Lower back pain and in quads

[Wacko073]

Hi, I suffer from what I believe is Sciatica. My back feels "heavy", and when this happens my quads, sometimes both legs get excruciating pain, the feeling of a dead leg is the only way to explain it. This pain is terrible. I've been to a couple of physios, and they say 2 discs, 3 & 4, are nipping together at the sciatic nerve, so manipulation is given to alleviate the pain. It does help for a little while, but god when it kicks in, it's bad. I'd say on a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 10.

Any idea what I can do

[Coastwalker]

Vitamin D deficiency can be linked to lower back and sciatica type leg pains. Mine was.

Also vitamin B12 deficiency is linked to spine degeneration. Doubt your Doctor would link these though..

[Wacko073 in reply to Coastwalker]

Hi, many thanks for your reply. I do actually take a Vit d and b12 every day so I hope I've got that side of things covered.

[Coastwalker in reply to Wacko073]

That's good Wacko073, do hope they are both high doses and not just high street bought multivitamins ?

[Taliswood]

Hi Wacko I had this and ended up having to have major back surgery, couldn't walk 200 yards without tears in my eyes as so so painful. I had a decompression op on L3/L4 vertebrae as my spinal cord was squashed so tightly by central spinal stenosis and a herniated disc I didn't have much option.

My leg pain has gone which is a relief but my back pain is far worse than before surgery which was bad enough. My consultant gave a higher % chance of the leg pain going than the back pain. Unfortunately I am amongst the small % who have worse back pain after the surgery.

I would suggest that you treat conservatively for as long as you can. Have you had an MRI scan as that is the first thing I would ask your GP for. Once you know what it is that is causing you the pain you might then want to see a pain management consultant as they can advise on medications and also offer different types of nerve block injections. I have had many of these some are successful others aren't. I haven't found any meds that took away my pain enough to balance up the awful side effects but we are all different and you may find that some suit you and give you great relief. Also, find a good holistic Physio who does gentle hands on therapy and other gentle techniques like massage and muscle release, activation points, acupuncture are a few, and see if they can help you. Be careful with who you see and what you do especially as you sound like you don't know exactly what is causing your pain. Hope it all goes well for you and you find some relief soon x

[Wacko073 in reply to Taliswood]

Hi, thank you very much for your reply, and for telling me your story. I do hope your back improves very soon. I haven't been to me GP about this yet but may have to soon. I've been laid up today but pain has eased with ice and compression so hopefully tomorrow I make it to work. My physio did say v3/4 are compressing on the nerve so I'm waiting to see her to alleviate this. I will make sure I see my GP soon and request a scan. For the moment though, it's ibuprofen and codiene for the pain, and my new tens machine which will turn up later today. Take care and once again thank you for your reply.

[belle623]

Hi Wako73

I am so sorry, I can imagine pain. Everyone has given such great advice. Only things I would add would be cupping. If you can see a massage theripist you trust that provides cupping; amazing! I have been doing cupping therapy for years and I cannot speak to it's affects enough.

I really hope you find relief soon. You are in our thoughts.

Ash