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Siatic nerve pain

Started by tree-farmer, April 26, 2018, 06:57:28 PM

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tree-farmer

Injured my back in Febuary, have had siatic nerve pain ever since. Xray shows degerative disk and arthritis. 
May get MRI if physical therapy does not help. Anyone had experience with this condition?
Any fix or just live with it? Takes the fun out of life. 
Old doesn't bother me, its the ugly that's a real bummer.

Magicman

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jason.weir

I've had it for 10 years or more.  Comes and goes, much worse if I've been sitting too much, desk work, long car rides, etc..

I have tried everything, physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, drugs (steroids & opiates).  Nothing helped.

A while back I bought an inversion table, it gives temporary but instant relief.

I had to ease into it but got to where I could spend 15 minutes upside down & get off with no pain whatsoever.

Now the pain would come back if I sat down for any length of time but I'd be good as long as I stayed on my feet.

Good luck..






Southside

Broke my L4, L5 and destroyed a number of discs back in '01, just how much do you want to know about the options?  There is a whole lot to just what the problem is that causes the pain, is it a herniated disc, muscle guarding, stenosis due to the degenerative disc disease?  That will dictate what will work best.  

I would push for the MRI now, you need to know what is going on in there in order for treatment to be effective.  Case in point - when I first got hurt the doctor who examined me said I had some "pulled muscles" but wanted to take an x-ray "just to be sure" - well when the X-ray tech ran into the room and physically immobilized me while calling for assistance I knew things were a bit more serious.  

You really can't develop an effective treatment protocol without knowing what is wrong - it's sort of like throwing parts at a broken machine and just hoping one will fix the issue.  I have learned that not all providers have the same level of knowledge, I don't say that to be negative, it is simply fact.  It seems in medicine some feel their preferred field is the only solution and the balk at including other practices at the same time.  Personally I have found a combination of PT, muscle electrical stimulation, chiro adjustments, and deep muscle massage brought me great relief.  The massage is best done by a 270 lb guy using his elboe as a way to apply all his body weight - so it's not some fun, fruity, kind of thing, but it works.  

Surgery was necessary for me as I had a "mechanical problem" from a piece of bone that broke off and cut through a disc settling at a nerve root, that allowed me to walk again, but the pain was still there, though not nearly as bad.  The above cocktail of treatment that I described is what keeps me agile and pretty much pain free.  Things such as long drives, sitting for long times, etc are a problem, but now I can manage it.  I actually find walking and physical work help to relieve the symptoms.

Our lovely modern insurance system is against you, you need to push hard to get the right treatment plan in place, otherwise - yea life sucks as the pain never goes away.  I do know what you are going through.      
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Runningalucas

Quote from: Southside logger on April 26, 2018, 11:11:48 PM
Broke my L4, L5 and destroyed a number of discs back in '01, just how much do you want to know about the options?  There is a whole lot to just what the problem is that causes the pain, is it a herniated disc, muscle guarding, stenosis due to the degenerative disc disease?  That will dictate what will work best.  

I would push for the MRI now, you need to know what is going on in there in order for treatment to be effective.  Case in point - when I first got hurt the doctor who examined me said I had some "pulled muscles" but wanted to take an x-ray "just to be sure" - well when the X-ray tech ran into the room and physically immobilized me while calling for assistance I knew things were a bit more serious.  

You really can't develop an effective treatment protocol without knowing what is wrong - it's sort of like throwing parts at a broken machine and just hoping one will fix the issue.  I have learned that not all providers have the same level of knowledge, I don't say that to be negative, it is simply fact.  It seems in medicine some feel their preferred field is the only solution and the balk at including other practices at the same time.  Personally I have found a combination of PT, muscle electrical stimulation, chiro adjustments, and deep muscle massage brought me great relief.  The massage is best done by a 270 lb guy using his elboe as a way to apply all his body weight - so it's not some fun, fruity, kind of thing, but it works.  

Surgery was necessary for me as I had a "mechanical problem" from a piece of bone that broke off and cut through a disc settling at a nerve root, that allowed me to walk again, but the pain was still there, though not nearly as bad.  The above cocktail of treatment that I described is what keeps me agile and pretty much pain free.  Things such as long drives, sitting for long times, etc are a problem, but now I can manage it.  I actually find walking and physical work help to relieve the symptoms.

