I have tried muscle relaxer drugs on two occasions and they really helped but they were short term as my back muscles were in knots and they fixed that. Decades ago I pulled muscles in my back and also a few decades later from there started working a office job and the chair was causing my back to tighten up.
I have tried out several beds in several years due to back pain and leg pain. This year I bought 2 mattress’s since July with one being medium-firm that got too soft for me in a few months creating more numbness below the knees plus it had a quilted look on top which created pressure points even though they were soft. The past beds were also creating that numbness.
I have what I think is Sciatica as I could not sit for long without getting numb in the right leg and the left side following. Plus my back would just all of a sudden have sharp pain in the lower back. I have to be careful putting on shoes and getting in and out of a car etc. Move slow when bending so not to trigger the pain.
That is changing now after I bought The Beautyrest Black LX firm mattress. The back pain started disappearing for much of the day and after 1 week I am not getting the intense numbness after hours in bed when I wake up. Much better feeling mattress. It has just the right give, not super firm at all. The mattress in the store was probably laid on by 500 people... and felt better then the brand new one I got but it already is feeling better each day.
The foundation is new too. It is an adjustable one. I can raise the head end up or the end of the mattress up. I found that raising the head end up a bit, I did not need a pillow.
The numbness is mostly gone but feels different, just not as intense. It goes away in 5-10 minutes.
Maybe a new mattress is what people should look into.
Along with a new office chair and a standing desk all helps.
Good post. Sciatica will continue to get worse over time unless corrected. My right leg started to gimp out while walking. A Chiropractor fixed me up. I often hanged from a door sometimes to get relief from back pain. Bent over working on my car put me in tears when I stood up. I had bad right hip pain 2 years ago. Cheap bastage that I am, I bought 3 foam board panels from the Dollar Store (3ftx3ft and about a quarter of an inch thick if I remember) and it worked like a charm. No more hip pain after 3 months or so. The panels are foam sandwiched between paper/cardboard. I just spread them under my hip area below the mattress. Yipee, I can hike for miles again without worry.
Both husband an I have back problems.