Pinched sciatic nerve

[Fe_princess]

I injured my lower back about 3 months ago which led to a lot of muscle spasms :(
Now, it feels like my scitic nerve is pinched.
It hurts very badly and now has changed the way I sit and sleep.
The pain starts in my hip and travels down almost to my ankle.
It driving me crazy :scream:
I feel especially stiff in the morning.
I work out about 3-4 times a week which offers temporary relief.
I have an appointment for Shiatzu massage, but any suggestions would be greatly appriciated :worship:
Has anyone else here ever recovered from this pain in the you-know-what?
Thanks in advance FE

 

[gxdragon]

I have something similar. I overtrained hurt my lower back and hip, it goes down the back of my leg to behind the knee. This has been going on for almost five months now, it drives me insane. It is usually worse in the mornings or when I am on my feet a lot. Exercise does give some relief (when the muscles warm up) but sometimes it makes it worse.
The doctor diagnosed it as (I don't know if i'm spelling this right) puraformis syndrom & sacarilitis.
I've been doing some therapy for it also seeing a chiropractor/accupressurist. They've given me a lot of stretching to do. That and I take tylenol and a anti-inflamatory. I waited almost three months hoping it would go away on its own, that didn't work. They want you to stretch as much as three times a day as long as it doesn't agravate it.
I don't know if the treatment would be the same if you actually have a pinched nerve mine is muscular this was based off of the pain when the muscles are tight and relief when I warm up. I would say don't wait see your doctor asap get into some therapy.

 

[tony91]

Depending on what you've done to your back, the massage could aggravate the problem. I would get to the doctor ASAP .

I hurt my back in 1998 playing football. I thought it was just muscular and would go away. It lingered until I graduated. We did a lot of dead lifts and cleans as part of our lifting program and I always just chalked it up to sore muscles..... And as soon as I stopped the heavy lifting, I would be fine. After a graduated, I changed my work out routine and cut out all the super heavy stuff. All seemed well. Well, last year I spent about 2 weeks doing a lot of heavy yard work......woke up for work one Monday morning and was in so much pain I couldn't walk! I went to the doctor who told me that I, at some point, I had fractured my L5 vertebrae. He referred my to a neurologist who told me that the trauma to my vertebrae and the resulting instability caused additional pressure to 2 of my discs causing some moderate bulging. The bulging, along with the bone patches that formed during the fracture healing was causing a few nerves to become inflamed and pinched, including the sciatic. He also told me that this was completely avoidable if I had taken care of it when it happened.

So get to a doctor!!!!! Sorry for the long drawn out horror story, I hope your problem is minor. Mine flared up 3 weeks ago and I haven't been able to ride since. :ugg:

 

[markthomps]

I agree with Tony. See a doctor first, not some massage quack. I had a similar problem that required cortisone shots (which helped) and physical therapy (which didn't, but the therapist was this really great-looking blonde, so I kept going back for more) and finally some changes in my training routines. I eventually got rid of the problem, which sounds a lot like what you're going through. It hurt to drive a car (pushing on the gas pedal) or sit for any period of time. See a doctor first, period.

 

[SFO]

I'm finally going to the doctor with the encouragement of SFO.
I'm done with thinking it'll just go away on its own.
Will let you know, Thanks FE

 

[Fe_princess]

Opps, SFO was signed on the computer and I didn't check.
That's FE

 

[darnjr]

Here is a simple test for a herniated disk that is putting pressure on the sciatic nerve: Sit in a chair with you feet flat on the floor. Lift your foot up so that your leg is sticking straight out. Repeat with the other foot. If you have sciatica, the pain will run from your lower back right down your leg. And it will hurt.
I went to the doctor for this after moving some big clay pots around. I could hardly walk. He prescribed a week-long steroid treatment (Medrol Dose-Pack) and Skelaxin for pain. I felt like a million bucks after that.

 

[Rooster]

Sorry to hear of your sciatica :(

I ended up in Physical Therapy two years ago for mine. To this day, it will flare up when I lift anything improperly. Pain and numbness from the hip to the ankle, and it really hurts sometimes, to the point where I can barely walk.

