Sciatica

[Casey H]

Hey all...I've been suffering with a bad case of sciatica (burning pain over my right butt cheek and down my leg) for the past week or so... I'm absolutely miserable... Sitting is tough, finding a comfortable sleeping position is hard, and I can't drive the car more than about 10 minutes. Driving is the worst. I canceled any plans that involve long drives for the next month or so. I started physical therapy and I am doing stretching exercises. But sometimes this can make a grown man cry.Anyone out there ever suffer from this? What helped? What didn't? Some say chiropractic is good, some say it made them worse... I've heard some people have had success with acupuncture.. Heck, they could stick those little needles in me anytime if it would help! I'm sure it's better than the needles MD's would try on me if I don't get better soon.Thanks for listening to me whine... Getting old sucks except it beats the alternative... Casey

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Hey all...I've been suffering with a bad case of sciatica (burning pain over my right butt cheek and down my leg) for the past week or so... I'm absolutely miserable... Sitting is tough, finding a comfortable sleeping position is hard, and I can't drive the car more than about 10 minutes. Driving is the worst. I canceled any plans that involve long drives for the next month or so. I started physical therapy and I am doing stretching exercises. But sometimes this can make a grown man cry.Anyone out there ever suffer from this? What helped? What didn't? Some say chiropractic is good, some say it made them worse... I've heard some people have had success with acupuncture.. Heck, they could stick those little needles in me anytime if it would help! I'm sure it's better than the needles MD's would try on me if I don't get better soon.Thanks for listening to me whine... Getting old sucks except it beats the alternative... CaseyDeepest sympathies Casey.Not Sciatica with me but back pain in general.Constant,unrelenting pain,a good day is when it doesn't hurt as much as usual.I have tried acupuncture several times but it didn't work but it might work for you.Pain killers might help but they irritate my stomach so then I have two problems.Chiropractors only hurt my bank balance so I can't offer any consolation their.It could well just go in it's own time,so fingers crossed for you.Best of luck to you.

[edteja]

Casey,Network Wellness (check their web site for a list of practioners to see if there is a local one). Falling that, chiropractic. But you don't want serious manipulation, you are looking for those who use a variety of techniques that remove tension from the fascia. They saved my left hand from paralysis (atrophying of the small muscles ). Don't let any physician types hit you with their schtick about chiro being a con. I've used it to recover from serious martial arts injuries and other trips and falls most of my life and I am a very active 59.

[booker]

I find addictive pain medication quite appealing. I don't know if will help you, but it will make you forget about it.

[Casey H]

Quote:I find addictive pain medication quite appealing. I don't know if will help you, but it will make you forget about it.Yea, I might take a walk to the local High School and see what I can get, LOL!

[Casey H]

Thanks Johnny and EdI'm working with a Physical Therapist and doing the stretching drills suggested. These can only help and I would think even a chiropractor would recommend them. I take an anti-inflammatory and yes it sometimes hurts my stomach more than it gives any pain relief. I make sure to take it with huge amounts of ice cream (for medicinal reasons only ) to protect my stomach.This is all mainly the result of years of abuse- sitting at the computer with poor posture and position, etc... If I don't feel any better from the P/T in a week or two, I probably will seek out a good chiropractor. Actually this is all TAXI's fault for creating this forum which is addicting (message board forum addiction is a disease! ) and compels me to be a the computer so much. Casey

[tomaragon]

Casey:I just went through Sciatica and it is truly the most severe pain I have ever felt. I think your best bet would be a very good accupuncturist but in my case I couldn't find one. Lots of icing helps as does water walking in a pool. Prescribed pain medication (Norco 10 mg) only took the edge off and kept me from screaming. That's even taking one every four hours! For the first month, between the pain and the medication, I was literally existing in between dimensions ,. I could not sit at all for 2 months. I was able to do only 2 things. Lay on my stomach, or stand up. That was it!Total MISERY!Aside from the physical therapy which helped somewhat, the thing that really started to help was injections ( http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cons ... inj01.html ) from a doctor.This was of course my last resort, short of surgery, which wasn't really an option for me.There are two injections involved in each of the problem areas.The first one is to numb the area the second is the medication that will give you relief. The one that gives you eventual relief is a actually part of the steroid family.I found a doctor that specializes in these injections and they consisted of Xylocaine, Marcaine, Depo-Medrol and sodium bicarbonate. I was extremely sore for two days after the injections but after that I finally got some relief.I'm sure this is not for everyone but it's the only thing that really made a huge difference for me. Hope this helps.TomP.S. Oh yeah I forgot. Find a lazy boy chair and adjust the angle until you are perfectly balanced or zero gravity as they call it.Once you get the angle just right, gently rock yourself.The gentle oscillation will work wonders.

[ernstinen]

Sorry to hear that, Casey!I've got a compressed nerve in my upper spine/neck that causes my right shoulder and arm to tingle and go numb. It's definitely affected by sitting in certain chairs. Sometimes it affects me when I'm driving.The only thing that has worked for me is cortisone shots, but that is only temporary and does nothing to solve the underlying problem. A back specialist says I have two choices: 1. Surgery, or 2. Learn to live with it. I chose #2. It's not that bad (actually I feel it right now whilst I'm typing ). I can crack my back doing yoga better than any chiropractor I've been to, so exercise helps. I may try accupuncture someday.Good luck,Ern

[Casey H]

TomThanks for the reply. I can really feel for what you went through. Mine isn't as severe as yours was, though it's painful and very uncomfortable... I can only imagine this multiplied many times...The injections by a pain specialist are on my list if I don't see relief in a few weeks. I'm hoping I won't need them. One thing that bothers me about them is they may mask the pain which is both a good and bad thing... The pain is your body telling you something... I wonder if I do exercises for it after the injections if masking the pain can cause me to do damage.But... if I need the injections, I'll be there!Thanks again! Casey

[Casey H]

Quote:Sorry to hear that, Casey!I've got a compressed nerve in my upper spine/neck that causes my right shoulder and arm to tingle and go numb. It's definitely affected by sitting in certain chairs. Sometimes it affects me when I'm driving.The only thing that has worked for me is cortisone shots, but that is only temporary and does nothing to solve the underlying problem. A back specialist says I have two choices: 1. Surgery, or 2. Learn to live with it. I chose #2. It's not that bad (actually I feel it right now whilst I'm typing ). I can crack my back doing yoga better than any chiropractor I've been to, so exercise helps. I may try acupuncture someday.Good luck,Ern Hey Ern,I guess we all are screwed up from too much repetitive motions of various kinds- musical instruments, computers, etc... And we are not as young as we once were... Maybe at the next TAXI road rally they should have chiropractors and massage therapists Don't get the surgery! I think yoga and stretching a good alternatives... I'm thinking about yoga classess... ThanksCasey