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My husband had a very painful bout with sciatica. He went to a chiropractor who taught him the McKenzie method exercises to relieve--and cure--the pain.
There are videos on the 'net on how to do these exercises. Or search and see if you can find a chiropractor who uses the McKenzie method.
Whenever DH gets any twinges, he practices the simple exercises and the twinges don't develop into sciatica again. A very valuable way to fix this very painful condition.
My husband had a very painful bout with sciatica. He went to a chiropractor who taught him the McKenzie method exercises to relieve--and cure--the pain.
There are videos on the 'net on how to do these exercises. Or search and see if you can find a chiropractor who uses the McKenzie method.
Whenever DH gets any twinges, he practices the simple exercises and the twinges don't develop into sciatica again. A very valuable way to fix this very painful condition.
Thanks for the tip; I tried it, and it seems to help.
So I had your basic, annoying sciatica for about a week. Then three weeks ago it turned really nasty. I can barely walk, even with a walker. My left leg drags because it hurts too much to lift it in trying to walk. I've been to the chiropractor for 8 sessions so far and so far no relief. I've been trying to get into a spine clinic but a computer shutdown makes them unavailable. I'm supposed to start physical therapy next week and do exercises - really? Hopefully I will be getting an MRI and I can get into a pain management clinic and get epidurals. Or maybe I'll get lucky and they'll just stick a needle in my brain and get it over with.
I've gone through 20 tablets of oxycodone in 10 days with another prescription for 40 more. One pill just mitigates the pain enough so I can get out of bed and do things like wash up, throw something in the microwave, maybe get to the store. I can't clean or cook at this point. Two pills allow me to get to the library and get on the computer to complain here about it.
The pain starts in my butt, goes down the back of my thigh, behind the knee, the back of the calf, and now is hurting me in the ankle and in the arch of my foot.
My life is just basically on hold till this $(*^ goes away.
Everybody I know has had or knows someone who has had sciatica.
So what have your experiences been and how the H E double hockey sticks long does it take to go away?
Go see a good neurologist, or a non surgical pain MD --A Physiatrist! NOT a PAIN CLINIC THAT HANDS OUT OPIATES LIKE CANDY
Going to get the shots WAS pain management referral. Unfortunately, it's just not the doctors. I'm on Medicare and they decide whether they will pay for pain meds or not. I know I couldn't afford them on my own. I'm amazed they approved three refills of Percocet. I don't think they would have approved a fourth refill. And you better believe, I was stingier than all get out with those pills, too. If I could stay home in bed, one a day was all I'd take. Of course, staying in bed all day didn't do the back any good. *sigh*
Your part D drug plan pays for meds. You can also use the app good Rx.
There is one injection that helps my sciatica, it gets injected deep into the butt. I'm due for another. I also get trigger points.
There's a man called Dr Sarno who claims that a lot of these lower back problems are psychosomatic and that people can have herniated discs without any symptoms whatsoever. The claim is that people who lead really stressful lives bottle up a lot of unconscious negative emotions are the ones more likely to suffer from not only sciatica but all sorts of nervous system and autoimmune diseases. The premise is that the body deprives certain areas of oxygen which in turn causes the manifestation of pain so that the person is distracted from their emotions and focuses on their symptoms.
I have a history with anxiety so I certainly fit the profile and I've had every psychosomatic symptom in the book including sciatica. If it's actually caused by bulging discs an inversion table such as a teeter along with proper lifting and sitting habits are the best preventive along with the McKenzie exercises. I actually have an MRI next week.
At least once I have the results I know which actions I can take to treat the symptoms rather than trying to do this blindly. I'm not going to do what Dr Sarno recommends and just pretend I have no problem and start lifting however I want and sitting however I want which is his recommendation.
Still I've had some signs that suggest that Sarno is indeed correct. I've had the symptoms totally disappear during times I've been with friends or out drinking in a joyful state. I've had physical therapists tell me that the brain will eventually become hypersensitive to areas which you've had repeated bouts of pain also. Kind of like how if you do the same habit over and over you'll become better and better at it... The brain creates a stronger connection between those targeted synapses. It's a similar phenomenon to the how people who get an amputated limb can still feel phantom pain in that limb.