Our lovely modern insurance system is against you, you need to push hard to get the right treatment plan in place, otherwise - yea life sucks as the pain never goes away.  I do know what you are going through.      
This guy has it about right!  I've got some sort of muscular dystrophy; had it since I was a teenager, yet played football, and was an electrical contractor for over a decade.  I've got scoliosis to go along with the dystrophy, and a couple compressed discs. 
I agree, I can't sit too long, I can't stand too long, but the best *DanG thing is physical work for as long as you can!  It's a night, and day difference to overall wellbeing. 
As far as doctors, I just went to a neurologist the other day, they're muscular dystrophy docs....  I explain my overall everything, as he's a new doc.; I also did this, as I feel there maybe more to what I've got going on.  The doctor flat out said, "we've got no clue, we see symptoms so it gets thrown in 'the' box". 
Here's what works for me.  I go holistic, and old school.  The old school, DMSO.  Be careful, research it.  I also take various supplements.  Holistically, chiropractic, massage, and rolfing. 
Oh, also, Ath-lean-X on youtube; he's a physical therapist first, gym guy second.  He's got awesome 'how to fix lower back pain vids'.  I found this guy around 2 months back, and that' made a tremendous difference. 
Life is short, tragedy is instant, it's what we do with our time in between that matters.  Always strive to do better, to be better.

tree-farmer

Wow, thanks for all the input. Southside Logger mentioned getting a MRI, which I have been considering pushing for. Chiropractor, physical therapy and lots of Motrin gives some relief, enough to function but the pain takes the joy out of life. I felt something give when I initially injured it, so still think in may be mechanical issue. X-ray shows degenerative disk and some arthritis.  Have had some injuries over the years but nothing that feels like its come to stay like this. 
If figured this forum would be a good source of  others experiences, and I truly appreciate the feed back.

Old doesn't bother me, its the ugly that's a real bummer.

red

At the moment I am disabled from L3-L4 disc problem. I had L4- L5 and L5-S1 removed in 1998 . I am 55 years old and I hope for real relief with back surgery. At the moment I only take flexerall muscle relaxer and Aleve for pain management. Walking was my number one exercise but that is to painful now , I may take up swimming at a local YMCA but not yet. Good Luck
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

Ed_K

 Get the MRI as soon as you can. I'm in the same boat as southside logger. I damaged my L4-L5 in 95 by the time we smartened up enough to get a 2nd opinion it was almost to late. When I got to Dartmouth Hitchcox I couldn't walk I crawled out of the back of an suv onto a rolling table and into the OR. The Dr. there said that one more week and I would have never walked again. The liquid in the disk in between L4-L5 ruptured and was hardening up and rubbing on the nerve and cutting it apart. My regular Dr. was pushing for PT saying all was alright he didn't want to listen to the x-ray reader that there was a real problem.
 Get the MRI, please.
Ed K

SawyerTed

Southside is right on!

+1 on the MRI and complete diagnosis before you do anything.  Surgery should be an absolute last resort!

Starting about 12 years ago, I had sciatic nerve problems and was going to the Spine Center in Winston Salem.  Got the X-rays, MRI and finally three rounds of epidural steroid injections at $900 out of pocket each time.  They helped for several months combined with a prescribed home exercise routine.  But over time my pain would come back.

All of the exams X-rays and MRI pointed to compressed discs and arthritis between my lumbar vertebrae. The compressed discs and arthritis was pinching nerves.

I too use an inversion table.  I asked the doctor when I had the last round of injections and he said it wouldn't hurt me - I wanted to be sure before I self treated.   It does help relieve the compression and puts things back into alignment.  Most importantly it relieves the pain.   I spend 5 minutes a day twice a day inverted when I'm getting siatic pain.  I haven't had another injection in almost 10 years.  The thing cost $110 delivered to my door.  After $2,700 in injections I was looking for any alternative and thought I've blown 100 bucks on less useful stuff.  I can go from weeks to months pain free, then I have to use the inversion table for a few days.
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ESFted

MRI for sure.  The missus has been suffering with pain resembling sciatica for the last three months.  One doc said sciatica, another said no, it's a ligament problem and gave her three shots of cortisone and three weeks of physical therapy....none of it worked.  Finally got an MRI and found an arthritic cyst near the L4 that is pressing on the nerves. Doc (who is a surgeon, so of course he recommends surgery), said an epidural would only postpone the inevitable. One hour outpatient surgery is scheduled for mid May.  Get the MRI and cut out all the expensive guess work.
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Magicman

If surgery is needed do not postpone it thinking that things will be better.  Continually damaging a nerve can cause permanent damage to that nerve.  Yes, it can get worse.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

