Ow Ow Ow

[bookworm1111]

my sciatica is really hurting today, have had to put self back to bed as lying down relieves the pain. i hate that one day you start to feel better thinking on the road to recovery and smack bad day! what am i doing wrong. moving enough? not moving enough?

[roseerj]

I feel for you because I have a very painful hip back and legs can hardly walk , got to stop in bed in mornings Dr said it was Sciatica and lumbago so don’t know really painful

[bookworm1111 in reply to roseerj]

im sorry to hear that youre in similar situation. hope theres light at the end of the tunnel for us.

[Urania]

I have sciatica and when it is bad I cant put any weight on my leg and have to stay in bed and rest it. One thing I have found helps is to rub it with Ibuprofen Gel, that really helps and enables me to walk again. Good luck Urania

[bookworm1111 in reply to Urania]

is that better than the tablets as im taking the full amount of ibuprofen tablets already and dont think can use both?

[morphalot in reply to bookworm1111]

Use voltarol gel, that's good too.

[Kannie]

I feel for you all. I have suffered back pain since 1992 when an epidural during labour went in wrong. Over the years I also developed arthritis in my spine and s few eeeks back I went to move and couldn't. My back was agony. Had to go A&E, had MRI which shows bulging L4-5 disc bulge, L5-S1 disc bulge, spinal stenosis and disc degeneration disease. This was just the lower part that the MRI was done on. I have pains shooting from my neck and shoulder blades, do you think I should have an MRI covering all of the spines? When I asked my GO this she said there's no point it'll show all the disc as being the same. I hope you all feel better soon. I have to use crutches now, sometimes in the night a walking frame as the lags get real bad then x

[bookworm1111 in reply to Kannie]

im so sorry to hear youre in pain too. im not sure about what the mri shows as when ive been shown mine theyve zoomed in on the areas where ive got my problem and even that looks like magic eyes to me. everything youve listed is exactly what ive got except the labour part. my scoliosis rectified itself from doing my physio exercises and soon stopped needing the crutches so hoping it wont be long before you do the same. how are they going to treat yours?

[Kannie in reply to bookworm1111]

I attend a pain clinic which in my opinion is a waste of time. I am just on strong medication and expected to get on with it. The Physio I had in the summer did not help as it interfered with other health problems I've got. I just think it's weird they won't MRI the whole spine invade I've got cervical disc pressing on the spinal column, nerves being punched etc. If this is the case then there are things they can do. Some days I have to lay down to help my lower spine but then when I lay down too long it hurts my upper spine. Oh my my GP has said I also have kyphosis but that was just through her looking, no examination. What do you do to help? X

[bookworm1111]

when the pain wasnt as severe and body allowed it i used to make a note of anything i could do, which for me was a length of the garden. i then gradually increased it (body permitting) which im sure made me feel better and reduce my depressive thoughts. im back to a piddly amount of 2-3lengths of the hallway. i found physio exercises do help but only in the longrun, they dont give quick results. pilates is going to be my future plan to stop it hurting/recurring but thats the same, it takes months to notice any improvement.

[Cjbro2000]

I feel your pain, @bookworm1111! I tried everything I could think of to relieve the sciatica pain. I am of the opinion that it’s something that just has to run its course. Took about three weeks for me. I too worried about whether I was causing more harm by using my legs, being up and trying to walk it out, or causing more harm by staying down. Alternating heat and cold helped a little to relieve the pain. Also using a hand massager on the area that hurt seem to help. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

[Lulububs]

Hey bookworm

I have sciatica have now for about 9 years it taken till now for mri and found out i have a 2 herniated discs and a ripped hip flexor and degenerative hip joint AT 44 YEARS OLD.....

Comes from being a gymnast and cross country runner as

A teenager.

So all these years i have found out what works so i will hope this helps u to....

1. U must stretch( google sciatic exercises) as it is ur sciatic nerve retracking so u need to restretch it out.

2. Do not cross ur legs either at knee when sitting or ur ankles when laying again it trap ur nerve.

3. U do need move ie walk walk walk i find when im in pain if i get up and walk i will Slowly get better.

4. Get a MRI to make sure it not anything serious( i was told oh ur to young for it to be anything serious) i wasnt!!!

5. Get a good osteopath!!!!!! I go every two weeks and he literally heals me. Was in serious pain 10 out of 10 couldnt go to work couldnt walk my dogs.... now i work full

Time! Walk my dogs and lead a normal life.