Well, if you look at MRIs of 50-year-olds half of them are running around with asymptotic herniated discs. I'm less sure about a lot. That's sort of a vague thing though, definitely some. Mostly I would say I do the Sarno method-light. I was close to having laminectomy/MID. Surgeon didn't recommend it unless I went from partial CES to CES as it's a 50/50 outcome which fortunately that went away within a week or two.
I'm not full Sarno but Sarno-light. Docs highly recommended not doing things like squats and deadlifts. I go ahead and ignore that and do squats and deadlifts. I just don't go for really heavy weights like a 5x5. I just do 235 for 10-12 reps and focus on form rather than pushing to failure. I spend a lot more time on floor work than I used to, which was none, for core/stability. If I get the number/shooting/tingly sensations down the legs I stop whatever it is that I'm doing and don't push through it. It's weird, about 80% of the time I'd just say aside from some decrease mobility that I used to have that I no longer do there's absolutely nothing going on. Then about 15% of the time it is a dull nagging which I Sarno and ignore it and just do whatever I am doing. Occasionally though I do immediately stop whatever I'm doing which can be really weird things. Kitchen sink got clogged so I was under there taking the trap out to clean it out and nope, immediate abort. On the other hand I can replace a toilet which was probably around 70-80 pounds.
Disclaimer: I'm a medical journalist, though musculoskeletal medicine is not my "beat."
Sciatica happens to me about every five years. It first started when I was 15, before the SATs in high school. It flares up when I am in a particularly stressed, sorrowful, or dark time in my life. I'll wake up or stand up and *grnch* there it is. It's like I carry my emotional burdens on my back, so I can see where this can be related to emotional well-being. Prolonged exposure to stress hormones, muscle tension brought on by stress, and inflammation brought on by stress have a HUGE impact on your nerves and how you perceive pain. In fact, the big thing now in pain management is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
The last time it happened, five years ago, I had an MRI done and they said I have degenerative disc disease. I did physical therapy for several weeks. They also tried dry needling and several rounds of prescription NSAIDS. Finally, they said, "Let's do a steroid taper and if that doesn't work, we can try an epidural steroid shot." The steroid taper worked, and I was good to go. Home stretching and exercise did the rest.
Well, I am in one of those stressful, sorrowful, dark times, and my back went out on April 9. We went right to the steroid taper and it failed. So I schlep back to the internist, who sends orders to a radiology practice for an MRI on the theory that it will take time to see a spine/pain/ortho, and it would be best if I already had images when I went to the specialist. Well, I got in to see a spine specialist a couple of days later, just out of luck (the guy wasn't planning to work that day and decided to), and he suggested that after 40 years of dealing with this, it's time for a shot so I can be an "active participant" in the physical therapy--meaning I can do the physical therapy without yowling in pain. So he was pretty happy that the ball was already rolling on the MRI, which is supposed to happen next Monday.
Supposed to.
The insurance company (Cigna) denied the preauthorization because my internist didn't send enough information. So now I'm in limbo while she dukes it out with them. The spine specialist sent their records over to her as ammo. I'm really, REALLY aggravated at this. Did they think she wrote the order for the heck of it? And of course getting aggravated just makes my back hurt more.
Anyway, at least while I'm in limbo I have meloxicam, gabapentin, and Flexeril. I only take the meloxicam and gabapentin. I take the meloxicam midday and the gabapentin at night, although sometimes I'll take the gabapentin during the day, too, if I have to do something, like get groceries or meet a friend for a meal. It says I can take it three times a day for pain but yowza, one of them turns me into a zombie for about 12 hours, so three times a day isn't going to happen. I need to be able to think, too!
The U.S. healthcare system just makes it all worse with its stupid paperwork. I'm off this week and wasted a day of my "staycation," which was already ruined by pain, on this b.s. AAAAARGH!
In fact, if opioids are the first thing a doctor recommends, I'd say to find another doctor because that one is not up on evidence-based medicine. And if they prescribe it for more than a few days, oh, goodness, quack-quack goes the duck.
