muscles relax, and have it pull and release in 15 second intervals for 15-20 minutes. The theory is to stretch the spine and open the gaps in the vertebrae. Then get up and walk for 15 minutes to get things back in a natural alignment. Worked AMAZINGLY well...

I haven't had sciatica pain, but I have had occasional lower back pain from lifting things wrong.

I found this video a while ago, and can now routinely touch my toes for the first time ever, and I can just about pike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhEqFa9lT80

Around the same time I started doing dumbbell dead-lifts to strengthen my hamstrings, and it's made a significant improvement too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipi8_vz8_z0

Since adding these (and other general stretching and core strength workouts), I haven't had any back pain.

If you have the type where the pain shoots down your leg to your foot like fire, then the yoga where you lay flat on you back, raise the offending leg, bend the knee and pull the leg to your chest with both arms gets it done. This move maximum stretches that nerve, pulling it out of the hole in the spine that is to small, be careful not to hurt your knee pulling to hard on it, or wear a knee brace. Sciatica is no fun, the right stretch is better than the back crackers for me, it takes some time to get pain free.

Every once in a while, I'll pull a muscle on one side or the other. Lying on a heating pad helps get the knots out. Advil. Take it easy for a few days until it calms down. Nurse it for a while to keep from aggravating it. Just doctor it myself.

[/quote]

If you have the type where the pain shoots down your leg to your foot like fire, then the yoga where you lay flat on you back, raise the offending leg, bend the knee and pull the leg to your chest with both arms gets it done. This move maximum stretches that nerve, pulling it out of the hole in the spine that is to small, be careful not to hurt your knee pulling to hard on it, or wear a knee brace. Sciatica is no fun, the right stretch is better than the back crackers for me, it takes some time to get pain free. [/quote]


i occasionally have this problem, sharp pain from my middle upper back down to my knee on my left side. talked to my regular MD about it during my annual physical a few months ago. this is almost exactly what he suggested to me to help. he also suggested to do this as a at least a weekly regular exercise, even if i don't have any pain. he also suggested start slow and work up intensity of the stretch.

it has also suggested to me by a co-worker to lean against a wall with both feet a couple feet away from the wall, basically the length of your lower leg below the knee., pull up 1 leg, the side with the pain, over the opposite knee and then bend/ slide down the wall until the remaining leg knee is at a 90* angle. hold for a while then slide back up the wall. this also stretches the nerve. DO THIS SLOW and don't over stretch.

I have it in my right leg, sometimes real bad. Worst of times it felt like I had spiders running up and down my leg all day long along with a ache. In the morning when I first tried to put weight on it I had sever pain. Kidney stone level of pain. Last few years haven't been as bad. Mine starts in my hip and goes all the way to my toes. Movement helps mine the best. Walking and biking.

Check out ask doctor jo sciatica pain on utube, she does the stretch to perfection. You will do yourself well to do this daily and stretch more once it settles down, now that you know there is an issue. Do not overdo it to start. I was going to try an inversion table but never needed it. I got it about the same way 10 years ago, got oxycodone for a month, now you just get nsaids because of all the druggies, oxy was nice cause you could move and work normal, so you heal faster. Good luck, it will get better.

Take 500 mg of Vitamin C at least 30 minutes before taking Naproxin sodium to protect your stomach lining from ulcers.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/vitamin-c-can-protect-stomach-from-nsaid-injury

https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/whats-behind-heartbreaking-risk-anti-inflammatory-drugs/

It may sound gross but another way to take either aspirin or a NSAID drug without damaging the stomach is with an anal suppository.

You might also ask your MD about the old drug Salsalate,
which it getting a lot of attention recently for relieving pain better than aspirin or NSAIDs
and perhaps slowing or preventing Dementia.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150921133646.htm

Well I am getting better, finally able to stand up straight without too much pain. Of course I did wrench my knee doing one of the excercises but stopped doing that one immediately! The way the weather has been I really need to get out and cut my grass, but I don't think that is in the cards as of yet. I appreciate all the tips, and will check out the web sites...

I've been getting a specialized massage therapy that deals with the Fascia, called MFR or Myo Fascial Release. The Fascia is a web that encompasses your entire body. Think of it as a ballistic mesh material. When it or the surrounding muscle gets injured, it pulls down tight and is extremely painful. Last year I thought I was going to need my left hip replaced because of the pain. Too much time spent creeper diving when older and having a hard time getting up and down. Got x-rays and joint was fine. I had been on a wait list with a specialized therapist that uses the Barnes[ I believe] technique. It involves her doing an assessment of me to see where the problem lies. I'm torqued down on the left and forward on the right. When she had me lie facedown she feels around for where the fascia is locked up, puts force into that area and does not let up until she feels it release. It can take up to several minutes until it releases. The first time I saw her I was in agony before she even did anything. Since its the left hip, thats also my clutch leg. I have an 04 Ram dually with a heavy clutch. After she got done with me on that first session, it was like someone turned the switch off on the pain. Euphoria! I'm still jacked up just from the years of abuse so I still get it worked on but have been seeing a pair of gals who do tandem sessions as my first lady did not have enough arms and hands to get me stretched out in the multiple directions that I need to go. Its getting better. I used to primarily kneel down on my right knee and push up with the left leg, which has been a major contributing factor in the injuries. Now I try to kneel down on the left and push up with the right. It helps the left heal. I had been chasing it with chiro work but that was not the problem for me.

I had a flair up of that while at a conference in NOLA suffered through it the entire week, plus picked up some strange bug bites. The ride back it Indiana was excruciating.

I went to our clinic for the odd bug bites, and had a Chiropractic appointment. Nurse practitioner heard my tale and didn't think those were from bugs. Brought the doc in- Shingles! went right down the sciatic nerve. Got a script and cancelled the chiropractic appointment.

All of that stuff I wanted. Glad it wasn't a thing I have to live with all the time.