Posted on 04/04/2009 4:59:24 AM PDT by MetsJetsandNets
I'm in the midst of my first bout with sciatica and would enjoy hearing from any Freepers that have been through it and have some home remedy tips.
A bit of background...I've suffered broken bones, had plates and screws and even a bone graft, but the pain from the sciatica matches any of that. It travels across my right buttock, down my thigh, encircles my knees and deadens my leg from the knee down. I can't lie on my back, sitting is difficult. Lying on my left side provides the best relief.
The doctor prescribed prednisone for inflammation, tiazidine as a muscle relaxant and hydrocodone and neurontin for pain. I've completed a one-week cycle of prednisone and, after three days off, am about to begin a second cycle.
I would appreciate any suggestions for home remedies or tips that may help speed recovery. Thank you in advance since I can only spend a few minutes sitting at the computer and may not be able to respond to each suggestion individually.
Chiropractic! I used to think they were all quacks (mostly from my first experience with an idiot). My husband has had problems with sciatica - it works!
My BIL has it, and he swears by physiotherapy and special exercises.
The first thing you need to do is stop rooting for the Mets, Jets and Nets. The amount of choking done by those three franchises would cause any sports fan’s sciatic nerve to become inflamed.
My wife’s was helped greatly by doing 20 minutes of slow stretching (to a Yoga video in her case) each morning.
Senator Sciatica has been a pain in the butt for all Americans.
Chiropractic. I see mine regularly. When I was pregnant I have sciatica. He was the ONLY doctor who could take the pain away.
Well, I thought I had sciatica, but I guess not after hearing how bad it really is.
Get well soon.
There is likely something in your everyday life that is hurting you. In my case it was my wallet in my back pocket and the driver’s seat in my car. Find out and get rid of it. Relief is nice, but you know what they say about prevention and cure...JFK
I had it so bad once I could barely walk. I ended up going for physical therapy and the very simple easy (one of them merely entailed laying on my stomach to watch tv) exercises really did work. Every now and then the sciatica kicks up but those exercises nip it right in the bud. If you feel any numbness from the sciatica, call your doctor immediately.
I’ve had problems with nerve inflammation - my chiropractor has repeatedly told me to watch my diet - I do notice that the problems flares up when I give in to my sweet tooth. If you think your diet could be a problem, search out anti-inflammatory diets - certain foods you can eat to help with the problem.
2 partial discectomies and laminotomies, constant disk pain and sciatic pain
you hurt because something is hitting your nerve and wearing away the outer lining
when that outer lining wears away, the pain you feel will become numbness, no strength, loss of strength, zip, zero, nada function
that most likely will heal, but years later
traction helps, go to a swimming pool, wear ankle weights and float in the water. Use a board or float to help keep stable, let your legs just dangle, and just stay in the water
when you lay down, put a large pillow under your knees. being on your back hurts like hell and bending the knees helps a lot and might take away the pain all together
GET AN MRI, see what other damage there is, you may have a blown disk
GET THIS DONE NOW, damage to those nerve areas can lead to dead nerves in the butt, groin, leg and elsewhere
If it had just one cause it would be easy to fix.
Unfortunately, it has many causes. The Wiki article on sciatica is a pretty good start.
Mine was a combination of them - spinal injury and resultant muscle spasms putting pressure on the nerve.
Given that yours starts in the buttocks, I would suspect that it is either the Piriformis muscle in your lower back and/or the Gluteous Maximus muscles fighting it out. If so, check into some exercises to stretch and relax these muscles, relief should bring almost instant relief.
A good Physical Therapist can help as well.
(Ping to neverdem for any additional help/comments.)
I don’t have Sciatica, but I can tell you Neuropathy is no fun either.
When it comes to pain killers, the NSAIDs made my stomach very upset, to the point where I couldn't take them. Hydrocodone or other narcotic painkillers are good, but two caveats--1)be careful, they are addictive and 2) use a little alcohol--it's like hamburger helper for painkillers. I used a glass of wine with two pills and man, they work much better.
But have you identified the cause of the sciatica? Is there anything that can be done? For me, the MRI was the big breakthrough. It wasn't until I got the MRI that I knew what to do.
I had surgury to repair/remove disc fragments that were pushing against my sciatic nerve. Problem solved. The pain killers and NSAIDs just mask the pain or make the inflammation go away temporarily. YOu need to see if you can address the root cause. Hopefully you can.
Just to underline...get an MRI. Also, only use the narcotics for short term. And forget steroids, cortisone shots, etc. That is a temporary treatment for inflammation. The inflammation will come back until the CAUSE is dealt with. Get an MRI, find out if you can address the cause of the nerve pain. Hopefully you can. In my case, it was L4-L5 disc damage. I had a 90+% chance of eliminating sciatica and it worked.
Been there. Same excruciating pain. Had an MRI which clearly showed the disk herniation and immediately had surgery to correct. The doctor removed some back bone to get to disk and snipped away the portions that were herniated. That was in 1998. I’m just now to the point where I can comfortably run again.
Do whatever you can to heal the herniation without surgery such as exercise. My wife has since heard that some doctors believe the herniation will heal without surgery. The best exercise for my back are stomach crunches, believe it or not. Good luck.
Stretch and walk through the pain. Whatever you do, don’t stay in bed all day.
Also, my opinion of chiropractic is pretty low. While the adjustments may temporarily relieve the pain, in my experience, they did not cure the underlying problem, and as a result, I had recurring bouts with sciatica for twenty years until the underlying problem was corrected surgically. As the surgeon told me afterwards, “All the chiropractic adjustments in the world would not have removed the pieces of fractured disk that were pressing against the nerve.” He also suggested that the chiropractic adjustments may have contributed to the disk breaking apart.
I still get muscle spasms from time to time. Just had a bout of them this past week. Regular stretches designed for back support are good. Stretch the butt, the hammies, the lower back. Nothing too strenuous. Take Ibuprofen as needed. Heat is good. And a good massage from a licensed therapist helps a lot too. I stay away from chiropractors. I find them a little rough.
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