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Anyone ever get sciatica pain? I've been dealing with this for about 6 weeks, I've done lots of stretching and although at times it can give me temporary relief it hasn't fixed anything long term. I have pain in my lower left hip (backside) that travels all down my leg into my foot. I sit most the day for my job I've been trying to move around a lot more and work on my posture but again, not helping.
I'm trying to decide who would be best to see, Chiropractor, physiotherapist, massage therapist? If anyone's dealt with this and treated it I'd appreciate advice.
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Worth a shot to post this in the sports/fitness thread as well, there's some knowledgeable guys and maybe a couple with past sciatica pain.
You likely already read this article but interesting stuff, it sort of resembles exercises that you would do in Yoga. And just to be sure, you aren't slouching in your chair and have good form?
ive been dealing with sciatica like symptoms for the past like 2.5 years..
mine is essentially the same as yours lower left side of my back occasionally running down into my leg
i've done Chiro about a year ago and for the last 4 months been going to physio getting acupuncture, traction machine, massage etc.
if anything i may have had MAYBE a 15% improvement from 2 years ago? I'll be setting up an MRI with my doctor soon and taking a look at my back
my physio is convinced i have a herniated disk in my lower back. aggravation comes mostly from bending over. If you have a herniated disc you can continue to work on stretching, core strength, etc and it may improve, however if it's already bad surgery may be the only option for a full recovery, thats kinda where i'm sitting
but hell if surgery will make me not feel it anymore i'm open to anything
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... I herniated a lower lumbar disc about almost 2 years ago, still stiff in the mornings now, but seems to have improved after losing weight and improving core strength.
I sometimes also suffer from pain back there, but only on one side and doesn't go down to my legs.
My GP told me to just keep losing weight to a healthy level, stretch before intense activities and keep working on core strength.
Good luck man, back pain is a pain in the ass lol.
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i experienced sciatica from a herniated disc. it took me about a total of 3-4 months to recover but even now, i'll never be 100% ever. i couldnt work for 3 months because of it.
the recovery path i did was physiotherapy 2-3 times a week along with acupuncture 2-3 times a week as well. after a month of this, i was finally able to leave my bed for longer than 5 minutes and regained feeling in my left leg below my knee. the key is to continue the stretches and exercises outlined by your physiotherapist and being consistent.
also, i hope you have good extended medical coverage otherwise treatment will be very expensive.
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Maybe try them all? I know that there's a muscle in the hip called the piriformis muscle and if that's really tight, it can push against the sciatic nerve causing sciatic like symptoms. And a knot in the piriformis muscle sometimes will cause pain that will travel down your leg, skip the knee joint and go down the calf to your foot. Good luck.
i experienced sciatica from a herniated disc. it took me about a total of 3-4 months to recover but even now
Same goes for me. I "slipped a disc" playing hockey back in December, and spent the next 3 months at physio, stretching, and a ton of core excercises.
I was in a car wreck back in the 90's and fractured my neck, along with a number of other things. Fast forward to 2012, and my body was feeling it. I thought I was in good shape, but getting out to the net that night, I wasn't. I was stiff, fat, and it caught up to me in the end.
I know you mentioned that you'll never be the same, but that's not necessarily true. It's going to take effort. I had a big hockey game in March that I was training for. Buddy from the Calgary Flames was playing against me, so I had to bring the a game. It took a lot, but I won that game, and have been playing at least 3 times a week since.
Funny thing, my symptoms start when I'm about 10lbs overweight. By 15-20 lbs, I'm one bad move away from back problems. But as long as I can keep my weight in check, and make sure those core muscles are strong, it's not a problem.
quasi, your best bet is to establish why your back is causing you issues. Then determine how to alleviate those issues through proper stretching and excercise.
here's a good place to start.
I have a bunch of these posters on my gym wall because they're just such an awesome foundation. I may not have time for the kettlebells, but these are so important that you find yourself making time for them.
A bit off the track but is the pain in your thighs or legs similar to the pain of a broken bone?
