Sciatica! Sciatica!

[Shirley]

[Thread topic to be read aloud like Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon]

This sucks. I started having sciatica pain shooting down my right leg around the lat November. I've had it before here and there, but it usually went away after a short while. Not this time. Since I had a ski trip planned for late December, after a 2-3 weeks, I decided to go to an Ortho. He x-rayed me, confirmed it was sciatica, prescribed some pills (roids, Gabapentin, anti-inflammatories), and sent me to a PT guy.

I went to PT a couple of times and he folded me in different directions and gave me some stretches/exercises to do. I took my pills dutifully and did the stretches, but it didn't seem to have much impact. Amazingly, the day I drove out to Breckenridge, I noticed that my pain was gone. I'd literally had it that morning. But it went away and the skiing went great.

Eventually though, after a week or so, it started coming back. I restarted my pills and exercises, but it hasn't helped. This week, I'm in London for work and it's probably the worst it's been. It starts hurting with a few seconds of standing and walking for more than a few minutes gets really difficult. I feel little to no pain when sitting, it's only when I stand or lie flat. So, when I walk, I have to stop every so often and dip into a deep squat for a few seconds to sort of reset. It kinda helps, but only for a few steps.

So, I'm trying to figure out next steps when I get back home (I fly tomorrow). I'm thinking of buying some gravity boots so I can hang upside down to decompress the spine. I'm pretty sure the issue is skeletal more than swelling because my back doesn't hurt at all. I'm also thinking of going to see a Neurologist since it's nerve paint? I'm not sure.

Which of you old bastards has beaten sciatica? What worked for you?

[Sabo]

I'd recommend going to a chiropractor and see if they have a spinal decompression machine. If they do and it helps, then you might consider getting an inversion table and using that at home. The former superintendent at the golf course where I work kept an inversion table in the shop and let us use it. I had some minor back and hip pain last year and after using that table daily, it helped relieve a lot of the pain. But like anything else, YMMV.

[Jerloma]

I got a guy I play tennis with that does body work and skeletal adjustments. Not a chiropractor...he was a PT in Germany and was the trainer for a pro soccer team out there, but unfortunately he's not licensed here. Nonetheless, German Miyagi gets in there and moves around what ever has has to and there's no more sciatica. 40 bucks! Of course he has follow up exercises to prevent it from coming back that I never do.

[Shirley]

I got a guy I play tennis with that does body work and skeletal adjustments. Not a chiropractor...he was a PT in Germany and was the trainer for a pro soccer team out there, but unfortunately he's not licensed here. Nonetheless, German Miyagi gets in there and moves around what ever has has to and there's no more sciatica. 40 bucks! Of course he has follow up exercises to prevent it from coming back that I never do.

"Medical flossing." Sounds kinda gross.

[Shirley]

I'd recommend going to a chiropractor and see if they have a spinal decompression machine. If they do and it helps, then you might consider getting an inversion table and using that at home. The former superintendent at the golf course where I work kept an inversion table in the shop and let us use it. I had some minor back and hip pain last year and after using that table daily, it helped relieve a lot of the pain. But like anything else, YMMV.

When I get home, I'm going to confirm that I can get myself up and down from the pullup bar on top of my home gym squat rack. If so, I'll probably buy some $40 gravity boots on Amazon to give those a try. I'm a bit wary of going to a chiropractor, especially for obscure back pain (especially when the pain isn't even in the back).

[govmentchedda]

I got a guy I play tennis with that does body work and skeletal adjustments. Not a chiropractor...he was a PT in Germany and was the trainer for a pro soccer team out there, but unfortunately he's not licensed here. Nonetheless, German Miyagi gets in there and moves around what ever has has to and there's no more sciatica. 40 bucks! Of course he has follow up exercises to prevent it from coming back that I never do.

"Medical flossing." Sounds kinda gross.

I think "flossing" in this sense is just rubber wraps (similar to resistance bands, but not a loop) above and below a joint and exercising. Like, one band wrapped around your leg just below the knee, and one wrapped around your leg just above, then you do bodyweight squats, for example. The compression is meant to bring more blood flow to the area, (in the above example, the knee) I think.

