Sciatica

[Maine Mariner]

Some medical advice from Freepers is sorely needed.

About two weeks ago I twisted my lower back and the result sciatica. I have been taking 3 200mg of Advil and 2 300 mg Tylenol every six hours plus alternating between an ice pack (wrapped in a towel) and a hot water bottle. I have also been doing some exercises several times a day as recommended by my physical therapist. So here it is Saturday evening and I am in a lot of pain. What is so discouraging was today at about 2 pm for a couple of hours, I was pain free. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[MCF]

If the pain is to unbearable ask you doctor for a cortisone shot while you mend. But do the exercises to strengthen your back muscles that is very important.

[TomGuy]

Aspercreme or store brand equivalent.

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

The right chiropractor helped me, but he’s in Keller, Texas. But if you can find a good one, go let them check you out.

Part of my trouble was that I had one leg shorter than the other by about a 1/4 inch on the side with sciatica. Been going to medical doctors for years and none had noticed that. The chiropractor did, right off. I keep a heel lift in that shoe now, in addition to the chiropractic treatments periodically.

[Jemian]

I suffered with back pain, sciatica, for 22.5 years. When you're in pain, take drugs. It helps.

I was miraculously cured, suddenly, on the Saturday before Easter in 2013. This is what happened:

The pain was getting worse and I was losing my ability to walk from my bed to the bathroom without severe pain. I was praying about finding medical intervention because it appeared that God was not going to just take the pain away. I was accepting my condition (two ruptured discs). I was also praying about ways I could serve God while being bed-ridden.

As I was researching doctors in Jakarta, Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines, I came across a posting here on Free Republic about this book by Dr. John Sarno Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection. I felt a strong prompting to order it and see what it was about.

As I read through it, I read Dr. Sarno's suggestions and truly thought it was a bunch of hokum. I prayed some more. In a prompting as strong as if an audible voice was speaking, I was told that I had not even tried those suggestions yet.

I was told to get up off my bed and walk. I did.

I have been pain free ever since.

I do not know if God just suddenly healed me apart from the book, or if He healed me through the suggestions of Dr. John Sarno. All I can say is that I give God the glory and I was told to tell you about this. I hope it helps.

[Squawk 8888]

Another thing that helps me a lot is cycling. Best to use a bike with shock absorbers or a stationary bicycle.

[chris37]

For any kind of back pain, upper or lower and sciatica, I use this. it is a fantastic new age hippie back roller that you lay on in such a way that the two inner wheels apply a lot of pressure to the acupuncture points along the spine all the way down to the bottom of the hips.

It also pushes the vertebrae back into place, especially if they are bulging outward, like I think I have in my lower back.

It also provides excellent relief to sciatica pain simply by applying pressure to the back of the hips. Sciatica is pesky though, and the pain can return.

It's about 50 bucks form the official site, this thing has been around for a long time, don't order cheap knock off of it off of amazon. it matters what it's made of and it should be one piece of wood, not two.

http://www.themaroller.com/

[rabidralph]

One good back exercise that I have been doing and has been helpful, has been planking. I take my time with it and just do it once per day or every other day. It has helped my posture quite a bit and I can stand for several hours without getting a backache, as I used to get after just 20 minutes of standing.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

That helped me a great deal with mine.

[berdie]

The Motrin 800 mg is what I was referring to. I don’t ask for them or take them unless I am really in a crises situation. If I were to become a drug addict...it would be a Motrin addict, lol. They make everything quit hurting.

My sciatica is due to congenital scoliosis (double curve). Fortunately, it isn’t a constant pain. When it is it runs down my leg. And I drag my leg like Quasimodo, lol.

[cva66snipe]

I have been using a cane and it helps.

Especially when you are in the middle of the room and the muscle grabs and you have nothing there to hold onto. Anything athree foot away may as well be a mile away. Moving isn't an option until it releases. But a cane helps you realign yourself to move and to easy the muscle spasm.

I take 800mg {prescription strength} of Ibuprofen three times a day when it's acting up and one a day at bedtime when it's not. I wouldn't take 800mg and any other OTC pain meds together though. I can't handle the stronger stuff with Opiates.

[smokingfrog]

Chiropractor
Stretching
Swimming

[USNBandit]

I have had several friends, and my mother have back surgery for sciatica. All have had good results. Having your leg go numb is a sign of serious issues.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

“Ibuprofen is good for swelling and tylenol is for pain”

Ibuprofen contains anti-inflammatory and is for pain, Tylenol does NOT contain any anti-inflammatory. Try only the Ibuprofen for pain. Tylenol is dangerous when taken for long periods of time.

I have much the same problem as you, MM, but I am doomed to suffer with it unless I would agree to surgery.

[JPG]

I had it bad, too. Went to a chiropractor and he did a basically violent maneuver while I was laying on my side with my knees up...and presto....at least 90% better, and about a week later, all gone!