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coxy

i had l4-5 trimmed in 03or4 could not even walk the pain was so bad couldn't get no help so i was back working in 4 months was not a good idea but the kids needed food  i have real bad pain if I'm not moving about 45min in a car/truck and the tears start to come out    my doc told me do not to use the table as it could make thing worse i don't need that  this all happened due to the sole falling off my shoe one night at a party the next day we called the ambulance to get me to the hospital they gave me shots but that didn't work the pain was so bad i couldn't laydown for the MRI  but they did a cat scan   i know of some people that got the epidural shots and worked wonders for them i tried them for 3 months and was not doing anything  so i live with the pain my doc told me go till you cant go anymore and then we will figure out something  so i know how you feel it is a life changing thing  hope you get better 

caveman

Using an inversion table gives me some relief.  When I was using it, I started inverting for only a minute or so at a time to avoid head aches.   Keeping the hamstrings flexible also seems to reduce lower back muscle spasms and tension, which with me, are also associated with the sciatic pain that shoots from the back down the leg when making certain movements (walking).  I hope you feel better soon.
Caveman

Emerson24

I'll preface this by stating I'm a doctor and I treat sciatic pain successfully.  In fact, it is typically a problem that is easy to see positive results.

There is a lot of misinformation given.   First, the only time you should get surgery or must get surgery is if there nerve or spinal cord impingement resulting in a "drop foot" which is a loss of dorsiflexion (the ability to hold your ankle/foot upward.  Or, a loss of bladder or bowel function as in you can't go or incontinence.  Those are necessary surgical interventions because the nerve could undergo permanent damage and irreversible function. The other situation is if you are experiencing muscle atrophy where the muscle decreases in size over time due to the nerve impingement.  MOST people do not experience this and waiting it out is not an issue.  Simply put, just because you have a herniated disc does not mean you get nerve damage by living with it.  Far from it.

There was a study done that took roughly 100 people without back pain and did an MRI on them.  33% had either a herniated disc or other pathology that would normally be causative of back pain.  Again, none of them had back pain.  So then, what happens if one of those 33% of the people suddenly develop back pain from any number of causes and see's the primary care doctor?  Well, they get PT or a referal to ortho.  The ortho gets the MRI or reviews it and says, "aha....there's your problem, you have a herniated disc, we should do surgery to take the pressure off the nerve).  You have surgery and then don't get better.  Or maybe the leg pain is gone but now you have back pain from the devitalized tissue and scarring that always happens from surgery?  

In my earlier days I have even assisted on these surgeries and many more.  Some people do very well with simple surgeries like a one level discectomy given that their symptoms match the level of nerve root that is the issue.  And like the adage goes, "nothing can't be made worse with surgery".  I've seen those patients, too.

My main modality for treating sciatic pain is acupuncture.  It is not uncommon for the leg pain to go away in one treatment.  Often times it will come back, and then go away again, and then come back, and then go away.  But it is like 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  What I see is the patients pain and symptoms trend downward until the leg pain is gone, and/or back pain.  With acupuncture you are stimulating the body to heal itself naturally.  And there is NO process in nature that happens over night.  A tree doesn't grow to 50 feet over night, you don't build a house in one day, or a business, marriage, etc.  However, it never fails...people then exclaim, but the pain came back.  Yeah, and?  We are stimulating the body naturally to heal itself.  Things take time.  The primary reason patients do not get better has always been said to be non-compliance.  In holistic medicine, I would say that not giving things adequate time to work rivals it or exceeds it.

Doctors notoriously blame every pain on arthritis when then see it on an xray.  This is nonsense.  I've practiced in allopathic medicine for nearly 20 years and treat people with 'bad xrays' and they get better.  Being 50 and over is like having wear and tear on your tire after time.  You drive around long enough, it's inevitable.  Everyone has wear and tear, and wear and tear IS arthritis.  Bone spurs, thinning of the articular cartilage that lines the joint, etc., is all part of aging for the most part.  

There are lots of videos on people getting treated with acupuncture on Youtube.  It might be worth the view.  Some people claim it doesn't work.  Ok, then it doesn't work.  Go get cut on then.  It's your choice.  Dr. Zhu who is amazing does scalp acupuncture.  He has people who had a stroke stand up in about 1 hour into treatment (after coming to him not being able to move one side of their body after 3 months of conventional medicine treatments!)  All documented on Youtube videos.  The medicine works.

With some research you should be able to buy some acupuncture needles yourself.  I would do points Ling Gu, Dai Bai on the opposite hand of your leg pain, and then UB60, UB62, and UB65 on the side with your leg pain (assuming the pain is down the back) if it is along the sides, then possibly GB34, GB45, and front then ST36 and ST44 and/or ST45.  There are Chinese medical formulas to help as well, but not sure that giving those names are allowed but with some research you can figure it out.

