lower back /sciatica pain

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WhyMe

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so i went to see my doc today about back pain. it started about 10 days ago. took a lot of ibu, but the last couple of days its gotten worse. can't even put weight on my right leg without pain.

he did a few test and said it was likely sciatica . all he said was go home and take ibu and gave me some paperwork with excercises and said in time it most likely will clear itself. if it does not ,come back in a month and he can do more test or send me to specialist .

So is that all there is to it to fixing this issue? he said it could be 2 to 12 weeks for it fix itself. So those that have had this, how long did it take for you to get better? did anything like a chiropractor or massages help ? its pretty dang painful and i don't see how people could work with it flaring.

i am not asking for medical advice. Just curious on the length of your pain and things to hasten healing , if there is such a thing.

Thanks
 
chiropractor , a good one. Medical doctors usually push pills and if that doesn't work they will put you under the knife
 
I had to have an emergency epidural, and even then, it took a good 5 days of bed rest for the pain to subside. I eventually had to have a disc replaced, my second one in a 4 year span. No more back problems since that last one, 5 years ago. I doubt I'd waste my time with a chiropractor. I'd go to a sport and spine specialist.
 
I had sciatica and lower back pain for a couple of years...if I could get to lunchtime before popping some painkillers it was a very good day, normally it'd be 10am, often soon as I got to work. Despite what the internet experts said, I knew it was muscular, the inflamed muscle on the nerve. I went to an osteopath and he worked on me for awhile, with not too much effect. Then I changed jobs...took my pills at 10am expecting the pain to hit - and it didn't, and never again.

Some would say my last job was a pain in the arse, and changing jobs fixed it...ok, sounds good to me. I also stopped riding my bicycle to work, which I think was the real problem. I went back to the old job a couple of years later, and now work with one of the guys that was there at the time. I'm still riding to work...on a motorscooter, the bicycle is not used anymore. No more back pain, no more sciatica.
 
I have it, it was bothering me the other day. Fortunately it passes. I try stretching when it acts up. I'll take Advil as a very last resort, usually I can get by without it.
 
Im no stranger to back pain but I have pretty much cured it for years now, Ive been through an MRI too, results were not severe enough for doctor to do anything according to the MRI, not the pain I felt!
Its real simple for me, if you ever do something where you think, even the slightest hint you are going to wake up in the morning with pain ..

Take a flexable ICE PACK out of your freezer and stick it on your lower back under the waistline of your pants and just leave it there, walk around, or watch TV does not matter,
Once it is totally warm in 30 to 60 minutes take it off and put it back in the freezer. THe skin on your back will be totally numb from the cold too!

Anyway, it works for me, not giving medical advice, Im not a doctor, just what works for me. I do not take pills or anything else. I grin and bear it and will continue with the ICE once or twice a day until fixed and it always seems to fix it for me. :o)
Back pain is rare now, I dont know why but I do not consider myself as having a back issue. Maybe I just learned what motions to avoid,not sure. Im an active person and my occupation is not exactly sitting around all day long in an office, can get pretty physical at times never mind the work I do around my own house.
 
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If the ice pack don't work, try a heating pad.
I get the same thing about twice a year, and a electric heating pad works for me. I lay on it under my lower back for about an hour, control set on low, and do this a couple times a day should be better in a couple of days. Works for me.
 
Do the exercises your Doc suggests, morning floor stretching of lower back and hamstrings too. Get a tennis ball, lay on a carpeted floor (bedroom?) and put your weight on top on the ball and roll around the affected area, if that sends you to the moon try leaning against a wall and doing the same. Area will be tender and inflamed, as it is already, but will work itself out over a few days usually. Good luck, that's no fun.
 
Over the past 20 years I have had 4 epidural shots in my back. They usually last about 5 years or so. The first time I had sciatica I went to a surgeon for a consultation. He wanted to schedule surgery. I SAID I'll call back. Did an internet search and found people half my age addicted to opioids. I said NOT ME and got shots. Works very well for me. Instant relief.
 
Originally Posted by WhyMe
so i went to see my doc today about back pain. it started about 10 days ago. took a lot of ibu, but the last couple of days its gotten worse. can't even put weight on my right leg without pain.

he did a few test and said it was likely sciatica . all he said was go home and take ibu and gave me some paperwork with excercises and said in time it most likely will clear itself. if it does not ,come back in a month and he can do more test or send me to specialist .

So is that all there is to it to fixing this issue? he said it could be 2 to 12 weeks for it fix itself. So those that have had this, how long did it take for you to get better? did anything like a chiropractor or massages help ? its pretty dang painful and i don't see how people could work with it flaring.

i am not asking for medical advice. Just curious on the length of your pain and things to hasten healing , if there is such a thing.

Thanks


A PT might help. Can give you better exercises. Keep in mind you really need to do the exercises.
 
Originally Posted by FT92
chiropractor , a good one. Medical doctors usually push pills and if that doesn't work they will put you under the knife

Exactly my experience. They gave me strong pain meds and said to rest. No relief.

My neighbor tells me to go to a chiropractor and after a few visits I'm fine. This was was years ago. If it flares up it only takes one visit to straighten me out, maybe yearly.
 
My back locked up about 5 years ago. It get knots to each side of lower back and pain is same as having a charlie horse, but more intense. I found a specialized Osteopath diagnosed me in a few minutes. They had physical therapy next door. They used heat to loosen me up. Sometime ultrasound. Most of my exercises are stretching with some strengthening. I have to stretch my hamstrings a lot.

