Sciatic nerve pain

[Hawkeye]

Well I went to see the Dr yesterday. She is inclined to believe the nerve pain is being caused by inflammation. So for the next few days I get to take Prednisone and a muscle relaxer. She also wants me on a 20lb lifting restriction and to follow up next week to see how I feel. I have had plenty of sore, achy muscles in my life but back pain SUCKS.

I hope that helps. No expert here but my understanding is that this kind of pain may be caused by some sort of pressure on the nerve. Either tissue inflation and swelling or stenosis of the spine or other bone abnormality/injury. The prednisone and muscle relaxers may help, and I hope they do. But if it’s chronic and recurring the doc may need X-rays or MRI’s to further diagnose it. Then on to the specialists...

Good luck and hope the medications get you some relief, even if temporary.


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[thunderchicken]

Well I have been on Prednisone for 3 days (this afternoons dose will be day 4) now. I am definitely not waking up with anywhere near as much pain. But it's still there enough to be of concern. I guess the real measure will be to see how it feels once I stop the meds. Last dose is Sunday. Started with 6 pills, then 5,4,3,2,1. At tgr moment I am thinking when I see the Dr on Tuesday it might be time to go ahead and get an Xray or two. I'm also not sure if this lifting restriction has helped at all since it feels fine after I get moving around for a bit and mostly only bothers me when winding down the day and first thing in the morning. In all fairness the Dr said it often takes 6-8 weeks to see any relief from strained back muscles.
Not what I wanted to hear, but it's reality I guess. I think I would be comfortable seeing a Chiro after having Xrays just to have something to go on.

 

[Hillbilly]

I feel your pain man. I've been going through the same thing for the past 8 years. Back in the spring it got so bad I quit driving for a while because my foot was numb whenever I'd hit the brakes. I wound up having surgery to remove a bone spur and some disk material that was floating around. I basically crawled into the hospital and walked out 6 hours later. Night and day difference. Unfortunately, three months after surgery I ruptured the same disk again. Steroids and anti-inflammatory meds kept it at bay until October then it came back with a vengeance. I'm back to not driving, not sleeping much and generally being miserable half the time. It's surgery time again for me in January. They will remove the part of the disk that is pinching the nerve and that should do it.
There is nothing worse than nerve pain. And seeing how the sciatic nerve is the biggest nerve in the body, it really takes it out of you.

Good luck on your treatment. I hope you have a quick and complete recovery and it doesn't get any worse for you.

 

[printcraft]

Be careful thunderchicken, the prednisone will make you feel better pretty quickly but don’t think you are “healed” yet and push it.

Had my MRI, it showed “abnormal disc L4-L5” whatever that means.
I’m waiting for an appointment with a specialist.

 

[roscott]

I am a huge proponent of chiropractic care. I herniated a disc in my back in a motorcycle wreck and had severe sciatic pain for years. When it flared up, I could barely walk. I finally went to a great chiropractor and am now totally pain free, and occasional visits keep me straight.

I have also found that the new Army PRT exercises go a long way toward making me feel great and avoid injury. I know I sound like a walking billboard, but I really do see tremendous results when I do these daily. Here’s a link to the warm-up drills, which take less than 10 minutes and aren’t too strenuous. (I.e. can be done without getting sweaty.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s6HlWmhyHy4

 

[thunderchicken]

I feel your pain man. I've been going through the same thing for the past 8 years. Back in the spring it got so bad I quit driving for a while because my foot was numb whenever I'd hit the brakes. I wound up having surgery to remove a bone spur and some disk material that was floating around. I basically crawled into the hospital and walked out 6 hours later. Night and day difference. Unfortunately, three months after surgery I ruptured the same disk again. Steroids and anti-inflammatory meds kept it at bay until October then it came back with a vengeance. I'm back to not driving, not sleeping much and generally being miserable half the time. It's surgery time again for me in January. They will remove the part of the disk that is pinching the nerve and that should do it.
There is nothing worse than nerve pain. And seeing how the sciatic nerve is the biggest nerve in the body, it really takes it out of you.

