Sciatic nerve

[john4surf]

My wife has been dealing with sciatica for months now. Been to PT, acupuncture, electric stimulation, limited exercise, stretching, injections, etc., etc. all to no avail. Is there any remedy to sciatic nerve damage or malfunction? Poor girl is miserable. I suggested she ask the MDs she’s been seeing for the name of a specialist with a good track record.

Any one over come this miserable pain? Ideas? Thanks. John

 

[One-Off]

Months with no improvement at all?

How far down the leg?

I had a low back pain "event" that moved into my glute when I started PT. If she's improving at all she should stick with it. It took me a long time ( 6 months ).

Cue the Deadlift Doctors....

 

[Autoprax]

Is it a herniated disk or piriformous syndrome?

Has she had anyone do soft tissue work?

It could be "trigger points." My adductors are always tense.

 

[SurfDoc]

That long with no MRI? Maybe the diagnosis is wrong? Tried lots of things with no relief. Time to find another professional to help sort this out. Good luck!

 

[john4surf]

Yes, she had an MRI. She is presently seeing a “pain specialist” which is not addressing the fubar nerve. I’ve asked her to see if her GP can recommend someone in the medical field that deals specifically with the nerve. She has an electric ‘stimulator’ that helps while hooked up bit, like acupuncture, stretching, etc., the relief is temporary at best. The tennis ball suggestion above helps but it is also temporary at best.

 

[Autoprax]

Yes, she had an MRI. She is presently seeing a “pain specialist” which is not addressing the fubar nerve. I’ve asked her to see if her GP can recommend someone in the medical field that deals specifically with the nerve. She has an electric ‘stimulator’ that helps while hooked up bit, like acupuncture, stretching, etc., the relief is temporary at best. The tennis ball suggestion above helps but it is also temporary at best.

Is she doing the entire leg?

"Trigger points" (whatever that is) can be in the leg and refer somewhere else.

Also try the stomach.

If it's a trigger point, it gives release instantly.

But you have to find it.

 

[john4surf]

She ”found” a trigger point in her glute, near the side but it is a temporary fix. Hope to get a referral to an MD that “specializes” in sciatica in the coming week(s)…. Ready to drive or fly anywhere to get her fixed up.

 

[SurfDoc]

She ”found” a trigger point in her glute, near the side but it is a temporary fix. Hope to get a referral to an MD that “specializes” in sciatica in the coming week(s)…. Ready to drive or fly anywhere to get her fixed up.

Another thought is a steroid injection at the nerve root.

 

[vanrysss]

Could be a herniated disk, I had one when I moved and it manifested as "sciatica". My dad is a PT and had me do 15 reps of cobra pose. Start prone, push yourself up while keeping your hips planted to the floor. Repeat every hour, eventually the herniated tissue moved back where it was supposed to be and pressure went off the nerve.

 

[john4surf]

Could be a herniated disk, I had one when I moved and it manifested as "sciatica". My dad is a PT and had me do 15 reps of cobra pose. Start prone, push yourself up while keeping your hips planted to the floor. Repeat every hour, eventually the herniated tissue moved back where it was supposed to be and pressure went off the nerve.

Thanks. Wife will get another MRI (first one was last December) as soon as insurance approves. I’ve asked her to address the possibility of a herniated disc this time but her GP, a ’pain specialist’ and another doctor reviewed the first MRI and didn’t address the possibility of a herniated disc. Fingers crossed for her. Life is slowly becoming miserable for her :-( John

 

[vanrysss]

If it is in fact a herniated disk she should start to feel pain relief after three rounds of 15 spaced out every hour. It'll take a few days to a week to fully go away.

 

[Autoprax]

 

[One-Off]

Yes, she had an MRI. She is presently seeing a “pain specialist” which is not addressing the fubar nerve. I’ve asked her to see if her GP can recommend someone in the medical field that deals specifically with the nerve. She has an electric ‘stimulator’ that helps while hooked up bit, like acupuncture, stretching, etc., the relief is temporary at best. The tennis ball suggestion above helps but it is also temporary at best.

