View Full Version : Sciatica pain !!!!
In my 4th month now, have tried Chiropractic, Yoga, Cortisone Shots,Working Out, in the middle of disc decompression treatments....any creative ideas?
Need to be ready to get back onto the AT by end of March, any BIG success with accupuncture, just resting for a few weeks???
StarLyte
01-23-2010, 09:12
In my 4th month now, have tried Chiropractic, Yoga, Cortisone Shots,Working Out, in the middle of disc decompression treatments....any creative ideas?
Need to be ready to get back onto the AT by end of March, any BIG success with accupuncture, just resting for a few weeks???
TENS unit? Ask your ortho.
You'll be okay by your hike start. Just take emergency pain meds.
Blissful
01-23-2010, 10:20
I found hiking and carry a reasonable load on a good backpack helped my back tremendously. And even straightened my upper spine somewhat.
What kind of mattress do you sleep on? I also use pillows for my legs.
garlic08
01-23-2010, 10:24
Ditto walking. My chiropractor didn't even attempt to treat my minor case. She said to just walk, so walk I did. I worked.
Takijeep
01-23-2010, 10:32
have had sciatica for 6-7 years now, traction helped as did TENS therapy. You can order a tens unit online without a prescription for around $90 well worth it seeing as it can help with any tight muscles.
Doooglas
01-23-2010, 11:02
SWIM.....Just swim.
I had an acupuncture treatment that helped relieve the pain enough to go to the chiropractor (I couldn't move prior to the treatment). After that, I did the stretches recommended and it didn't take too long. Good luck!
timebreaks
01-23-2010, 11:44
acupuncture was the ONLY thing that helped with the back pain that I was having a few years ago (from osteoarthritis, not sciatica). For some reason, my SI joint keeps going out and giving me sciatic pain...chiropractic has been pretty good to treat that.
I suppose as an MT I should tell you to try massage. :-D Tight external hip rotators and/or IT bands can impinge on the sciatic nerve, causing pain. Myofascial release may help to relieve the pain.
Cookerhiker
01-23-2010, 11:56
You'll find some info including my ultimately successful treatment for a herniated disc on this thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14922). I feel your pain! Isn't it much worse on long car rides?
acupuncture was the ONLY thing that helped with the back pain that I was having a few years ago (from osteoarthritis, not sciatica). For some reason, my SI joint keeps going out and giving me sciatic pain...chiropractic has been pretty good to treat that.
I suppose as an MT I should tell you to try massage. :-D Tight external hip rotators and/or IT bands can impinge on the sciatic nerve, causing pain. Myofascial release may help to relieve the pain.
Also, the piriformis muscle could be impinging the sciatic nerve, so massage and stretching of that area can greatly help with the symptoms.
Walking. As much as you can.
I got sciatica the whole way down my left leg/lower back at 18, spent 3 months lying on a wood floor 24/7 between trips to a chiropractor and munching 6 Ibuprofen once a day to get 2 hours without pain (apart from one wonderful experience with Methocarbamol). After the 3 months I could just about walk through the pain, so I did, constantly. I discovered that the more I walked the more time I could spend afterwards pain free. Spent the next year walking home from the office, eating and heading straight back out the door until midnight, bad days I'd just forgo sleep and walk all the way through until the morning. It's actually what got me started on hiking.
mkmangold
01-23-2010, 16:58
In my 4th month now, have tried Chiropractic, Yoga, Cortisone Shots,Working Out, in the middle of disc decompression treatments....any creative ideas?
Need to be ready to get back onto the AT by end of March, any BIG success with accupuncture, just resting for a few weeks???
Acupuncture worked for me but I had to keep going back for treatments. A one-time shot of Toradol (60mg) right over the sciatic nerve in the affected buttock took care of it for good. It seems to have local effects given like this.
GREAT STUFF, thanks so much everyone. What is most painful for me is just standing straight up. I think that accupuncture and massage are next, along with walking daily on treadmill or trail. No pack for now.
Not Sunshine
01-23-2010, 18:20
Also, the piriformis muscle could be impinging the sciatic nerve, so massage and stretching of that area can greatly help with the symptoms.