Just wondering because I started to have lower back pain a few weeks ago with searing pain in my right thigh.
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from my experiance anything related to lower discs is a throbbing/radiating pain down into your leg, and its typically down the back of my leg/ass for me
wouldnt say its anything like a broken bone, sometimes when its mild i kind of relate it to having your gums scraped at the dentist, its a pain but its almost more like a tension
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Ya, like Hondaracer said it's more like aching, numbness and irritating pain. It's not debilitating for me yet but it is very annoying. For me It's noticeable all the time it just depends on the degree of pain. It goes from the back of my hip all down my leg into my foot. I've never broke a bone but I'd imagine that would be much more painful.
If I had to compare it to anything it's an annoyance like having a headache all the time, yes you can function with it but you wish it would just go away.
I think I'm going to go see a physiotherapist, try that for a bit and see if they can help me get some relief combined with more stretching and exercise. Thank you for the chart Hypa.
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Sciatica along with most nerve pains rooting from the spine are more likely than not, to do with lack of core stability.
Without a strong core, everything collapses, and your entire body develops a faulty biomechanical posture/movement pattern. Long story short, that adds a lot of stress onto your spinal nerves because the muscles keeping your spine in a neutral position are weakened. This places a heck of alotta stress on your connective tissues and vertebral column which will stress out the spine itself. This will trigger pains running down your legs. If you are not exercising on a regular basis, and start to pack on more fat mass, this will lead to ADDITIONAL stress on the back.
In this way, things get worse and you will find yourself enclosed in a vicious circle where you sit on your ass all day -> bad posture -> put stress on back -> pack on weight from not exercising -> put more stress on back -> etc etc.
I know some of you don't want to hear this, but playing certain types of sports does NOT always equate to adequate exercise. There are a lot of sports out there that let you sneak by without having worked your core AT ALL. The chart hypa posted is excellent, and is a great start to achieving that core strength.
Get your ass outta that circle and start exercising and stretching (15-20 minutes a day) to A) Lose weight B) correct your posture C)attain a healthy back
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Last edited by instantneedles; 06-25-2013 at 11:16 PM.
Went to physio and that was so bullshit. Did all the stretching and recommended exercises and no improvement for 3 months.
Went to see a Chiro, 1st session 90% better. I checked out a lot of chiro in richmond and vancouver, but wasn't really confident in any of them. I visited my family in Asia and as per their recommendation had the guy work on my back. 2 sessions and I was right as rain.
Beware of chiros that pitch "it'll probably be 5+ sessions with follow up, etc."
Yea, once I setup my MRI I'm going to be focussing hard on losing weight in the mean time and see if that helps, I'm sure the majority of my pain relates to bad core strength as I've got a beer belly and haven't done much core strength for the last couple years due to being so busy Posted via RS Mobile
Went to physio and that was so bullshit. Did all the stretching and recommended exercises and no improvement for 3 months.
Went to see a Chiro, 1st session 90% better. I checked out a lot of chiro in richmond and vancouver, but wasn't really confident in any of them. I visited my family in Asia and as per their recommendation had the guy work on my back. 2 sessions and I was right as rain.
Beware of chiros that pitch "it'll probably be 5+ sessions with follow up, etc."
wouldn't be so quick to make judgments like that. how many years have you been in awkward sitting positions with an inactive core VS the measly 3 months that you have just begun to incorporate into your lifestyle (provided they are done properly)?
what im trying to say is, it's a lifelong process. Depending on how severely inhibited your musculature is, it could take a year, maybe 2 years, or even 5. It takes awhile to reverse postures that we engage in on a daily basis, and will be a lot harder for some than others depending on our lifestyle (career, hobby, etc)
who knows? maybe those 3 months of exercise rehab proved to be effective and might've been the reason it took you 1 spinal adjustment as opposed to 5+.
Stop exercising and stretching for another 3 months, and I can guarantee you, you will find yourself running the same process all over again.
There are no principles, there are only events. There is no good and bad, there are only circumstances. The superior espouses events and circumstances in order to guide them.
