Hi Folks just wondering if anyone has any tips - I think I have Sciatica - somewhat reluctant to join the madhouse at the surgery. I have had a lot of pains in my back before but not one like this that goes from left hand backside down to calf - very jagged painful not achy - luckily only when I stand and walk so I can have pain free times although I don't have anyone to fetch and carry or let the dogs out!
Sciatica: Hi Folks just wondering if anyone has any... - PMRGCAuk
Sciatica
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Pippah45
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Forgot to say Paracetemol and Codeine didn't touch it and I am allergic to Ibuprofen. Two sessions of osteopathy didn't help either.
What did the osteopath do? It sounds like it could be referred pain from your spine in which case exercises to strengthen muscles which support the spine could be a long term solution. Physiotherapist next time?
Osteopath is a petite lady and did very little in my opinion more like a massage. It started immediately behind where my diverticulitis is being troublesome so we thought it could be referred pain from that. I do have a referral to the Physios for arthritic hip so I might take that up - but my history with physios is not particularly great they have done more harm than good and I really don't want to make it worse! I have tried a small amount of ibuprofen gel on my thumb joint and so far no flare - so I might try the gel on this.
Yes I have a magic physiotherapist, but one I saw before my PMR diagnosis made me worse. That was, however, the first time a physiotherapist hadn't helped so I think it was the nature of the unrecognised PMR beast, not her. You would need techniques to relax spasmed muscles. My current physiotherapist used dry needling along my spine, several sessions, she didn't do my whole back at once. She also used low level light therapy, which may be hard to come by in your neck of the woods. I thought that heat was, like light, a wave length, so for a few nights I lay with my hip/glute on top of a hot water bottle as warm as I could stand without hurting my skin (the bottle was wrapped up). The tight muscles relaxed and after these sessions and my carrying on with exercise the pain which I thought was going to send me sooner rather than later for a hip replacement went away. Several years now!
PMRproAmbassador
The previous pain was muscle pain I take it? Did/do you have pain in the buttock? If so my guess would be piriformis syndrome - the sciatic nerve passes through the muscle in many people and if the muscle spasms it can pinch the nerve causing referred pain down the leg.
Have you tried heat over the buttock? It does sound as if the piriformis might just be spasming when you move - so if you can get it to relax it might improve. My physio works on the piriformis when it is tight - it is painful at the time but longer term the relief is amazing. I think you would find piriformis stretches if you google it. Here is one reliable site:
Thanks PMRpro I saw piriformis mentioned in other posts I will look it up. The cold pack seems good which is unusual for me I generally prefer warmth. I get the feeling it is easing slightly but I could be moving more carefully too and getting used to gritting my teeth! A drop of gin does wonders too 
Hi. I thought I had sciatica or piriforms too but the (private) physio says it's my sacroiliac joint. I've had 3 sessions of ultrasound and a set of exercises to do twice daily. There's been a big improvement and I can now walk without a sharp pain- just a dull ache. An ice pack helps too.
It was piriformis syndrome when I had pain standing and walking. I basically use my fist to massage my buttock until it felt softer and found the muscle relaxed a bit. Sometimes it took several mini massages over the evening, laying on the bed. It was hard as I don't have much strength in my hands but it was worth the hassle. Like you I prefer warmth on my aches and ain but cold worked better on my butt cheek. Good luck.
Blearyeyed in reply to
Have you got any of those yoga massage balls?
I find them really useful to hit the spot you can put it on the chair or bed and just push and rotate my muscle over it when you hands and arms aren't up the task of hitting the right spot.
To be honest , the first things I used were a cheap hard rubber dogs ball and one of those spiky tumble drier balls . Obviously , don't be stealing it from your Pooch Poops , especially if he's just chewed it !😋😂😂😂
in reply to Blearyeyed
I have a spiky ball but it didn't get to the sweet spot... Good for surface and next but down though.
Blearyeyed in reply to
Oh , agree , there are just some spots that can't be touched by anything but You yourself. Even with a bony bum like mine there is always one spot that tries to escape relief with anything. A bit like those itches that try to run away when you scratch them!
in reply to Blearyeyed
Definitely. A couple of knuckles does the job. Then. Of course, I have to deal with knuckle pain. 🤣🤣🤣
Blearyeyed in reply to
Can't win , xxx
Massage balls arriving tomorrow! Thank you very much!
They are handy on other parts too. Hope they are helpful x
The ice pack relief proves it , sciatica or piriformis.
Try some gentle stretching of your lower back , even on the bed .
A starter , Roll onto your stomach on the bed . Lie with your arms out at the sides , or folded under your chin , or as it improves and your other symptoms allow over your head.
Lay in that position for 2 mins to start upto 5 mins , you can also put something like a rolled towel on your back to add a little light pressure. Breath slowly .
Do not jump up when you finish .
Put your arms at your sides , wait , roll slowly using arms to help you on your side , slowly move into a foetal position you can cope with , turn onto your back , hands flat at your sides or , as you progress , hold your legs / knees to you for a minute. Release , then slowly straighten out your legs. Put a towel roll under your back at the waist if you need to it adds pressured relief.
Wait a minute , then laying straight , point your toes in front of you hold a couple of seconds , then up to the ceiling , hold as before , start with 5 repeats then slowly over the days move up to 8/10. After you are used to this you can advance to moving your arms behind your head and then laid above your head on the pillow while pointing the toes.
Then finally gently shake out your arms and legs and roll around slowly on to your side , raise up and get up , you can do this in the morning and before sleep.
Try a cooling gel like Biofreeze or PernationGel or Flexiseq in the day .