I went to a pain specialist for my back and he refused the MRI. It's well documented that in older folks the presence of disc bulges and hernias is almost guaranteed (always thought someone should study what the 5-10 % of seniors with no disc pathologies did to attain that state, besides have good genes). Also well documented is the fact that many people with disc pathologies have no symptoms. Also documented is that knowledge of disc pathology can unnecessarily make symptoms worse. Ask Von Meister about "nocibo." My pain guy insisted on completing a full round of PT before any imaging or more invasive remedies (ie, steroidal injections). As long as there was any improvement at all, no MRI, no further RX. He did recommend the TENS treatment which I did not like and found of little value, and acupuncture which I did not try. All those things are for temporary symptom relief. The PT is the cure. Mine started with the McKenzie, back extension, cobras, whatever you want to call them. Moved to more strenuous body weight exercises- planks, side planks, bridges, bird dogs, dead bugs, supermans. Stretches for hamstrings and piriformis. Now I've added barbell. OHP, squats and DLs. Toddler weights, but significantly more than what I did before which was nothing.

John how active is your wife? How dedicated to her PT? If she's lazy and hoping for a pill or shot to cure her in lieu of the hard work of PT, she might be in for more disappointment. Before my back problem I went to the PT for a neck issue and when it wasn't improving he asked, "How often are you doing the exercises?" I said, "Once or twice a day." His reply, "Do them 3-4 times a day." When I injured my back it was late December 2019 and we went to distance learning in March. That gave me a lot of chances to do the exercises which I wouldn't have had if I were working at the school site. Still, it took 6 months of hard work, but I was diligent about the exercises. Still am. Cure is ongoing. Still have some pain but am back to surfing a shortboard. Well, a 6-6, but if you grew up like me in the 70's 6-6 is a shortboard.

One last thing I will say, which might get push back from some here, is that when the exercises or the frequency of them made my back worse I would, on the PT's advice, turn it down a notch. Havoc is convinced if I would have just deadlifted 2x my body weight I would have been cured overnight.

Good luck to your wife!

 

[john4surf]

Thanks 103! Will copy/paste your observations to her. She is focused (due to the pain) and has gone through acupuncture, PT, injections, massages, electrical stimulation (she bought/uses a plug and play device that enables her to place the pads on the most problematic areas) and, she follows PT stretching religiously. We walk the Coast ‘rail trail’ daily, about 3 miles but her difficulties have her stopping 4-5 times now to stretch. I’m going to help her try the Cobra stretch you suggested. The plan is to find a MD who specializes in sciatica (specialists are sometimes easy to find but will listen to recommendations of MD). Thanks again for your kind suggestions. John

 

[Swallow Tail]

Once it calms down she needs to do some strength training IMO - PT, then longer term strength program. Stretching is a very temporary bandaid to relieve symptoms a bit at best.

If current PT only gave stretches n no strength training exercises it’s time to fire that PT and get another.

I’ve had it for extended periods of time where it’s extraordinarily painful, all the way into ankle, impossible to sleep etc. Can have various causes.

Hoping she finds some relief

 

[One-Off]

Once it calms down she needs to do some strength training IMO - PT, then longer term strength program. Stretching is a very temporary bandaid to relieve symptoms a bit at best.

If current PT only gave stretches n no strength training exercises it’s time to fire that PT and get another.

I’ve had it for extended periods of time where it’s extraordinarily painful, all the way into ankle, impossible to sleep etc. Can have various causes.

"Once it calms down..." is the operative phrase here. Sounds like John's wife is still in an acute phase.

PTs and MDs never prescribed weight training for me but all gave the thumbs up when I asked about it... with the caveat- go gradually. Cardiologist told me not to lift heavy for reasons related to my heart, but heavy is such a relative term.

 

[Swallow Tail]

I have stenosis & disc probs in lower back, also blessed w stenosis in cervical spine as well as two cervical discs replaced a couple years ago.

Ive unfortunately spent buckets of time with PTs - some great, others not so much, for this stuff, as well as for recovery of other mundane injuries like a badly broken elbow. Strength training doesn’t require weights or weight lifting.

From my experience, The sciatica will continue to return over and over, likely get worse unless muscles strength is addressed. PTs n MDs that know what they’re doing agree with this.