I never had long term luck with a chiro.
The best place I've gone to was a CBI office (ugh) but my guy is a sports rehab specialist. He's awesome! Helped fix my ankle after I tore it up in early 2011, and again when I injured my back in December.
But again, it all comes down to actually doing the effort. Don't bullshit and lie saying "oh yeah, I totally did the excercises" because you're only lying to yourself.
instantneedles said it best.
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what im trying to say is, it's a lifelong process
and
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stop exercising and stretching for another 3 months, and I can guarantee you, you will find yourself running the same process all over again
The biggest shock to my system was when I hurt my ankle. I was 34 at the time, and in pretty good shape. But I lost so much of my fitness in the 3 month rehab, mostly due to depression, drinking, etc. I sat on the couch because walking with crutches hurt. After 5 weeks, my xbox score was high, but my life score was low. Funny how that happens...
Now at 36 I know what it takes to maintain the level of fitness I demand of myself. I hate going out on the ice and getting schooled. The only way around that is to be at my top form. It's tough to maintain, but the memories of the pain of injury are sometimes enough to get me doing some crunches.
i've had sciatica for the last 6 years or so. more recently i haven't been experiencing any pains. i believe it is attributed to me starting to go to the gym and becoming more active on a day to day basis. like you i sit down a lot at work and at school and the only time i'm really on my feet is when i walk to the bus.
personally speaking, i think it's something that never goes away, but the pain can subside enough that you forgot you ever had it. just keep becoming active and work on strengthening that core. i was a lazy fuck and with this pain it left me unmotivated to do anything. going through that, i realized that in order to become a better me it required me to get off my ass and actually like what i see when i looked in a mirror. (i'm overweight but not obese by any means)
just become more active and the pain will eventually go away. theres no excuses for not having enough time to be active in the day.
wouldn't be so quick to make judgments like that. how many years have you been in awkward sitting positions with an inactive core VS the measly 3 months that you have just begun to incorporate into your lifestyle (provided they are done properly)?
what im trying to say is, it's a lifelong process. Depending on how severely inhibited your musculature is, it could take a year, maybe 2 years, or even 5. It takes awhile to reverse postures that we engage in on a daily basis, and will be a lot harder for some than others depending on our lifestyle (career, hobby, etc)
who knows? maybe those 3 months of exercise rehab proved to be effective and might've been the reason it took you 1 spinal adjustment as opposed to 5+.
Stop exercising and stretching for another 3 months, and I can guarantee you, you will find yourself running the same process all over again.
I'll give some backstory:
Concussion from hockey - didn't do any sports, gym for around 6 months. Finally felt better and started lifting weights, clearly, didn't adjust for the 6 months of weakness. So I hurt my back (slipped disc).
(I worked, like most a 9-5 job in an office, very sedentary, but active after work and weekends.)
The reason why I said the rehab didn't work because the symptoms never alleviated or got better, not even by 1%, my feet would tingle, my range of motion was just as bad as ever. I couldn't even tie my shoes or get out of bed normally. This is just my personal experience. Not an expert by any means.
one of the worst things i experienced when sciatica was hitting me was trying to put my socks on, or getting out of bed. i would literally roll off my bed and use it as support to get to my feet. the absolute worst feeling. there were days i wanted to chop my leg off just to stop the pain
Since Acupressure and Acupuncture are covered 100% by my extended medical I'm going to give acupressure a try. I have an appointment booked next week, see how it goes.
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The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I donīt care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. Thatīs how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. - Rocky Balboa
some people swear by this for all back related problems.
i've used it since it was in the household... i would say using it is better than doing nothing. in fact it probably does a lot more than one would expect.
if i had one at home personally i would use it everyday... but i don't lol.
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For close to 60 years, no sign of sciatica. Didn't even know what it was, then boom, I had a bad case of it. Like !Nhan, putting on socks was painful. I started limping and couldn't sit down or get up without major pain. I thought this was like old age related, but I guess it happens to young people, too. I did do a lot of lifting at work before this happened. It went on for a couple of months, then went away. I've since had it two more times. Next time I have it, I'm gonna go accupuncture. My friend swears by it. He said two treatments and his sciatica was gone. Everyone's different - which muscle is affecting the sciatic nerve, but damn, the pain.