Good luck on your treatment. I hope you have a quick and complete recovery and it doesn't get any worse for you.

8 years? I don't know what to say to that. Hope it gets better with the surgery in January

 

[thunderchicken]

Be careful thunderchicken, the prednisone will make you feel better pretty quickly but don’t think you are “healed” yet and push it.

Had my MRI, it showed “abnormal disc L4-L5” whatever that means.
I’m waiting for an appointment with a specialist.

Yeah I don't have any false hope of being "healed". But I do admit the relief I am getting being on Prednisone is kinda nice.

To me just as much a PITA as the pain/ diagnosis process is, is being on light duty at work. I usually work nights (15 of the last 18 yrs) and suddenly had to switch to days. Which means my days off changed, I lose shift premium pay and I have to take off work to go to my appointment all on top of our family schedule being in part based around me working nights. Add in the upcoming holidays and it is a bit of a disaster. I'll get through it, and follow Dr's orders as best I can.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Don't put off having to have surgery if it is necessary for pain and quality of life. I had back pain from about 1995 until 2008. It got progressively worse and by 2008 I could not sleep, could not sit and basically had to stand all the time. My torso was crooked and I couldn't hardly bend over to put my shoes on. The day I face planted because my entire body locked up because of a sudden pinched nerve in my back was the day I said I'm done.

I had a laparoscopic discectomy in 2008. It took me about 6 months to be able to walk pain free afterwards. I then started running, got addicted to exercise, dropped 30 lbs and at 52 am in better shape than I was at 24. I'm in the same pants size I was in high school and have more muscle mass than I did then. I wish I had not put the inevitable off like I did.

Dirty Steve

 

[Dirtebiker]

Honestly, I don’t think a chiro will really do much for you. When I had similar problems, I first went to an orthopedic (spine) surgeon expecting him to recommend surgery. He did, but said insurance wouldn’t agree until I’d tried “pain management “. So off to smother doc. He recommended some epidural shots. I had 4 of them, one on each side at two adjacent lumbar discs. Worked great. It’s been two years now. When I start getting some pain, it’s usually because I haven’t been getting enough regular, moderate exercise.

The problem was it took something like 3 months to go through the scheduling process. My PCP, referral to Orthopod, referral to Pain doc, scheduling the shots.

The shots don’t work for everyone. My wife had some and only got a month or two of relief. Surgery ultimately helped her. It doesn’t help everyone.

When I got my shots, the pain doc said it sometimes takes a series of them to work or conclude they won’t help. I don’t recall the timing but may have been 2 or 3 rounds over the course of a year. That gets expensive, even as outpatient. Like I said, I’ve gotten one set and it’s been great. YMMV.

Now that I’m relatively pain free, I’m trying to stick with a regular exercise routine. Walking, cycling, swimming, strength training and flexibility.

Good luck!


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Good for you. My doc told me the same thing- the injections help some people on the first try, some the second or third. They didn’t help me at all.
my sciatica went away on its own after about two years but my lower back got worse.
I’ve got 5 ruptured disks and the surgeon says there’s nothing they can do for me. The pain specialist is afraid of big brother so he’s reduced the pain killers that actually work and replaced them with ineffective drugs that won’t get him “in trouble “.

for the op... sciatica never really hurt me, it was more of an annoyance. Only way I could describe was like a piano wire stretched down the back of my leg from my buttock to my heal... worse though is when that pain went into (excuse my language) my nut!

 

[thunderchicken]

Last week the Dr released me from light duty since I was going on vacation. She ordered X-rays which I had done today. I received an email copy of the images and the results. But its about as clear as muddy water. Awesome too my Dr doesn't have any appointments available for 2 weeks.