[Shirley]

I got a guy I play tennis with that does body work and skeletal adjustments. Not a chiropractor...he was a PT in Germany and was the trainer for a pro soccer team out there, but unfortunately he's not licensed here. Nonetheless, German Miyagi gets in there and moves around what ever has has to and there's no more sciatica. 40 bucks! Of course he has follow up exercises to prevent it from coming back that I never do.

"Medical flossing." Sounds kinda gross.

I think "flossing" in this sense is just rubber wraps (similar to resistance bands, but not a loop) above and below a joint and exercising. Like, one band wrapped around your leg just below the knee, and one wrapped around your leg just above, then you do bodyweight squats, for example. The compression is meant to bring more blood flow to the area, (in the above example, the knee) I think.

Oh yeah, I've seen videos on that for knee pain workouts. I have a hard time believing it has a real, lasting benefit. I suspect it just feels like it because when the bands come off you feel the blood rush back in.

[Brontoburglar]

do you have a foam roller

[Jerloma]

I got a guy I play tennis with that does body work and skeletal adjustments. Not a chiropractor...he was a PT in Germany and was the trainer for a pro soccer team out there, but unfortunately he's not licensed here. Nonetheless, German Miyagi gets in there and moves around what ever has has to and there's no more sciatica. 40 bucks! Of course he has follow up exercises to prevent it from coming back that I never do.

"Medical flossing." Sounds kinda gross.

I think "flossing" in this sense is just rubber wraps (similar to resistance bands, but not a loop) above and below a joint and exercising. Like, one band wrapped around your leg just below the knee, and one wrapped around your leg just above, then you do bodyweight squats, for example. The compression is meant to bring more blood flow to the area, (in the above example, the knee) I think.

Oh yeah, I've seen videos on that for knee pain workouts. I have a hard time believing it has a real, lasting benefit. I suspect it just feels like it because when the bands come off you feel the blood rush back in.

Yeah but that blood flush breaks up a shitload of inflammation. I did that every day after my severed achilles surgery and it worked great.

[mister d]

do you have a foam roller

Absolutely awful phrase to say in a Philly accent.

[Shirley]

do you have a foam roller

yes

[sancarlos]

I'd recommend going to a chiropractor and see if they have a spinal decompression machine. If they do and it helps, then you might consider getting an inversion table and using that at home. The former superintendent at the golf course where I work kept an inversion table in the shop and let us use it. I had some minor back and hip pain last year and after using that table daily, it helped relieve a lot of the pain. But like anything else, YMMV.

“Spinal decompression machine”. Back in the medieval era, didn’t they call that, “The Rack”?

[Steve of phpBB]

[Thread topic to be read aloud like Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon]

My mind went with Elvis Costello's Veronica.

[Brontoburglar]

do you have a foam roller

yes

have you been using it? not suggesting it'll be a cure all by any means, but some serious foam rolling can make a world of difference, especially if you can figure out the area where it's triggering

[Shirley]

do you have a foam roller

yes

have you been using it? not suggesting it'll be a cure all by any means, but some serious foam rolling can make a world of difference, especially if you can figure out the area where it's triggering

What exactly am I supposed to be rolling? This isn't a muscular issue.

[Jerloma]

do you have a foam roller

yes

have you been using it? not suggesting it'll be a cure all by any means, but some serious foam rolling can make a world of difference, especially if you can figure out the area where it's triggering

What exactly am I supposed to be rolling? This isn't a muscular issue.

Your lower back. Just sit in a rowing position and put it right behind you and push back and forth with your legs. It's not the cure but it helps with the inflammation and therefore pain.

[The Sybian]

I get it once a year or so. Usually just goes away after a couple weeks, never did anything for it other than contorting in whatever way brings temporary relief. Guy I play tennis with tried everything and eventually had to have surgery. I didn't ask specifics, but he is finally back to playing and feeling better.

[Shirley]

do you have a foam roller

yes

have you been using it? not suggesting it'll be a cure all by any means, but some serious foam rolling can make a world of difference, especially if you can figure out the area where it's triggering

What exactly am I supposed to be rolling? This isn't a muscular issue.

Your lower back. Just sit in a rowing position and put it right behind you and push back and forth with your legs. It's not the cure but it helps with the inflammation and therefore pain.

