Was at the doctors last week and have been diagnosed with sciatica. For past two weeks I have been in agony all down my right buttock, hamstring, behind my knee and calf muscle and any time I stand up after sitting for more than a minute I get pins and needles down my right side from lower back to my big toe.
Was wondering if anybody here has experienced it or has any recommendations on easing the symptoms.
The pain hasn't been too bad since seeing the doctor as he has given me a pile of voltorol and co-codamol but dying to get back doing some exercise, however I don't want it flaring up again.
It's a pity you had not called the thread Back Problems, then I could have filled the page.
Voltorol is the dog's bollix.
I'd suggest plenty of swmming?
Think I might give the swimming a go alright, I'd imagine jogging or playing football would send it mad altogether.
Been bothered with over it periodically over the years but not as bad as what you've experienced - For what it's worth this is how I have always successfully taken care of it - Stretching, by lying on the floor against something like an open doorway with my arse tight to the door jamb and my leg at right angles to the floor, vertically up the door jamb - It always hurt a lot at the back of my knee when first putting my leg in position, but the tighter I can get the back of my knee to the door jamb the better it eventually feels - I sometimes experienced the pain while driving and found that stopping and putting a magnetic pad into my waistband at my back for some reason always relieves the pain after a short time - Don't know why it worked but it does (On the subject of magnets, horse trainers in parts of the States use them in horse blankets to help horses recover from pain and stiffness quickly - Again I don't know how it works, but those folks are in the horse business for money and they know it works)
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 13, 2010, 11:30:25 PM
Was at the doctors last week and have been diagnosed with sciatica. For past two weeks I have been in agony all down my right buttock, hamstring, behind my knee and calf muscle and any time I stand up after sitting for more than a minute I get pins and needles down my right side from lower back to my big toe.
Was wondering if anybody here has experienced it or has any recommendations on easing the symptoms.
...
I have or had those exact symptoms for the last year and a half. Some weeks im Ok and other days, especially after a game im in agony.
The key to easing the pain is flexibility.
This stretch by ballela-angel is a great one
Quote from: ballela-angel on July 14, 2010, 03:37:11 AM
...by lying on the floor against something like an open doorway with my arse tight to the door jamb and my leg at right angles to the floor, vertically up the door jamb
However you can use a towel to stretch your toes towards your body which will stretch you even further.
I normally dont use a door jamb I just use the towel stretch - with my leg in the air and straightened, putting the towel around the ball of my foot, under my toes and pulling them toward my body until you feel the stretch above your ass / in your hip.
You also need a lot of flexability in your calf, hamstring, arse/glute and lower back and it should ease.
For the record, this injury of mine has flared up again, despite my stretching. (I feel discomfort as we speak, sitting at my desk).
I went to physio last week when it flared up badly after a game and he diagnosed Piriformis Syndrome and another neural impingement in my back. Im going to a consultant who will hopefully send me for an MRI, on the physio's recommendation so we can find out if thats whats causing the Sciatica.
I found these stretches cleared up the symptoms too... especially the second one (repeated 20 times on a chair)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFtUgS69rPk
Cheers lads will give your suggestions a try over the next couple of weeks and if it doesn't improve I may see a physio and see what they say.
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 10:24:36 AM
Cheers lads will give your suggestions a try over the next couple of weeks and if it doesn't improve I may see a physio and see what they say.
OMG, will ya go to a physio straight away before it gets worse man.
Have a look at www.eamega.com and see the Bio-Energetic products.
I bought one of the bracelets about 18 months ago and it has greatly helped, I have started back playing golf again.
I always understood sciatica was caused by disc pressure on the nerves in the back and that unless that's sorted out, everything else is just treating the pain.
Quote from: AbbeySider on July 14, 2010, 11:34:54 AM
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 10:24:36 AM
Cheers lads will give your suggestions a try over the next couple of weeks and if it doesn't improve I may see a physio and see what they say.
OMG, will ya go to a physio straight away before it gets worse man.
