Sciatica, anyone?

[bryan_kilco]

I've been dealing with this for probably 4 or 5 years now. I've pretty much had back pains from highschool on, but it was never anything serious.

I'll go to bed totally fine, then wake up with KILLER nerve pain. It's basically down through my buttcheek and into my leg. Pain like - hurts to roll over in bed, sit up, walk, etc.

Anyone else deal with this? If so how do you deal? From my understanding, doctors can't really correct it aside from prescribing meds which I hate taking any type of medication.

I'm leaving at 4am tomorrow morning to travel 3 hours for work and it's physical work, so I'm seriously dreading this now.

 

[cfh11]

physical therapy + core strengthening exercises. i have chronic lower back pain and it is a real bitch. that and paying more attention to posture, sitting positions, not spending too much time sitting without a break. i feel for you man - i have a desk job and it is brutal on my back.

 

[drew_drummer]

Are you fat?

 

[bryan_kilco]

Are you fat?

I could probably stand to lose 20-30 lbs, honestly. I'm sure this plays a role here.

 

[Christian WUFU]

I'm not sure if it's sciatica, but sometimes if I'm sitting on a hard surface (floor, wooden chair, etc) I'll get this horrible pain in left butt cheek, right around where my joints are connected, when I go to stand up. Nothing I do helps to get rid of the pain, so I basically just have to wait it out.

 

[mva801]

I've had lower back problems since high school as well.

I'm almost back to normal now. What helped me was going to an Acupuncturist who took measurements of my body alignment as I was standing. He basically said my shit was ALL fucked up. Bad posture, weak core. Through a combination of physical rehab, acupuncture, chiropractic and massage I've gotten WAY better. I had gone to chiropractors for years, and while it helped, none of them pointed out where the actual problem was, which was bad posture. My hips were always tilted back because I didn't sit up straight and use my core. So I'd get popped back into place and then sit for 10 hours a day at my desk with shitty lazy posture and hello vicious cycle.

I now do a shit ton of yoga. 1-1/2 to 2 hours 4-6 times per week Ashtanga style. It's making me so much stronger through the core.

My problem areas seem to change too. Sometimes it's the butt hip/ pelvis joint, on either side, or sometimes the inner groin area.

Doctors can't really do shit unless you have a problem that requires surgery. You need to see a good body mechanics specialist and figure out what you're doing wrong with your body and how to strengthen it in the right way.

Good luck man I hope you can feel better. I've had pain so bad I could barely get out of bed or walk. So I feel your pain. But it is fixable (well my problem was at least) so hang in there. You'll probably need to do a fair amount of exercise.

BUT FIND SOMEONE GOOD WHO WILL CHECK YOUR BODY ALIGNMENT AND POSTURE. A lot of people will just stick you with needles or crack your back and say good day. You have to find out what you're doing wrong with your body mechanics, then rehab it.

 

[xplanet2112]

I've been dealing with this for probably 4 or 5 years now. I've pretty much had back pains from highschool on, but it was never anything serious.

I'll go to bed totally fine, then wake up with KILLER nerve pain. It's basically down through my buttcheek and into my leg. Pain like - hurts to roll over in bed, sit up, walk, etc.

Anyone else deal with this? If so how do you deal? From my understanding, doctors can't really correct it aside from prescribing meds which I hate taking any type of medication.

I'm leaving at 4am tomorrow morning to travel 3 hours for work and it's physical work, so I'm seriously dreading this now.

you are right, there's nothing that can fix this issue, there is no magic bullet but you can stop it from getting worse. Basically what's happening is that due to overloading of your lumber spine for whatever reason, your intervertibral disks in your lumber region have prolapsed on to your spinal nerve due to pressure from your vertibral bodies of said region. It's this which causes the 'stabbing/shooting/electric shock nerve pain which goes down your legs.

I seem to suffer less now due to that fact that I now do less laborious job but here is my advice-

See how a toddler picks things up off the floor, they bend at the knee and use their powerful thigh muscles to lift themselves back up, not the tiny muscles that surround the facet joints in your lumber region. So bend at the knee to lift heavy items from the floor.

Loose the weight, your lumber region is not designed to take the load of an over weight person. Plus weight loss is the key to lots of health benefits.

Exercise - squats are what will build up the small muscles in the lumber region, this can help a little bit. For that matter try some planks too but don't over do it.

Pain relief is apparently best from ibuprofen.

On the whole my advice is to look after yourself, we can replace hips, knees, elbow, and shoulders, but not a lumber spine. We only get one each 1 each and I see how much back pain makes people's lives very miserable.

Good luck fella.

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

For me, stretching and foam roll have worked wonders. But my pain is different, its not textbook sciatica but its lower back pain near the butt area, sacroiliac joint to be exact. My legs are fine but I do get pain below my knees on the outside. I honestly attribute it to my weight. I have a feeling if I were to be active and sit less I would be a lot better. Whenever I'm feeling pain, rolling on a FOAM ROLL makes me feel like a new man.