Gotcha. One of the "stretches" the PT guy has me doing is lying on my back with my knees bent and up on a chair. Then, put a rolled up towel under my butt and just lie there for a few minutes. I do that several times throughout the day. But while it gives somewhat temporary relief, it hasn't seemed to have created any lasting effect.

[Shirley]

I get it once a year or so. Usually just goes away after a couple weeks, never did anything for it other than contorting in whatever way brings temporary relief. Guy I play tennis with tried everything and eventually had to have surgery. I didn't ask specifics, but he is finally back to playing and feeling better.

I really don't want to have surgery on my spine.

The whole thing is so frustrating. My leg hurts like hell (and oddly also goes partly numb) and yet nothing in my leg is actually injured. It feels like I pulled my butt muscle and also have awful shin splints, but none of the regular stretches you'd do for those have any impact, because they aren't really the problem. It's just fucking weird.

[Brontoburglar]

do you have a foam roller

yes

have you been using it? not suggesting it'll be a cure all by any means, but some serious foam rolling can make a world of difference, especially if you can figure out the area where it's triggering

What exactly am I supposed to be rolling? This isn't a muscular issue.

Your lower back. Just sit in a rowing position and put it right behind you and push back and forth with your legs. It's not the cure but it helps with the inflammation and therefore pain.

Gotcha. One of the "stretches" the PT guy has me doing is lying on my back with my knees bent and up on a chair. Then, put a rolled up towel under my butt and just lie there for a few minutes. I do that several times throughout the day. But while it gives somewhat temporary relief, it hasn't seemed to have created any lasting effect.

you also should try to release your piriformis with the foam roller too. that's gonna help a lot. start with a foam roller before working up to a lacrosse ball. the stretch you're describing can help the piriformis, but some soft tissue work helps a lot too

eta: you know for sure it's skeletal or are just assuming? nerves can get pinched in weird and odd muscular ways (I re-read your original post and wasn't totally sure if it was the definitive diagnosed cause)

[Shirley]

One of the stretches he has me do is very similar to that piriformis stretch. For the foam roller, how big in diameter do you use? I have a couple in the house that my son uses, and their actually not really soft (despite the "foam" name) and are fairly wide in diameter. Maybe 6-7 inches?

[Brontoburglar]

One of the stretches he has me do is very similar to that piriformis stretch. For the foam roller, how big in diameter do you use? I have a couple in the house that my son uses, and their actually not really soft (despite the "foam" name) and are fairly wide in diameter. Maybe 6-7 inches?

yeah that's a good size to start with. and be really tentative at first too. (this is a peak post to get ...'d)

easiest way to start is to cross the leg of the hip you're rolling with your ankle on your other knee. and then lean into the roller slowly with that hip as you're sitting on it. when you hit the piriformis you will definitely know -- and just slowly roll for 60-90 seconds before doing the stretch.

[Sabo]

Two other stretches might help, Shirley. The 90/90 hip stretch and the pigeon yoga pose. The pigeon might be too much for you at first but once the foam rolling and other stretches start to open things up, you should try doing it. Both of the stretches I mentioned have been a great help for loosing my IT bands and alleviating some hip pain I’ve had for the last couple of years.

ETA: when doing the 90/90 stretch, you can intensify the stretch by leaning forward but do so with your chest up. Makes a big difference.

[Shirley]

Of course, I googled for a video to show more explicitly how to do that and immediately found this video -

Gotta love exercise "science." There's no consensus on anything.

[duff]

That guy said, don't their stretches, do my stretches.

[mister d]

Looks like he’s playing a fingering game but missed the target wide right.

[HaulCitgo]

Knows what he's doing got to warm her up.

[DaveInSeattle]

[Thread topic to be read aloud like Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon]

Or like the chorus of "Panama" by Van Halen.

Which of you old bastards has beaten sciatica? What worked for you?

I'm not sure I'd say "beaten", but I had a bad spell with it about 6 or 7 years ago.

My PT (who is really good) had me doing "press up/cobra poses" on the floor 6-7 times a time. Also the "cat/cow" stretches and then into child's pose.

He told me the way to beat sciatica was to really put in the time on doing core work, and he gave me a whole routine of core exercises that I do 3-4 times a week.

Haven't had a flare-up since, so something must be working.