sciatica

[animalluvr4life]

how many people suffered from it and what did you do to make the pain less other than taking stuff the doctor gives you?

[Littlebit]

Originally Posted by animalluvr4life

how many people suffered from it and what did you do to make the pain less other than taking stuff the doctor gives you?

I for one have it. There really isn't much except take muscle relaxers, pain pills from doc's and rest. It is a herniated disk pushing on the nerve, it travels from hip to knee and to the ankles. Mine comes and goes, just kind of kicks in whenever it feels like it, I try not to sit for long periods of time as that can prolong the pain when standing or walking.
Just take the drugs from your doc and bear with it.
Sometimes it will last a couple of days and other time it has lasted a couple of weeks.

[jsouthan]

Originally Posted by animalluvr4life

how many people suffered from it and what did you do to make the pain less other than taking stuff the doctor gives you?

I recently started to have trouble with it. I see a chiropractor and after he adjusts me, it is much better. He also puts electric stim on my lower back. Was bugging me over about a 3 week period. I went once each week and it's not bothering me at all anymore.

[sockgirl77 (Premo)]

Go see Dr. Lipoff at Back at Your Best in Wildewood. That man works miracles. I have scoliosis and degenerative disc disease. I have dealt with sciatica for years. He'll do his magic and suggest stretches to do at home.

[GWguy]

Originally Posted by sockgirl77

Go see Dr. Lipoff at Back at Your Best in Wildewood. That man works miracles. I have scoliosis and degenerative disc disease. I have dealt with sciatica for years. He'll do his magic and suggest stretches to do at home.

:this:

The best thing you can do is get a referral for physical therapy. Besides feeling better when you walk out, they will instruct you how to perform stretching and strengthening exercises at home. If you are a bit heavy (not implying anything here..), try to lose some weight, and strengthen the abs.

[Roman]

I've never had a back injury, and just suffered a bout with Sciatica. Tremendous pain, that kept me in bed for 5 days, during my 12 day vacation. I wouldn't wish that on my WORST enemy! Follow Doctor's orders! My well-wishes to you!!

[jaksprat]

I've had sciatica a couple times and lower back pain for years, including back spasms. The pain can be excruciating. The incidents occur usually when I'm doing something strenuous, especially if I haven't been stretching/exercising on a regular basis. I'll add some things that are missing from the feedback so far.

Lying flat on your back on the floor with pillows under your knees can help a lot and take stress off your back. This may even be necessary when sleeping at night. Do this especially when sitting or standing becomes difficult and/or uncomfortable. You may also feel comfortable lying on your side in a fetal position but put a pillow between your knees when you do this to reduce strain on your back (sounds weird but it helps).

Use ice packs right after injury or when sudden painful episodes occur. Put it on for 20 minutes or so and then remove it. Repeat every few hours for as long as needed. The flexible gel packs work well, especially the ones that fit in a strap that wraps around your waist and fastens with velcro. Heat pads can be applied similarly but use them LATER ON (a day or 2?) after inflammation/swelling goes down.

Be very patient with moving around, walking, stretching, etc. It's a gradual process to recover and easy to re-injure yourself. However, as GWguy pointed out, nothing beats physical therapy, stretching and strengthening exercises later to keep from having future episodes. Yoga works great also. Just start off with very simple stretching movements and work from there. Good luck with your recovery.