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^sort of adding onto what instantneedles was saying.
Core is important in preventing a lot of acute injuries as well management of pain. However, something to be aware of as well is your passive posture. For many people, an anterior pelvic tilt (think donald duck and how he stands with his buttocks way out) and that tends to cause some compression in the lumbar discs. With even mild compression in the discs, the nerve glides tend to not be smooth and causes a lot of irritation especially in the hip, behind the leg region.
If possible, I would suggest looking into your posture and seeing if it is neutral as well as funcitonal.
Hurt my back a while ago at work from all of the twisting motions I do pulling wire and stuff like that.
My chiropractor said I had "golfer's back" and was way too young for that kind of injury.
I can work perfectly OK, but my back gets a bit sore once in a while and I haven't squatted in the past couple of months.
Chiro said to just let it heal for a few months. A few months have passed, but I get sore once in a while and have to go in for tune ups. He knows chiropractic stuff, but I don't think he squats. He recommended sticking to leg press machine for now. I don't think I have the confidence to put a big load on my shoulders for quite a while when I have a weak spot in my left lower back.
Has anyone here injured their back, recovered, and became strong once again?
Should I see some sort of sport specialist to see when I'm ready? Or just wait wait wait until I feel a lot better?
I am not sure what to do.
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Originally Posted by instantneedles
you're loading your spine with too much weight. 9/10 times that is the case. Please refer to a thread called "sciatica" that i posted in the health section, it applies to you. Your hips and shoulders were designed to take most of the weight you carry and NOT the spine.
My advice would be to stay away from squats for now. I have a strong feeling your back won't allow you to engage in proper squat form - and loading your spine with more weight is going to destroy your back.
Definetly see a sports physio and don't wait if you want your back to last. If you don't take action it will only get worse - the only reason you have a back problem in the first place is because something caused it, and if you don't find out what it is that caused it, it will only spiral downhill
I originally posted in the workout/training thread and Instant pointed me to this thread.
Now I'm not exactly sure if I have sciatica or not because the pain does not go to my legs or anything like that, but I do get pain in my left side middle/lower spine at one point.
-Used to squat and deadlift once a week for the past 5 years. (currently not)
-I work as an electrician. (so I am pretty active on a daily basis.)
-Started having back pain maybe 4 months ago
-Started seeing chiropractor 3 months ago and he diagnosed me with "golfer's back"
-I felt vast improvement right away after each session and a couple of weeks ago he said I don't have to see him every week and can just call in if I need an adjustment.
-I was feeling OK until yesterday. Now I have pain in my left middle/lower spine.
-I want to squat and lift heavy weights again, but I won't until I get this back stuff all 99% figured out.
First of all can anyone recommend a good sports physio? Preferable one that deals with people who lift weights?
Meanwhile, I'll be going to my chiropractor next week and maybe ask him about sciatica and such. He diagnosed me by feel and questions, but I really want to know what exactly is going on in my back, how to heal it, and how to make it stronger so this doesn't happen again.
My sciatica came back shortly after I posted the first time in this thread. I was being lazy, and went away from my workout. It's not a crazy workout, just a lot of core and leg exercises, but it's the difference between being in pain, and not. A lot of my pain (which may not be the same as others) is caused by bad posture due to a lack of core strength. It's funny because I took the last 4 days off while on vacation, and the pain came back. The bottom line is that it's a constant battle between being in good shape, and being on pain killers, and the difference is doing the recommended exercises for your back, abs, and to a lesser extent, the glutes.
Working out is the path to pain free living. I'm not talking about hard core weight lifting, or mad cardio triathalon. That's all good for the hardcore. I'm talking about doing what it takes to keep you going. Don't worry right now about lifting heavy. Stretching, lots of reps, and low impact will help you more than you think. Hell, just doing some level of exercise helps overall.
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