All these will help u... i promise.

As a sciatica suffer i know. Even got my mum whose 70 doin the exercises

And It has helped hers. Also sent my father in law to my osteopath and he swears by him now and he had sciatica about 30years on and off

[bookworm1111 in reply to Lulububs]

thank you so much lulububs, they have been some fantastic suggestions. im so cautious of seeing a osteo as i saw a bad one who i feel started my problems off after seeing her for 3wks and then its gone downhill from then. ive had 2 mris over the last 6months but want another as i think the caudal epidural 3wks ago has done something wrong to me. i cant believe your drs wouldnt do your mri, im 35 and got these 2 disc bulges/ruptures. im so pleased they finally decided they were idiots and did one.

that crossing ankles is new to me, i regulary cross my ankles when lying down-that ones gonna stop.

annoyingly my physio wont let me do any stretches until i see my consultant, thankfully its only 10days time but omg thats gonna be a painful car journey.

again thank you for your advice x

[Lulububs in reply to bookworm1111]

Oh sitting kills me!! I can walk miles and lay all night but sitting absolutely kills me. My osteo told me it coz when we sit we shrink the sciatic nerve so it causes pain.... hence why u should stretch it out with the exercises. I just got back from holiday and was so worried about the traveling as i would b sitting so long but i did all the exercises in the morning and in airport( yes i looked strange lol) and i had no problems.

I have tried physio and chiro but none of them worked for me but i was told by recommendation about this osteo and i got to say i could not do

With out him not just for his treatment but for his advice which has helped me massively... the exercises and the walking it out...

I have cut my meds down from 2 naproxen and 8 cocodamols a day to nothing at all now which is what i wanted. I did not want to b on meds for rest of my life as i may have another 20-40 years left....

[bookworm1111 in reply to Lulububs]

i can sit but only if chair reclines back. no way could i sit upright. when i did my back in 2016 i was the same as yourself (no sitting but could walk for miled) but unfortunately this time has affected my standing and walking.

i know what u mean about travelling, my hols got cancelled cause of all this. made me laugh thinking of your exercises at the airport.

and my thoughts are same about the meds, i hate having to take tablets. took me months to wean myself off of them before....will just have to do it again if i ever manage to get rid of this pain. got a feeling my consultant is going to offer me surgery next, have u had any?

[Lulububs in reply to bookworm1111]

Noooo i refuse...surgery.. every person i know whose had back surgery ended up worse.

They gave me a lap at first as they were obsessed with me having endometriosis as i had trouble with bladder and pooping ( sorry tmi) buti kept saying i think it groin or back pain.

So had the laparoscopy nothing was found....

Then it took them another two years to accept what i was saying and give me a mri, then they realised i was right!

Now im waiting to see a pain specialist on 9th which il go to as i would like some free physio ( it didnt work but at least it free) but i do not want anymore meds!

Do u get the bladder and bowel pain?

Lucky mines gone now as the osteo knew why it was so he sorted it so that has gone and that was my biggest pain... i kept weeing myself, i couldnt hold it in and when i needed poop the pain in my groin was awful i literally see stars.

It awful pain isnt it...

I hope u get some relief...

Have u tried yoga?

[bookworm1111 in reply to Lulububs]

thankfully dont get any bladder or bowel pain although my sciatica really flairs up when sit on the toilet (tmi?) surgery is a difficult decision to make as not being able to walk more than about 40 steps and its been 3wks feel like will do anything to get better. ive heard surgery sometimes works for some people and not for others. my consultant is great though and will give me % of recovery/problems which is what i go on.

havent done yoga. i did pilates but as my back got worse, couldnt do as much, until now being told by physio to not do anything as we dont know what the epidurals done and dont want to cause more problems

[Lulububs in reply to bookworm1111]

Yes see my mri told them i had no nerve damage which is a good thing so i can exercise and yoga and walk which all help me.

When it first flared up two years ago i could not move i could not even sleep in same bed as husband as i couldnt have the bed movement when he got in...it was awful!

So i know the pain.

It was like that about 6 weeks where i could not move at all.

Then one of my friends said see this osteo and it has got better.

Now i see him once a month for a mot just to keep it all ok but i always feel it , it never goes it just becomes easier and bearable. I supose it something i got to learn to live with

[bookworm1111 in reply to Lulububs]

isnt it horrible that we have to live with it.