I'm pretty sure that if someone has already been to a chiropractor and has sought out other medicines, that they have already done this, but, just in case:
Please for the love of your sciatic nerve AND your piriformis muscle (which is the muscle in your butt where your nerve exits and runs down your leg):
DON'T SIT ON YOUR WALLET!
that's my 2 cents.:eek:
I was in a car wreck, in 1975.
Toftness technique (involves a very light touch) of a Palmer College graduate chiropractor. Helped.
Touch for Health. Helped.
Shiatsu. Helped.
These next three, together, took care of it:
Good Feet Exercisers (http://www.goodfeet.com/products-3step-exercisers.html) insoles will support around the edge of the heel preventing heel strike pain going up into the sciatica pain. Ask. Maybe their other part of the product line will do that, I don't know.
RPT-Feldenkreis Method physical therapy to strengthen core muscles directly and indirectly involved. The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation MD writes in "Other" Feldenkreis Method. This is not someone who had one class, either. I got a practicioner in my handicapped unit apartment. Next, I got a RPT credentialed-Feldenkreis Method qualified physiotherapist at the outpatient Physical therapy at a private hospital. Insurance paid for the home visits and for the outpatient physical therapy at the hospital. Feldenkreis Method is recommended because it starts, basically, with the nervous system and then strengthens the muscles. Alexander technique (standard physical therapy) starts, basically, with the muscles and hopes the nervous system goes along for the ride. That is the simplest explanation for the why and how Feldenkreis Method was so successful with sciatica.
"Raney Jacket" custom-fitted solid plastic back brace, worn at 6 week intervals, at first. Then, worn briefly. Developed and Made by Custom Orthopedic, 340 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA.
No more problem, I still use Good Feet "Max" insoles.
It is counter-intuitive, but the hard plastic insoles work better than soft insoles. That said, stay off marble floors and concrete all you can do so. At home, have plywood underlayment, not hardwood floors. Get a better chair, at the job. Get a stool your own "butt-high" to perch, if you have a counter job involving standing. If your job involves only standing and only a little walking around, place feet a little apart, one foot 45-degrees and slightly imperceptibly "roll" you knees to circulate blood. Do "isometrics" of abdominal muscles while sitting at your computer. Avoid prolonged sitting, at a desk. Bring an adjustable chair to a desk job. I had to adjust for all that years ago. Now I use avoidance to avoid recurrence. I haven't had recurrence. I so do not want to have recurrence.
. . .
climber2377
01-23-2010, 18:50
maybe you need a better chiropractor? mine is amazing and i would be able to walk if it wasnt for him. sounds like you do have the right combo. yoga and chiropractor makes the most sense to me. i do not take meds.
I'm pretty sure that if someone has already been to a chiropractor and has sought out other medicines, that they have already done this, but, just in case:
Please for the love of your sciatic nerve AND your piriformis muscle (which is the muscle in your butt where your nerve exits and runs down your leg):
DON'T SIT ON YOUR WALLET!
that's my 2 cents.:eek:
I'm not talking about just not sitting on your wallet. There are some people that the sciatic nerve cuts right thru the piriformis muscle instead of under it, and it can cause sciatic pain. Also, if the piriformis muscle is tight, it can put extra pressure on the nerve and cause the pain. Keeping it stretched out can be helpful. It's called piriformis syndrome, and it's more than just from sitting on your wallet.
And like someone just suggested, maybe another chiropractor could help you. There's many different techniques of adjusting, and maybe the one you went to wasn't the right one for you. If you have anymore questions about this, feel free to pm me.
climber2377,
Right. Absolutely.
Nora Ogden Phillips, D.C. that chiropractor made all the difference.
The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation MD referred me to her "for hopeless cases". She was retired, and accepted only firemen, police men and me who were her "hopeless cases".
I still do "yoga-stretch" for core muscles twice a week with a RPT because it feels great.
I found that at the community center $10 for 6 months. That RPT works at Kaiser and at the YMCA.