Try using the head of the shower to massage water on the points of pain.
Some Paracetamol at recommended doses won't rid you of all the pain but will give some relief.
Take care
Thank you very much that sounds very useful.
Hi Londinium - Thank you for your reply. I do have optimal Vit D3 levels and supplement with Magnesium - although I know plenty of people who don't work on these two.
I haven't got the figures to hand but Vit D3 was near the top of the range - I do take a good Vit B complex and its around 200mg Magnesium
Ohhhh, I do feel for you... I have suffered several times with that godawful pain! Rest, gentle stretches, and rest some more.... 🤞🏼
Thank you everyone - rest seems to work quite well - am letting the jobs pile up 
! I will look into massage balls. Most of it is nerve pain I am fairly certain - had plenty of muscular stuff in the past but nerve pain is in a different league. I had dropped to 22.25 pred when it started - I guess I won't be going down to 20 yet.
in reply to Pippah45
The piriformis muscle basically squeezes the sciatic nerve... So that makes the leg hurt.
Hi Pippah45. I have been in terrific pain for over 30 years which turned out to be sciatica due to a slipped vertibrae crushing the sciatic nerve. I had my second lot of surgery on it on 1st August this year. The pain was always down my left side. The operation worked and got rid of the pain on the left ( Hooray)but........ I got it 100 time worse on my right side instead!!! It had been suggested that, as they straighted up my lumbar spine, which had been slightly curved since birth, the nerves were being overly stretched on the right side as they had never been straight before!! I am still in great pain and am taking Oxycodon slow release 10mg every 12 hours. I also have oramorph for breathrough pain.
My pain went on for so long because, like you I tried every type of therapy and pain relief I could find. In my opinion, the only way you will get to the root of the problem is to tell your doctor that you want and MRI or CT scan to see if it shows up an underlying problem that is causing your pain. You could save yourself a lot of time and a lot of pain by doing this.
(note that I said TELL your doctor you want an MRI or CT, not ask. You are entitled to have a scan, it's not a gift to be bestowed by the doctor if they feel like it).
I wish you the best of luck and an early solution to your pain.
Ann
Ann - that sounds incredibly painful - I hope you make progress soon. Thanks for the advice - I am pretty good at "telling" my GPs what I want! They have been listening to what I want in relation to my Thyroid testing - well most of them have and they accept that I treat with NDT too.
My hubby suffers badly from sciatica. Like you, nothing over the counter touches it and he has to resort to prescriptions drugs from the gp.
However, the last few times he has had sciatic pain he has had acupuncture and said after six weekly treatments it resolved. Even one treatment reduced his pain. At the time one of our GPs did the acupuncture but now they've cut that from their services and you have to find your own acupuncturist privately.
Just thought I would share as I know how miserable sciatic pain can be.
Hope you feel better soon.
Thank you very much S4andy - it's been on my mind to try Acupuncture for a while - so maybe now is the time! It helped the aged dog a few months ago! Only snag is that nearest is around 20 miles away I think but I will look into it. I have tried just about every therapy over the years some more whacky than others!
That sounds like sciatica! Surgery is not usually the answer. Rest, walking, no doing the thing that aggravates it, NSAIDs, eventually physio. Learn how to get in and out of cars, bend down, etc correctly. Caused by a small tear or damage in a lumbar disk which will resolve itself over the next few months. Good luck!
Correction. NSAIDs only for associated muscle pain. They do nothing for nerve pain. Neurontin aka gabapentin ( in the US) works on nerve pain, over time as you dose up. Then must titrate back down and off after the condition improves. In the acute phase, it just hurts.
It was the fact that paracetamol and codeine didn't touch the pain convinced me it was nerve stuff - and I am allergic to anything with Ibuprofen in it unfortunately. But thanks for the suggestion.
It's just dawning on me that this started just after a reduction from 25 to 22.5 of pred - would it make sense to go back to 25 or is nerve pain not helped by prednisolone? I guess there is only one way to find out?
Depends what is causing the nerve pain - I have myofascial pain syndrome alongside the PMR which, when bad, leads to the sciatic nerve being pinched by spasmed muscles. A bit more pred often calms the MPS down and relieves the sciatic pain.
Thank you PMRpro - I will try going back up I think. Today I was leaning on my trolley in the check out queue to relieve the ache a bit and very kind lady in front was convinced I was on the point of collapse! She offered to pack my bags there and then and again after she had packed her own! I must look worse than I feel! It was very kind but not good for my morale LOL.
I don’t know where you are in UK - is there a good Alexander Technique teacher near you? Sciatica and similar pains are more often than not caused by poor posture and “use” which is what we Alexander Teachers are trained to address.
When I had sciatica I tried everything and nothing worked. Then I thought of yoga. I took yoga class and in 6 months sciatica was gone. I was careful in class and when I felt pain, I stopped the pose where I was. Some poses I couldn’t do at all at first. My husband has chronic sciatica and he does yoga every morning.
Thanks for that - I think - 6 months of this doesn't appeal at all! Physio appointment not till 6th January! Massage balls arrived today just after I discovered the pair of magnetic ones I have had for years and forgotten about!
Hi thats awfull I had that last year when I came down on my steriods It took a long time to get better and still dont walk as well as I did before I found CoCodamol was the best but it was still very painfull Hope you soon get better All the best Tiboxing
Thank you Thaiboxing - it is a bit of a pig - I tend to resort to resting rather than cocodamol but might take some this week to cope with the holiday! Can anyone tell me what dosage as I have some in the cupboard but can't remember if it was one or two 30/500 mg tablets. Zapain make and Zontiva.
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