Most people's problem stem beyond just their sciatic pain or whatever else ails them.  Everything affects everything.  In other words, all organ systems affect each other.  And that's why modern medicine is mostly inept.  Aside from necessary surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics and life threatening infectious disease, all of the treatments in modern medicine are suppressive.  They fix nothing but give the patient the illusion that they are better because the symptom improved.  Just how many reading this are on medications?  How many?  Who woke up taking 7 medicines?  Not one person ever said I woke up taking X many different medicines.  So if the medicines are the answer, why isn't everyone getting better and only getting more medicines as they age?  Sounds like an incompetent philosophy to me.  I'm nearing 47 and I take no medicines.  It will be like that when I'm 80 as well.  You can either practice preventative medicine or not.  You have one body.  Taking more and more pills will guarantee misery.  Be well.   

Dr. Chris Fucci  (I have an article floating around on the net about how to get healthy if you wish to read it)  Good luck.


Roxie

Get an MRI so you know what's involved.  The imaging surely isn't going to hurt you, and will answer any questions.

We want you around for a good, long time.  :)
Say when

BradMarks

First, to offend or not to offend, doesn't matter ???.  I am no doctor, I am 63 and I take no medicines either.  I have had  surgery to relieve sciatic pain, without it I wouldn't be walking. Yes, herniated disc, L4 - L5, it had flattened my nerve by the time I had surgery. Surgeon described it as the worst he had seen, it wasn't his first rodeo by the way. I went 6 months with as much pain as a person needs before surgery. That was 7 1/2 yrs ago. Fast forward, two years ago, wife needed fusion surgery, bone on bone, no disc to be had. No acupuncture treatment in the world could have helped either one of us. DO NOT hesitate to get a MRI.  

tree-farmer

Doc sent me to physical thearpy, some relief but only temporary. Wife convinced me to see her chriopracter, two sesions and seems to be helping. Very strong guy, after adjustment I feel mauled, but later feels better with less nerve pain. Going again tomorrow, hopful for long range improvement.
Tied of being in pain, makes me grumpy (er) than normal.
Old doesn't bother me, its the ugly that's a real bummer.

Roxie

Some insurance's require physical therapy before they will pay for an MRI.  I came frightfully close to being paralyzed as a result.  Keep us posted on your progress.

Say when

Bricklayer51

I am going to the va to start physical therapy this morning hope it helps but I am not holding my breath.

alan gage

Been fighting back/hip/nerve pain for about 6 months. Strained my back in December picking up heavy rounds but it didn't recover after a few days like it normally does. Fought it on and off through the winter. Stretching really helped but then in February I tried picking up something relatively heavy (nothing I'd consider abnormal) and the low back pain returned along with nerve pain for the first time.

Started seeing a chiro and things got worse over the next couple weeks to the point I could barely walk in the mornings and only somewhat better after loosening up by the afternoon. Not blaming the chiro for it getting worse, but it sure did. The pain seemed to level off with some slight improvement but the chiro wasn't happy with seeing so little progress after 8-9 visits and recommended I see a regular doctor.

Decided to try and get into a spine center in Sioux Falls since summer was coming on and I had a lot I needed to get done. Took about 2 1/2 weeks to get in and I had slow but steady improvement during that time. Still plenty of pain and limited in what I could do but bearable. He prescribed physical therapy and come see me again in a month if things aren't improving. X-rays don't show anything anyone is concerned about.

Took another 1 1/2 weeks to get into physical therapy and things improved a little more by that time. That was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Have had 4 visits so far. Learning some good stretches and exercises but no real improvement to speak of so far. Fingers crossed but not real optimistic.

I'm 40 years old and 170 pounds and have always been healthy. Strange to not be able to do whatever I want whenever I want to do it.

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

doctorb

There's been a lot of posts about MRI's.  I'd like to throw in a few thoughts....

MRI is a wonderful modality to demonstrate hard and soft tissue findings within the spine, but is not some sort of full-proof perfect vision into your back that will 100% tell you:  1) What exactly is the reason for your pain and 2) What you have to do, including surgery, to relieve that pain.  When MRI first came out, it became almost like a religion.  We started operating on the MRI and not the patient.  Any detected abnormality seemed to become an indication for surgery.  There are all kinds of abnormalities within our aging spines, and the MRI will probably overstate many of them.  MRI's are often over-read, meaning the radiologist can over interprets what he/she sees.  The radiologist's reading is then sent to your doctor, who, unless he/she is a spine specialist, does not have the expertise to interpret the images themselves, and therefore accepts the radiologist's interpretation without question.

