Been stuck in the house for a week now, cant fuckin walk without wailing the house down with pain. My doc came out yesterday and says its sciatica.
Cant really afford private physio, so anyone know any good exercises/hints and tips to make it go away?

 

btt

 

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles...0&sectionId=11

Any help mate?

 

Yes mate, suffered from it for years and I feel for you but please read through what's happened to me as it may give you ideas of routes to take....

Was it a single event that made it happen or has it got gradually worse? I first did mine about 10 years ago playing rugby and it's been back a few times since.

I was at Uni and hobbled along to the local doctor [was in Southampton] who laid me on his couch, moved a leg and told me it would just go away in a few days... didn't even give me painkillers..

THE SAME DAY, my sister and brother in law came to visit me. My brother in law is a Doctor and was in the army at the time. He took me straight down to the Army hospital in Haslar where I was PROPERLY examined by their sports doctor [it involved a finger up the arse too ] and was told it was sciatica.

He gave me proper painkillers, anti inflammatorys and booked me in to start with the NHS physio....

3 months later i was playing rugby again.

Most GPs are brilliant but they are NOT back experts...

Then about 5 years ago I was bending to pick something up and it went again! My mum took me to some healer bloke who had a garden like Mr Miyagi. He was basically a cunt He told me my skull was out of line, I had an intolerance to sugar and my mum's birth canal was the cause

So I went to see my GP back home who LUCKILY is married to the spinal surgeon at the local hospital and she referred me to him.

He did a full examination including one of those horrible scans in the big tube. After a bit of fucking about he put me on another course of physio for 3 months [which included water therapy and the sticking needles all over me] but it got no better this time [the extra years and beers meant I wasn't as fit ] so I ended up having a caudal epidural [basically an injection into the base of the spine]. After some more physio it got better, took a bit longer but I was back out playing golf within 6 months!

Then this Easter after a 7 hour drive to the Lake District I could hardly walk! There was no crack or single event that did it, just the hours in the car... I could get some relief in certian positions but it was probably worse than the other times as I was walking like an old man...

A bloke we use to valet our cars suggested I went to see his Chiropractor. I'd never really considered them before as they all seem to be quacks but I thought I'd give it a go rather than have more fingers stuffed up my arse [outside of my leisure time ]!!

The Chiropractor after a couple of prods IMMEDIATELY diagnosed what the first GP failed to see and the spinal surgeon required thousands of pounds worth of scans and time to find out... He massaged me then clicked me about and the relief was instant.

The pain comes back a few days after I see him, I was seeing him 4 times a week [ok, it's expensive at Ł40 a pop, but I'd pay Ł4000 a pop if it cured it!] and now i'm down to once every 3 weeks!

I am genuinely surprised by how much he's helped in such a short period of time and have a lot of faith in him as I'm ALREADY back playing Golf

So I've kind of gone most routes except open surgery.... and [touch wood] the chiropractor seems to be the best for me...

The back really is complex though and you should ask to be referred as soon as you can to a specialist!

Depending on where the pain is the best excercise you can do is this:

1. Lie on your tummy
2. put your arms up a if you're going to do a push up
3. push up but keep your hips on the floor so you're arching your back
4. When you reach the point it starts to hurt back off a bit
5. Hold it for 20-30 seconds

The important bit is stretching to the point BEFORE the pain! Don't stretch through the pain or you'll make it worse!

Anyway buddy, I know it's horrible and I'm sure it'll get better... the best thing you can do though is to excercise your transversal adbominals [deep tummy muscles] as they support the back... if you're carrying any extra weight it's best to get rid of it....

GO SEE A PROPER DOCTOR!

 

Thanks Paddy.
The pain came on pretty suddenly on wednesday morning last week, I just presumed i'd pulled my hamstrings (Being a fat fucker and having old rugby injurys they seen so go whenever they feel like it) Walloped some ibuprofen and went to see the Doc and she agreed and prescribed some Diclofenac (crap) and some ibuprofen gel (also crap). Two days later, still in agony went to A+E, they gave the same diagnosis as the GP and basically told me to go back to work and stop being a fanny
Anyhoo, called the Doc again when it was still killing me yesterday and a locum came out to my house, hit me with his funny little hammer and pulled my legs abou and said it was sciatica and to stick some frozen peas on my back try and walk as much as I could. Still hurting today though and still cant walk for more than about 5 steps without falling down
Been referred for an MRI scan now too, so might be able to find out why my hammys keep pinging(could be the back again?)
So would you reckon a sports physio would be the way forward?