[Scutter]

I will tell you what worked for me, but of course consult with your doctor before taking advice from random people on the Internet.

Because my spine was pinching some nerves, I had pain that was radiating down to my left knee. So the knee is actually where a lot of the pain manifested. My wife got this thing from Target called a “TENS” device. It is a small battery-powered device that emits a light electric shock into the area on which you apply it. It sounds strange, but it works. What it does is to fool your nervous system into ignoring the pain. The brain apparently gives priority to the nerve impulses from the TENS shocks, and so the impulses from the pain nerves never make it through. I found it really indispensable to give me some relieve so that I could rest and relax, which in turn helps with the healing. Almost certainly your physical therapist has heard of it, so talk to him/her if you are unsure. They also sell them at Amazon.com, and various drugstores, so you shouldn’t have any issues finding one.

The second thing I did was to get a steroid shot to relieve the inflammation. This doesn’t always work, but after talking to a couple of doctors, I thought it was worth trying before resorting to surgery. They also have relatively non-invasive surgical options as well. Basically they can use some sort of endoscopic device to go in and seal up the area where the disk is bulging out and putting pressure on the nerve. My sister is a doc and recommended I go this route, but since the steroid shot worked for me, I didn’t do that.

I went to Physical Therapy religiously on the schedule my PT recommended. The guy I went to is someone that was highly recommended to me by someone I trust, and having had bad experiences with lackluster PT before, I can tell you this made a huge difference. If you are going to one of those PT places where they just give you 20 seconds of instructions and then walk away, not to be seen for 30 minutes, then FIND ANOTHER PT.

After doing all of the above, I was feeling much better, but not 100%.

So the last thing I did was to start using an inversion table. Depending on your age, health, weight, cardiovascular situation, etc., that may not be an option for you, and you can hurt yourself if you do something stupid with it, so talk to your doc. I would also make sure someone else is around when you’re using it. However, for me it has made all the difference in the world, and I think is why I have not had a recurrence of the problem. Whenever I feel my back or neck bothering me, I hop on that inversion table and I am good to go for another month or more (I should probably use it more regularly). It takes a little getting used to, but it’s a safe way of inverting your body so that your spine can decompress. It’s like when you were a kid and you would hang upside down from the monkey bars or a tree. What I do is to do a gentle rocking motion on it, which creates an inverse pressure that tends to pull the spinal disc material back in. I also go fully inverted and gently rotate my head/neck and back to loosen and realign things. I do some other exercises on it, but you can read about those online.

The inversion table cures any issues I have with stiff/sore neck, and is much safer than going to a chiropractor and letting them twist your neck (that is actually a VERY risky thing). The inversion table I bought is from the company Teeter Hang-Ups.

PM me if you have any questions. I know how awful and debilitating this is. Hang in there, and keep doing the PT.

[BreezyDog]

This did wonders for me...Inversion table.

[Maudeen]

For what it’s worth. . .http://www.whale.to/a/dead_doctors.html#27.%20Low%20Back%

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmX1Sk8_Jec (infomercial)

http://thetruthaboutyourhealth.weebly.com/nutritional-deficiencies.html (click on calcium deficiencies)

I’ve been going the nutrition route and changing my ways. I use to be a hostess ding dong aholic. Have you looked into answers for sciatica through nutrition and seeing a homeopathic dr.?. . .I just gave the above link because I know “Joel Wallach” is about nutrition and minerals. . .I’m not advocating anything. . . but you might check out Dr. Mercola www.mercola.com and Dr. Axe www.draxe.com They are into the nutrition as well. May beat downing the tylenol, motrin, etc.

[InvisibleChurch]

Chiropractor. They dont cost as much as you think. My insurance covers 90%. Check your’s. I started two months back. I feel great.

[usconservative]

Been where you are more times than I can recount. (I've also had four major back surgeries too.....)

The best thing to do with an inflammed Sciatica is to take 800mg Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, and ice your lower back down 20 minutes every hour.

DO NOT apply heat! That will simply increase blood flow and by extension, inflammation in the area. You do NOT want to apply heat.

If you can, have someone bring you a chair and help you lift your legs up, bending at the knees, resting on the chair. This will flatten out your spine and should provide relief. (You can also do the same using a couch, etc..)

Whatever else you do, limit your sitting. That places too much weight on your lower spine and won't help. Lay down with knees bent. When you need to apply ice (20 minutes and hour) have one of your family members put the ice up against your lower back and use pillows as necessary to hold the ice in place and support your back at the same time.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Patience.

I have had several issues, including one mystery hip problem.

Started with majore NSAIDs meds (like yours) and soon after had to get PT. For several months, and it made all the difference, especially keeping up with the last exercises on release.

Word to the wise - don’t take months of NSAIDs if you can help it. I think it drove me to my next medical problem, acid reflux disease.