I know, I know! Only thing is there is a 3 month waiting list to see an NHS physio and having just got engaged at the week the old purse strings are a bit tight for the foreseeable future so that rules out regular sessionss with a private physio :(
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 05:37:39 PM
Quote from: AbbeySider on July 14, 2010, 11:34:54 AM
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 10:24:36 AM
Cheers lads will give your suggestions a try over the next couple of weeks and if it doesn't improve I may see a physio and see what they say.
OMG, will ya go to a physio straight away before it gets worse man.
I know, I know! Only thing is there is a 3 month waiting list to see an NHS physio and having just got engaged at the week the old purse strings are a bit tight for the foreseeable future so that rules out regular sessionss with a private physio :(
This may seem like very obvious advice but if you feel it flaring up be sure and sit properly ie poker straight (most people myself included slouch when sitting) for at least a few days i've found this helps usually stops it flaring up too badly.
The old slouching is a hard habit to break and TBH i usally forget about not doing it until the sciatica flares up again.
Yeah iv straightened up my car seat recently as the pain was always worst when driving, seems to have made a bit of a difference.
Get one of these yokes... I have one on order and it's supposed to be the dogs balls by all accounts, I've tried just about everything else :(
http://www.amazon.com/Teeter-Hang-Ups-EP-550-Sport/dp/B001CHEVL4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1279126130&sr=8-5
Quote from: Take Your Points on July 14, 2010, 08:09:43 PM
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 10:24:36 AM
Cheers lads will give your suggestions a try over the next couple of weeks and if it doesn't improve I may see a physio and see what they say.
Get an appointment asap with Martin McCrory
http://www.omaghphysiotherapy.co.uk/ (http://www.omaghphysiotherapy.co.uk/)
My doctor actually recommended him TYP will look into that shortly.
That machine looks like something you'd see in a DVD on the top shelf in some dodgy newsagent Tyrones Own :o
I was off work for 4 weeks a few years ago, slept on the floor with a duvet, f**king unbelievable pain. Get to a physio asap, dont go near NHS physios, they'll see you for 10 minutes and send you home with an A4 page of exercises that you could download from the 'net, waste of time!
My advice would be to pony up! get to a private physio 2 or 3 times a week, expensive but worth it in the long run. Mine was worse than yours by the sounds of it (I ended up getting steroid injections into my spine) but you willl deteriorate unless you get it looked at.
I find the best exercise for sciatica is standing with your elbow side on to a wall pushing your hips in and out from the wall
Know how you feel. 20yrs ago I spent 28 days in traction in hospital with 2 prolapsed discs. The traction did dam all to help me apart from forcing me 2 stay in bed. The pain was unreal, I have to say it was the one and only time I cried like a baby. Obviously I developed sciatica as a result and when I finally got out of hospital the discomfort particularly in my achilles made me want to rip them out. The good news is it can be got over but only by you managing it properly. The first thing I did was get rid of the painkillers, they will make you think the problem is easing and con you into thinking you can do more than you really can. When the effects of them wear off you may find you have over stretched it and made things worse. Try and do with out them and slowly but surely you will conquer it. Sit up straight is the best advice I can give you and stretch stretch stretch every morning even if its only mm's each day.Whatever feels comfortable for you thats what you do, its gonna be slow but you'll get there. I can now lift items as heavy if not heavier than I could back before this happened- the difference is I now lift them properly, you must listen to your body, feel the pain and thats when you adjust. I still get an odd dart of it but nothing (touch wood) like I had 20yrs ago.
Avril Gibson in Newcastle helped me along a great deal but its what you do yourself that counts.
P.S. I dont mean to be crude but one way I really found good for relieving the pain was going for a good crap. Honestly, what I did sitting on the loo was to stretch my arms out in front and stretch my spine, while literally pushing my arse down into the bowl the whole process did i swear work for me. I was willing to try anything. Goodluck. Stay away from Doctors not their field.
there is a woman in Ardee that has the cure for it. She is supposed to be very good.
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 14, 2010, 05:47:23 PM
Yeah iv straightened up my car seat recently as the pain was always worst when driving, seems to have made a bit of a difference.
Car seats are a killer, any position that has your knees higher than your pelvis puts a lot of pressure on your lower discs, you'll notice truck drivers etc have a completely different seat than the type we have in a car their pelvis sits about level with their knees.
Short of changing car or car sear not much i guess you can do except avoid long jouneys when it flares up.