It said I have a gentle Thoracolumbar Levocurvature with an apex at L2-L3; alignment in the sagittal plane is anatomic. Vertebral body heightsare well maintained, no fractures or dislocations, no focal lytic or blastic processes evident. Chronic degenerative endplate changes accompanies mild/moderate disc height loss at L3-L4 through L5-S1. Intervertabral disc spaces otherwise well maintained. No other significant endplate degeneration. Bilateral facet degeneration at L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1. Visualized sacrum, ilac intact and hip portions visualized anatomically positioned.
Conclusion Thoracolumbar levocurvature and associated degenerative changes greatest at L3-L4 through L5-S1.

Whatever all that means, I guess I will find out in two weeks.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Last week the Dr released me from light duty since I was going on vacation. She ordered X-rays which I had done today. I received an email copy of the images and the results. But its about as clear as muddy water. Awesome too my Dr doesn't have any appointments available for 2 weeks.

It said I have a gentle Thoracolumbar Levocurvature with an apex at L2-L3; alignment in the sagittal plane is anatomic. Vertebral body heightsare well maintained, no fractures or dislocations, no focal lytic or blastic processes evident. Chronic degenerative endplate changes accompanies mild/moderate disc height loss at L3-L4 through L5-S1. Intervertabral disc spaces otherwise well maintained. No other significant endplate degeneration. Bilateral facet degeneration at L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1. Visualized sacrum, ilac intact and hip portions visualized anatomically positioned.
Conclusion Thoracolumbar levocurvature and associated degenerative changes greatest at L3-L4 through L5-S1.

Whatever all that means, I guess I will find out in two weeks.

Paging Hoosierdoc... Paging Hoosierdoc... Hoosierdoc to the white courtesy phone...

 

[CHCRandy]

Sounds like a fancy way of saying your back aint straight.

 

[thunderchicken]

Sounds like a fancy way of saying your back aint straight.

I picked up on that just by looking at the x-rays. My concern is all the talk of degeneration and wanting to know what kind of options I have for treatment. I am really thinking about seeing a chiropractor at this point. But would be open to the idea of injections to help with the pain

 

[JCSR]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things. I suffered with sciatic pain for years. After finding a good Chiro and strengthening my core I was able to slowly recover. One thing that really helped me was a tube of tennis balls. I kept one by my recliner, one bedside and one in the car. Anytime I got to hurting I could slip the tennis ball under my leg near the upper hamstring and find the sweet spot to relieve the pain. Worked for me!

 

[thunderchicken]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things. I suffered with sciatic pain for years. After finding a good Chiro and strengthening my core I was able to slowly recover. One thing that really helped me was a tube of tennis balls. I kept one by my recliner, one bedside and one in the car. Anytime I got to hurting I could slip the tennis ball under my leg near the upper hamstring and find the sweet spot to relieve the pain. Worked for me!

Interesting hadn't heard of doing the tennis ball trick
I may have to give that a try

 

[JCSR]

Interesting hadn't heard of doing the tennis ball trick
I may have to give that a try

It worked for me and was great entertainment for the wife and kids! They couldn't wait to tell everybody that Dad sits on tennis balls!!

 

[thunderchicken]

It worked for me and was great entertainment for the wife and kids! They couldn't wait to tell everybody that Dad sits on tennis balls!!

Lol. I can only imagine

 

[cosermann]

Might checkout the Physical Therapy Video YouTube channel of Brad and Bob ("The two most famous, physical therapists, on the Internet." In their opinion, of course.)

Lots of good tips and exercises for sciatica.

 

[Caleb]

Not 100% sure if this applies to me but this week have sucked as far as back pain goes...did drywall on Monday, no pain. Installed an interior door on Tuesday, no pain until about 2 hours afterwards. I've been in pain since. ibuprofen or Tylenol doesn't seem to help a whole lot, but a hot shower does. I'm in pure pain in the morning(almost impossible to get out of bed and get dressed) but after moving around a bit and a hot shower, the evenings aren't too bad.

 

[thunderchicken]

^^^ Pretty much how I have been for little over a month. Hot shower seems to help some but not much. Ibuprofen/ Aleve may help some but mostly just being up moving around does seem to loosen things up.
I see the Dr on Tuesday so should find out what she recommends. My biggest concern has been over doing it and hurting myself worse.
Back pain just sucks