What I have done, is taken what they taught me in PT (at a nice little charge of $900) and expanded on that in my daily routine. Stretching and strengthening the lower back, ham string and calves has helped a lot. The doctor should give you a series of exercises to help stretch and alleviate the pain. Another thing I've found is Flexall 454, a topical that compares to Icy Hot, but seems to do a lot better job for temporary relief.

Best of luck to you!!

 

[Fe_princess]

I had my first PT appt. today. It's a pinched nerve. She gave me streching exercises too. She told me it would be about 6 weeks for me to have noticably better flexibility. She too told me that it could flare up from time to time. This is such a pain, no pun intended. It didn't stop me from riding on Sunday though...

 

[XRpredator]

I had a bud who had trouble with his sciatic, and then due to stress he came down with shingles (which will follow a damaged nerve path like a match to gasoline). He had the worst summer of his life. He finally got relief by hooking up with a good chiropractor (oxymoron?), and it got better pretty quickly.

I'm not a believer in the chiropractors myself, but whatever works . . .

 

[DEANSFASTWAY]

Fe Princess I feel for you . Ive got 2 Herniated discs right now and the next step is a full blown fusion. It was so bad I couldnt put my socks on or pick my feet up to get them into the truck .Traction seemed to help and acupuncture offered instant releif but guess what the next morning there was my friend again PAIN . Definitely go see a good doctor and maybe get more than one or two opinions. Id take it easy with the riding and stuff because you could cause more damage . Hopefully youll find a good DR and get some good results . God Bless, DEAN

 

[maco]

Hi,saw your post.I'm a Chiropractor.I've worked on a lot of patients over the years with complaints similar to yours.A lot of them have been helped and I wish I could say all but that wouldn't be true.More than anything you need to understand what's going on with your low back.There could be multiple reasons for your symptoms.It could be a simple reason why your not healing and it could be something more involved.You want a qualified opinion maybe 2 even.3 months of symptoms suggest more than a muscular problem.Radiation of pain,like Sciatica,puts another spin on the problem.A Chiropractic approach is conservative because it doesn't del with drugs or surgery.I'm not saying drugs or surgery aren't an option just that Chiropractic doesn't go there in itself.
Early morning,getting out of bed,stiffnes or increase pain suggests inflamation.Inflamation is a part of healing but you've hit a wall on healing and the inflamation is perpetuated.Pain is a warning from the body.It's also one of the first things to go away in the healing process.Inflamation,biochemically,excites muscle tissue to constrict.This is another feedback system to protect the area with splinting,naturally.Here's the thing.If you have no knowledge of Chiropractic then you might ask around your circle of family/friends of a Chiropractor who's on the ball.Go from there on what feels right.Maybe even give Chiropractic a chance.It also wouldn't hurt to get an Orthopedic evaluation.Usually this is covered on your medical plan where Chiro many times isn't.I'm not saying youra surgical canidate but the first step would be X-rays to eliminate fundamental problems as a cause.MRI is state of the art in soft tissue evaluation.That would be second in diagnostic and rules out disc involvment.Both a Chiropractor or nuerosurgeon use these diagnostic evals.But the approach on non-surgical patients differs between the two.Bottom line is you need to address the problem and find the cause,simple or complex.The sooner you resolve this the better in my opinion.Be sure your not doing something to keep the inflamatory procees going-stay away form the pain.Wishing you good health

 

[Fe_princess]

I'm on mythylrednisolone for a week to reduce the inflamation...I was taking naproxson with Vikaden, but it wasn't helping and I had lost my appetite.
I'm going to see a spine specialist on Thursday. He put me on the steroid. I am hating these prescriptions. I have more movement now though and can sleep the whole night through. I swear I can't even remember when I was pain free!
Thanks for all your imput everyone!

 

[DEANSFASTWAY]

Maco what would you think about fusions ? And how about disc replacement or rehydrations? Im in a bad sot myself I really need to educate myself more before taking the blade again. Thanks DEAN