Quote from: Cde on July 14, 2010, 11:09:06 PM
there is a woman in Ardee that has the cure for it. She is supposed to be very good.
She's hardly still alive, is she? She was about in the sixties. Maybe she passed it on to a new woman.
"The woman in Ardee" was revered in my house. My mother and three uncles at different times had the sort of pain described by wavesofTORRES. They each visited her and claimed they were cured. Of course I'm a sceptic about cures and stuff, but I have to say they seemed to be cured as well. I have no idea whether it was something physical she did or some other treatment or so-called faith healing. I assume it must have been some physical manipulation (as far as I remember there were a number of visits involved) or else it was one hell of a placebo effect. Part of the deal was that you could never tell anybody what she did. That used to exercise my childish imagination no end.
My MMA coach suffered from Sciatica, and he went to see yer man Raymond Knox in Moira - the one with the bionic hand device.
It took a few sessions, and he admitted that it was painful, but it sorted him out. He said afterwards that he felt better than he had in at least 10 years (he is in his late 40's), was able to train better and for longer.
Hasn't had any bother since, and that was 3 years ago that he went for the treatment!
http://www.tamars.co.uk/newspaper/WebIrishNews.pdf
Quote from: Hardy on July 15, 2010, 11:29:50 AM
Quote from: Cde on July 14, 2010, 11:09:06 PM
there is a woman in Ardee that has the cure for it. She is supposed to be very good.
She's hardly still alive, is she? She was about in the sixties. Maybe she passed it on to a new woman.
"The woman in Ardee" was revered in my house. My mother and three uncles at different times had the sort of pain described by wavesofTORRES. They each visited her and claimed they were cured. Of course I'm a sceptic about cures and stuff, but I have to say they seemed to be cured as well. I have no idea whether it was something physical she did or some other treatment or so-called faith healing. I assume it must have been some physical manipulation (as far as I remember there were a number of visits involved) or else it was one hell of a placebo effect. Part of the deal was that you could never tell anybody what she did. That used to exercise my childish imagination no end.
her daughter is doing it now
Heard some great reports about her
The driving really is a killer. The dull pulsing pain would drive you round the bend (literally).
I wouldn't be a wild man for 'cures' but those reports sound positive. If anyone has a number or contact details could they drop me a PM?
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 15, 2010, 01:38:29 PM
The driving really is a killer. The dull pulsing pain would drive you round the bend (literally).
I wouldn't be a wild man for 'cures' but those reports sound positive. If anyone has a number or contact details could they drop me a PM?
I do an 80 mile round trip to training a few times a week and my Sciatica gets really bad after it.
Just sitting here I have pain in my hip/arse from it. Im seeing physios and doctors lately as I said because it has flared up worse than ever lately.
Quote from: omagh_gael on July 15, 2010, 01:38:29 PM
The driving really is a killer. The dull pulsing pain would drive you round the bend (literally).
I wouldn't be a wild man for 'cures' but those reports sound positive. If anyone has a number or contact details could they drop me a PM?
Each to his own, but cures are balls :P Get the dough out and get to a physio - you'll end up there after the 'cure' anyway - I did, same way I ended up in the dentist after i got the cure for the 'ache.
if the pain is bad enough you will try everything.
some people swear by them and some think they are a con but they cost nothing and are worth a try
Any recommendations for pain relief whilst driving? I get a dull pain in my lower back and pins and needles down my leg.
Driving to Lancaster via Scotland next wk and not looking forward to it...
Quote from: gawa316 on August 01, 2010, 01:09:12 AM
Any recommendations for pain relief whilst driving? I get a dull pain in my lower back and pins and needles down my leg.
Driving to Lancaster via Scotland next wk and not looking forward to it...
One of them Lumbar support type pillows for the seat is about all you can do..that and stop periodically to stretch yourself.
Quote from: Hardy on July 14, 2010, 02:09:55 PM
I always understood sciatica was caused by disc pressure on the nerves in the back and that unless that's sorted out, everything else is just treating the pain.
yup. He should get an mri to check the discs. If its a disc and he stresses to the point where it herniates then the pain he feels now will be nothing compared to how bad it can get.