Look, MRI has demonstrated many exact problems within many patient's spines.  But those of us who are aging have abnormalities at multiple levels of our spines, and have multiple locations where nerves can appear compressed.  What is THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR is having a physician who takes the time to do a detailed physical/neurological examination to determine where in your back, which nerve root or roots, your irritation arises.  If, after an adequate trial of rest, PT, and maybe injections, your symptoms continue to be unbearable, you may be a candidate for surgery.  But that surgery should only occur when the MRI demonstrates an abnormality that accurately coincides with the findings on your physical exam.  If the MRI does not correlate with those findings, despite continuation of the patient's pain, surgery is very unlikely to help and should probably be avoided.

So the MRI is not a miracle truth detector.  It's a diagnostic tool that is part of the assessment of spine pain.  It does not always provide all the answers.  It is not an instant roadmap of your problem and your next step.  And it can be over interpreted leading to unnecessary and or unsuccessful surgery.  But when used wisely by good physicians, it is an invaluable test for better understanding of a complex problem.

As always, if you have been told that you are a candidate for spine surgery, I strongly suggest that you receive an unbiased second opinion before undergoing the knife.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

Runningalucas

I just made the MRI rounds for my lower spine, and hips; also had a leg length test.  My overall opinion, I've always done holistic type stuff instead of the MD, and so far, I'm kinda glad.  Due to scoliosis, degenerated L4, and L5, they sent me into a consult I wasn't ready for; spinal fusion.  

Having L4, and L5 fused, fine, but oh, with scoliosis, at least according to the surgeon, it would mean a complete fusion all the way up into the thoracic region.  It really sounded like rods, or even any fusion should be used as a means of last resort, simply to be able to walk.  I skirted around it, and for the most part got the answer that after surgery, my spine would be perma-light duty. 

For now, and I've not seen it listed in this thread, and maybe someone will tell me it's horrible, but I'm thinking that I'm going to go with the Regenexx stem cell therapy for those 2 discs.  From what I saw online, it works fairly good, and is long lasting.  I asked the surgeon about the stem cells, and they simply had no comment; it's just another form of treatment in their eyes I guess, and separate from their discipline. 

Everything in the AMA seems very compartmentalized, and somewhat like an sales model using a lot of upseliing. 
Life is short, tragedy is instant, it's what we do with our time in between that matters.  Always strive to do better, to be better.

Southside

I would be in interested to hear more about this stem cell technique you mention.  I do believe the MRI is a good tool to help in determining what is wrong.  I destroyed my L4,L5, and the discs in addition to some issues in the neck region, have done the PT, Chrio, injections, surgery, holistic, you name it.  The back is pretty decent these days, compared to when I could not walk that is, but I do have numbness in my feet and arms / hands, and have lost a lot of strength in certain muscle groups.  It's pretty embarrassing when the therapist tells you to resist the force of her hand against your leg, which she is barely touching and you tell her you are resisting it. 

Your observation about the compartmentalization of medicine is spot on.  
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Runningalucas

Quote from: Southside logger on June 01, 2018, 10:22:32 PM
I would be in interested to hear more about this stem cell technique you mention.  I do believe the MRI is a good tool to help in determining what is wrong.  I destroyed my L4,L5, and the discs in addition to some issues in the neck region, have done the PT, Chrio, injections, surgery, holistic, you name it.  The back is pretty decent these days, compared to when I could not walk that is, but I do have numbness in my feet and arms / hands, and have lost a lot of strength in certain muscle groups.  It's pretty embarrassing when the therapist tells you to resist the force of her hand against your leg, which she is barely touching and you tell her you are resisting it.

Your observation about the compartmentalization of medicine is spot on.  
LOL, been there on the 'I am resisting'...   I'm trying to schedule the stem cells in July.  From what I've read, and been told, you go in, they draw blood for plasma, then they also numb out a hip, and draw the stemcells from the hip.  They process the blood, into a platelet rich formula along with mixing in the stem cells harvested from the hip; then inject.  
https://www.regenexx.com/regenexx-procedures-family/the-regenexx-procedure-explained/
Life is short, tragedy is instant, it's what we do with our time in between that matters.  Always strive to do better, to be better.

tree-farmer

After half dozen adjustments by chiropractor back is much improved. Seems that sitting aggrivates  it more than anything. My job requires sitting at CAD station, but I have been making a point of getting up every hour or so and walking through shop plus  walking or working outdoors after work to keep pain at bay. 
Wearing a back support  when doing lifting jobs seems to help some too.
A little Irish whisky and Motrin also helps take the edge of the pain as well.

Goal is just to stay functional for as long as possible without more extreme measures.
Old doesn't bother me, its the ugly that's a real bummer.

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