Backs and inflammation can be a tricky thing to deal with. I find avoiding nightshades helpful. They can cause a lot of inflammation.

Inflammatory Foods: Nightshades
 
I suffered from sciatica on and off for about 10 years, it was triggered by a car accident (hit from behind while I was stopped by a car going about 45mph) but I certainly did other things to make it worse.
For quite some time I thought I had a bad hip and a useless orthopedist in TX agreed with me, but I finally got a good diagnosis from another orthopedist in Chicago when the pain became intolerable. The last thing he did was grab the big toe on my painful side and ask me to resist his efforts to move it, and I couldn't do a darn thing...he immediately told me my problem was with my lumbar spine and prescribed physical therapy.
That therapist was an odd one, very good at her job and persistent but she kept telling me I wasn't progressing quickly enough and that I should tell the doc I wanted laser surgery. The doc would just laugh at that and tell me I was doing great...I ended up being the therapist's star patient, she called a bunch of her colleagues over to show them how I could lay on my stomach over the edge of an examination table and slowly raise my legs from straight down to straight up and hold the position as long as I wanted. I still had occasional pain but it was manageable.
I strained it again lifting things when we moved to New England and then had a crisis after lifting a rather large coworker to crack his troublesome back...had done it several times before but I was flirting with disaster. Ended up in the ER after going a couple of days without sleep and being barely able to stand, they doped me up with narcotics, anti-inflammatories, and muscle relaxants and I finally slept for a while. I still had pain after I woke up and the ER doc told me I would end up having surgery.
Had trouble sleeping and I went downstairs to avoid bothering my wife, then assumed the sciatica comfort position which is flat on the stomach, arms at the sides, hips shifted AWAY from the pain. I got some relief and fell asleep for about 6 hours, then woke up worried about what damage sleeping on my stomach could have caused...and the pain was GONE. Hasn't been bad since then and many years have passed...I have to think the position helped my bad disc slip back into a better place with some help from the relaxants and anti-inflammatories.
I was then approved for an MRI and more therapy even though I wasn't in pain anymore, the scan showed exactly where the pain had been coming from (although most adults have damaged discs even if they are pain free) and the therapy taught me a new combo that I liked, crunches followed by bridges. The crunches help build the abs and the bridges help the abs and back muscles while also pushing the discs back where they should be....always do a bridge AFTER a crunch. My favorite bridge is to rise up on the shoulders and feet from laying on the back and then alternating lifting the legs for a count of 10 per leg.
I believe that chiropractic has its place, but that it is better to try to find relief by using proper exercises to build a better core first. I have read that a sizeable percentage of people with back-related pain can only be helped by manipulation and medication, but those people will very likely require the manipulation to be repeated periodically as the pain inevitably returns. Try to help yourself through hard exercise before paying somebody to do it for you!

Good luck!
 
The to 2-12 weeks estimate your doctor gave you is the time frame that research studies show symptoms of back pain and associated pain like sciatica will subside. That no matter the treatment or none at all. So the conservative approach based on the research is the course your doctor is following.

Having dealt with some back issues over time, ime I'll say surgery should be a very last resort. Last time I had a flair with leg pain, after 10 weeks no improvement an mri showed a nerve root impingement. Was given a first option of spinal steroid injection at the site of the nerve root, took it. I was skeptical but it was least invasive option. 48 hours later, pain completely gone. Knock wood, never returned. I'd add ymmv.

In addition to doctor instruction ibu or alleve/naproxen and exercises, some ice at the pain site might be helpful. So, take it slow and give your back some time heal on it's own.
 
Sciatica is usually the result of a disc being pinched or impinged in medical terms. It's very tricky to treat. Medicines can cause a bad cycle. The disc area inflames itself to protect the nerve. Anti inflammatory meds like ibuprofen reduce that inflammation thus the nerve gets pinched. Muscle relaxants do the same thing.

I've dealt with a bad back forever. The suggestion of ice and heat is a good one. A suggestion I will suggest is what is called a inversion table. If you visit a chiropractor, ask if they have one. You basically lie on a rack and through arm motion invert yourself. Gravity relieves the pain. Arm motion brings you back upright.

Lose weight if you are overweight and exercise. Walking is excellent. Swimming is also excellent.


Hth
 
About 2 months ago, I had this happen to me out of the blue... it lasted maybe 4-6 weeks.

Also, at the same time I had a bad problem with walking due to plantar fasciitis. I went to go see a podiatrist and he immediately said I needed better shoes and stretching. No more Nike, Adidas, or whatever junk shoes... he said Brooks or New Balance (and replace them every 6-9 months).

I thought a shoe was a shoe. I had no idea they made different shoes for different styles of foot arches & walking patterns. I purchased some Brooks Beast shoes, as he recommended, and my foot pain disappeared.

I'm not sure if the better shoes contributed to my back pain improving...
 
Do the exercises and stretch. For me the best relief is a heating pad because my muscles like to fire uncontrolled and tighten.

The other issue I have is if my core becomes to strong my sciatica becomes worse like my core is pulling my spine too much.

Good luck it's not fun.
 
I have chronic low back pain and it used to be accompanied by bad sciatica as well. I found spinal decompression therapy a couple times a week for a couple months helped tremendously after manual manipulation and prescription drugs failed.

My back is a real mess due to a work injury and I was told that I most likely would be on disability the rest of my life. Since then I have visited a chiropractor regularly and had this decompression therapy occasionally to keep my pain levels down and I have been able to return to work. It's been 5 years since the injury and although I still have pain in my back at least I can work and function. (Without Sciatica).

Good luck. Back pain is the worst!
 
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