The first thing any doctor should recommend is acetaminophen 1000 mg and ibuprofen 600 mg every six hours, if you can take those drugs. Then you go from there to other kinds of medications:
Opioids are really of limited use in general. They're great for post-op pain from incisions and organ removal (like after a hysterectomy, personal experience there), and for tooth pain. But after about five days your body starts becoming dependent on them and they start rewiring your brain, and ya know, opioid use disorder (and substance use IS one of my beats) is really no fun. Pretty much everyone I know in my privileged white middle-class world who got OUD, got it from misprescribed opioids for spine pain of some sort. A friend of mine who was a ballerina suffered greatly with it and was in and out of treatment for 15 years before a long in-patient, residential treatment of 60 days finally "stuck."
I attended a medical convention where they presented a case where a guy had been on opioids for his back pain for 15 years. He accidentally overdosed and wound up in the hospital. If you're familiar with naloxone (Narcan) you know that receiving it means an instant withdrawal. At the hospital they didn't give him any opioids, and instead they gave him antianxiety meds during his detox, and after a couple of days, the nurse came in and there he was, dancing around and crying because he no longer felt any back pain.
So be careful with those opioids, folks. If you are taking them, make sure you have naloxone in your house and someone knows how to give it to you. A blogger I read lost her husband to an accidental overdose and there was no naloxone in the house. Where I live, you can get it free through the county (I'm a volunteer with the program), although now the FDA has approved it for over-the-counter sales. Not sure when it will be available for that. But yeah, if anyone in your household is taking an opioid, you should have naloxone around in case of an accidental overdose.
I'm leaving you 2 links, please read them. I've shared extensive information on what helped me. I've suffered as bad as you. I used crutches though, couldn't put my leg on the ground. It's just too much information for me to bring over to give you as I've quoted from other threads in one.
See my replies starting here. See this part of my reply to see if it applies to you too. When laying like that, push on your butt to see if there are tender spots like I have. If so, your sciatic is probably from your butt area and not your spine.
Here is the dermatomes image mentioned i agree, it's a great image, you could print it and mark where your pain is
This is one of the few times I disagree with you. I had disk fusion L5S1, it did not stop my sciatica because mine is due to my butt, not necessarily my disk herniation. Worst mistake I made was fusion, I know others who feel the same too. There are a lot of failures with fusion. It should be a last resort after everything else fails. He should try the deep butt injections like I've had luck with, it can't hurt. It took it away for many years.
If the OP really needs surgery, he should research artificial disk replacement in Germany to see what they've been using for 20+ years now. Spines are not meant to be fused stiff, they need to bend and flex.
OP do not make spinal fusion surgery without thinking because you could end up like me and others I know in worst shape needing a cane, giving up most things in life. Quality of life is poor. If my grandson wasn't so attached to me I'd apply for medical euthanasia in my state. You have to be terminal it says.
I was fused twice, first was with an LT cage in 2001 that did not fuse, I had micro-motion, bone rubbing metal when I walked. In 2006 they added rods and screws which hurt like heck, they feel like they're going to shoot out of my back when spasms get bad.
I hopped on looking for someone that has had cortisone (trigger point) injections for sciatica. I am assuming that is what your deep butt injections were. I've had two rounds of Medrol Dosepack and it usually knocks it out, but the 2nd round (about 8 weeks apart, when it came back while on vacation) it only took the edge off.
With 2 failed back surgeries in our family, there is NFW I am going down that road. In fact, I have to hear about 8 to 10 failed stories before I hear a successful one. I sit on a heating pad (also in the butt) and trying to figure out how to bypass PT and go straight to the injections. I've had that for herniated disks in the neck, and they too, have been successful. Time to go to PCP, I suspect he wants me to go to PT before doing the MRI order ("see, we tried this 1st").
BTW, I am certain stopping HRT (cold turkey) is what brought this on. No doubt in my mind.
Nothing I've tried has worked so far, though I haven't tried 'everything'. After dealing with this for 9 months it's starting to feel like I might have to live with this since it's not going away.
Only thing that might work is luck. A lot of people talk about the body randomly healing itself.
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