. . .
maybe you need a better chiropractor? mine is amazing and i would be able to walk if it wasnt for him. sounds like you do have the right combo. yoga and chiropractor makes the most sense to me. i do not take meds.
climber2377,
Right. Absolutely.
Nora Ogden Phillips, D.C. that chiropractor made all the difference.
The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation MD referred me to her "for hopeless cases". She was retired, and accepted only firemen, police men and me who were her "hopeless cases".
I still do "yoga-stretch" for core muscles twice a week with a RPT because it feels great.
. . .
I like to hear stories such as these! :D
The first thing to do is go to a Dr. to try to figure out where the problem is. Mine was S1, L5, and L4. I had my second back surgery at the end of Sept. I'm still not back to work yet. I've been doing physical therapy three times a week. After surgery I was told by my Dr to walk, walk, walk. So thats what I did. My back got worse. Now I'm under strict orders not to walk....
I guess what I'm trying to say is that everybody's problem could be different. So don't just listen to internet advice. Its sometimes good to read about it but put your health in the people who are trained to do so. And if anything sounds like your problem that you've read about, bring it up to your Dr and get his opinion...Bad advice has prolonged my problem and made it worse over the last 25 years. Hopefully I'm on the track to recovery now! Good luck and I wish everybody a speedy recovery!
timebreaks
01-24-2010, 01:02
Tight external hip rotators and/or IT bands can impinge on the sciatic nerve, causing pain. Myofascial release may help to relieve the pain.
Also, the piriformis muscle could be impinging the sciatic nerve, so massage and stretching of that area can greatly help with the symptoms.
The piriformis *is* an external hip rotator. :) And I agree, piriformis syndrome is a bitch.
LIhikers
01-24-2010, 01:27
I had a very active uncle that had back problems due to sciatica nerve problems. Over a couple of years he went to all kinds of doctors and tried everything they suggested until they got to surgery. He wouldn't let them cut into his back. Out of desperation he tried accupucture and accupreassure and was cured in a few months and was back to playing sports.
hikingshoes
01-28-2010, 16:01
I found hiking and carry a reasonable load on a good backpack helped my back tremendously. And even straightened my upper spine somewhat.
What kind of mattress do you sleep on? I also use pillows for my legs.
I was down for 6months(3x)and couldnt drive.i had to lay in the back seat to get to PT and this wasnt fun at all.After i retire from the Army Res.i stop PT and got up to 249lbs and i hated that.My family and i was headed to cherokee in Asheville,NC.so i was going hiking over night.from fontana dam to campsite113,i got halfway up and had to turn around,after that i took a trip to the VA to get checked out(checked out Good).Now im 227lbs ride my bike every day and hike/backpack every weekend.As of right now i feel great and im even planning a hike from GA/HF,WV as long as the back holds up.Plus i sleep in a hammock and that helps the back tremendously.Hope you get better.HS
WalkingStick75
01-28-2010, 19:08
I have a friend with sciatica pain he just started using an inversion bed, hangs in it 2-3 times a day and he says it is helping him.
Thanks everyone, because of Whiteblaze and this great hiking community yet another hiker has benefitted from this site. Periformis. Pretty friggin painful, I have to have this solved by late March.......miss hiking badly.
Physical therapist, message therapist taught me lots of stretches. Learn about muscle imbalances, too That is what cured me, but it did take a few months.
Missed a hike last fall, but I am in good shape now. X-rays might not show anything. Before using the therapy, I saw a doctor, who in turn recommended physical therapy.
Google "Active Isolated Stretching"
http://www.stretchingusa.com/
Google Muscle Imbalances:
http://www.losethebackpain.com/treatments/musclebalancetherapy.html
Back pain is the most common problem for which people have to miss work. You are not alone.
jnflas91
01-29-2010, 12:35
Foam roller than nalgene bottle. Run barefoot. Yoga Slackline
Bear Cables
03-03-2010, 02:04
How flexible are your hamsting muscles. Sometimes tightened or shorten hamsting muscles can cause back problems. Especially on hikers who tend to have very strong quads. If the hams aren't strengthen on par with the quads in front or are not flexible it throws everything out of whack.