And as for carrying extra weight, i'm carrying about 5 stone of it (5"11 and 17.5 st need to get off the mars bars)

sorry for the essay btw

 

Had it last year and didnt even bother going to the GP as previous visits for other aches and pains ended in the usual painkillers and rest diagnosis, so found my local chiropracter and paid him a visit -he sorted me out in about 3 visits at Ł30 a pop - money very well spent as it turned out I had one leg just slightly longer than the other, not noticable but it was putting my pelvis out of line and trapping a nerve.he re-aligned everything each visit and gave me a load of posture advice to stop it coming back

 

My old man had it pretty bad to the point of having to lie down on his side to take a piss in a jug, highly undignified!

He used a TENS Machine in the end which helped a shit load he said..

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069069/

Ginge

 

Just had a chiropractor recommended to me so i'll give them a call see how I get on. I'm too young to have a knackered back

 

I'm only 30 you coont and was only 20 when it first went!

Good to hear you're seeing a chiropractor though! As long as they're recommended from someone you trust

P.S. I'm 6"1 and 16.5 Stone at the moment, carrying a bit of extra love jelly [I've got a small veranda over the toy shop] but the rest is all muscle, honest seriously though... if you're not a big build, lose some weight and strengthen your stomach as it's the BEST thing you can do [they call it core stability - posh way to tell you to stop being fat ]

 

Oh jesus i feel your pain mate as had this for quite a few years and been for all sorts of scans,xrays,physio etc etc you name it i tried it and fuck all worked !!!!

Eventually moved to where i stay just now and one of the customers i do work for is a sports and remedial massage therapist and suggested letting her have a go, was a bit dubious at first as always looked at getting a massage was a bit seedy and that when you roll over onto your back to show off your wigwam you would be asked it you required " relief" for that straining muscle !!! Nudge nudge wink wink !!!!!!

Anyway i thought i would give her a go as had been suffering with it for far too long and was at the stage where i would try anything.

First session was for about 45 mins and came away from that almost worse than when i went in but after a day or two i started to slowly feel better and went back every few weeks for an hour at a time and fuck me did she not completely cure me !!!

Used to get a really bad bout of it at least once a month and was as good as paralysed with it ( unless you have experienced this for yourself you cant even begin to imagine the pain making even the slightesr movement makes !!! ) and since i have been seeing this lady i have been almost pain free for over 3 years, still get the odd twinge now and then if i lift something i shouldn't but thats maybe due to the fact i aint been back to see her for a few months !!!

Seriously though i would recommend trying this mate as has worked wonders for me.

 

please remember that sciatica describes the symptoms, and not the route problem! many many things can cause sciatica!

 

It really depends what the problem is, a chiropractor i went to checked for either bone or muscle issues, mine was muscle.

He gave me a different set of excersies to those mentioned, really you need to know what excersices will concentrate in the area that needs attention.

He also did some pulling and pushing then cracked my spine, then did some pressure point work to relax knotted muscles.

I also found actupuncter and massage extremely useful.

 

Got an appointment on monday so i'll see how i get on
I reckon the underlying cause will be muscular rather than a prolapsed disc though, my backs been giving me jip for years

 

I've had it since 96 when I was retired(age30) plus lots of other stuff.
Mine is muscular in nature after having been crushed against a tree by a car(hit and run drink driver).
I now have such severe muscle spasm as a result, I cannot walk stand or sit without severe pain, the pain upon walking is unbelievable, to the extent it causes myself to lose conciousness, but I had been fighting for years NOT to take anti inflammatories, and pain killers, but now on loads, which do help, as does the back specialist I see.
I am 5' 9 1/2", weight 21st, and see Marcus Webb, at HADLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE, in Hadley Wood, nr Barnet, Hertfordshire, his father in law is a VERY eminent spinal surgeon, whose taught Marcus, had accupuncture, manipulation, cranial therapy.
My muscle in my thora columba fascia is now permanently tensed causing loss of feeling in both arms/legs, burning both arms/legs, sciatica both arms/legs, there is NO cure they can only treat the pain a little.
I had normal bouts of sciatica like most people before this and it went away after around 2/3 weeks with gentle exercise.
tabetha