SCIATICA Losing mobility is a pain.
- Thread starter perry42
- Start date
Always go the conservative way in my years of doing MRI's surgery was not always the way to go unless theres was loss of bowel and bladder control. But if it ever get to the point where you do need surgery rest assure that you may feel like a 100% but you never are. I continue to get patients who had surgery and than come back in worse shape because they did not take care of themselves physically. Both levels at L-4/L-5 and L5/S1 display enough herniation of the disc space to cause pain. The one on L-4/L-5 is what causing your radiating pain on your left side and at L-5/S-1 is more localized pain in the middle of your lower back.
When the disc touches the lining of the spinal cord which is demonstrated by a black line it is like touching your eye with your fingers after handling jalapeños. As you can see the disc is pushing into the spinal cord far enough that it is causing impingement of the spinal nerves that are floating in spinal fluids which the arrow is pointing to another black fuzzy line which could be pushing towards the left thus your pain on that side.
If possible I would avoid at all costs from shooting prone and sleeping on your stomach from now on. This position cause the vertebral bodies to close posteriorly thus pinching and pushing the disc space more into your spinal cord. This is a good time for you to learn to sleep on your back with 2 or the pillow plopped under your knees or better yet get a wedge from a pharmacy store. I am no dr. but I did sleep a lot at a holiday inn.
When the disc touches the lining of the spinal cord which is demonstrated by a black line it is like touching your eye with your fingers after handling jalapeños. As you can see the disc is pushing into the spinal cord far enough that it is causing impingement of the spinal nerves that are floating in spinal fluids which the arrow is pointing to another black fuzzy line which could be pushing towards the left thus your pain on that side.
If possible I would avoid at all costs from shooting prone and sleeping on your stomach from now on. This position cause the vertebral bodies to close posteriorly thus pinching and pushing the disc space more into your spinal cord. This is a good time for you to learn to sleep on your back with 2 or the pillow plopped under your knees or better yet get a wedge from a pharmacy store. I am no dr. but I did sleep a lot at a holiday inn.
You assessment is a pretty decent one. This is my actual MRI. Unfortunately, I had to have surgery to fix the L4-L5. The one below at the L5-S1 is something I have had for quite a few years and have managed the pain without surgery.
I was using this as a point of reference for Perry I hopes to give him some perspective. I am relatively young, 34, and the pain from the L4-L5 was debilitating at times and limited my life quite a bit. All the pain was down my right side and actually very little in my back, like you discribed.
I was using this as a point of reference for Perry I hopes to give him some perspective. I am relatively young, 34, and the pain from the L4-L5 was debilitating at times and limited my life quite a bit. All the pain was down my right side and actually very little in my back, like you discribed.
I'm going through this right now. Have had 3 surgeries. I now have more back fused than not. I was doing pretty good since my last surgery a year ago. Last night my back was sore but when I woke this morning I feel like I did before my surgery. I can barely move and can not get comfortable. I think I need a back transplant.
I apologize for getting the image wrong. I thought it was Perry who had posted the image of his MRI. I immediately focused on the herniations and assumed it was his. I remember a similar patient who had multiple herniations and could barely walk who was in his 70's. He claimed that he eventually got rid of his pain and regained his mobility by doing a lot of core strength training. The sad part is that if you see an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon their philosophies in treatment are always different. My personal experience has been to see a neurosurgeon for the back and an orthopedic for the rest of the bones. You are very young Geno and I hope your surgery was a success and releived your pain. If you are pain free I warn you to be careful with extreme physical activities as you can ruin what surgery fixed.
My MRI is similar to the one shown without the L5-S1 problem. The inversion table appears to help and I'm doing exercises twice a week plus the daily approved exercises at home. I sleep mainly on my back and sides not face down. The doctor says this is going to be a problem for the foreseeable future and exercise can only help. I will be happy if trips to the range are forthcoming.
perry42
Perry good luck to you, it is detrimental that you do not allow your pain to keep you from being active. Exercise as suggested by your healthcare provider even if you have to work the the pain. Eventually if you continue, God willing you will see improvement, but be patient as progress will be slow.
Hello, I don’t post much at all. I pretty much follow this site to help with reloading and follow the different ideas. Great bunch of guys here. Well on the 27th I’m scheduled for a 3 vertebrae fusion and a lamenectony. I hope it’s spelled right. Usually I have a very hard time walking. Looking up is a challenge. I tried nerve blocks and epidurals. I really think they’re the same thing. The doctors just called them different names. Hopefully all goes well because I’m out of options. Only bright side now is that I’m moving my reloading bench up to my bedroom instead of going down the stairs to the basement. My wife is an angel through all this. Actually we’re going to Cabelas today for components. I’ll post my results as soon as I feel that I can give an honest reply. I’m retiring in October so this might get me there sooner. Wish me luck. Good shooting to all. Thank you.
Good luck on your surgery. Nerve block and epidural are two distinct type of injections. A nerve block injects an anesthetic directly into the affected nerve and gives you instant relief but only lasts a short time and an epidural involves injecting a steroid sometimes mixed with an anesthetic around the spinal cord. Many times patients do not get relief from either injection and sometimes they do. Again good luck.
Perry , I just saw your old Post re Sciatica and have been out of commission for about a month with some broken bones . I would be very careful with Tramadol ( Ultram ) as it makes me sick as a dog with Nausea . Works great on my Arthritis , but I just can't use it . I tried the Spinal Cortisone and it only worked for a few hours ( the length of time it took for the initial shot of pain killer ( before the Cortisone injection ) to wear off . I pretty much agree with the last resort comments and to try all the other alternatives like losing weight ( which applies to me too ) . Here is one product I used a few years ago which helped me .... don't know if it is still available . It is Homeopathic so I would check out its components with any Meds you take . It is called Sciatica Relief : www.magnilife.com , out of Mckinney , Tx. 1-800-645 - 9199 and was sold in one of our local Drug Stores . As someone once said : getting old is better than the alternative !
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
You also have a grade 1 anterolisthesis of L4 on L5 which could also cause similar pain on the L5 nerve root. At that level, you don't really have a spinal cord, but what is called a cauda equina. Basically a bunch of smaller nerves like when you unstrand a braided wire. That pain from the herniation isn't from the cord (in this case) it's from the herniation pushing or crowding out the L5 nerve root. With your anterolisthesis of L4 on 5, that can also pinch the same nerve root in the intervertebral foramen where the nerve root exits the spine. Foraminal stenosis. Those two together are usually not a great combo.
The disc can partially or sometimes completely resorb some of that nucleus material back into the disc. So don't go cutting it out right away. Inversion can help. An axial MRI image, which they should have done at the same time, will confirm the pain generator on one or both sides.
I had the same thing about 5 years ago ,tried everything under the sun ,every chiropractor in two states and done lots of research on the net and everything pointed to the inversion table,like you ask the doc and got cleared to use it.The first time I used it swore I would never get back on that thing but later thought that eased a little pain so just keep on and was using it 3 times a day befor it was over,and when I first got on I couldn’t even touch the floor but about a month later could touch my nuckles to the floor ,just be careful don’t over do it to start go slow with how far you invert to start and have someone with you to help get back upwards to start with until you get you’re muscles built up to it. And for me it hurt worse getting off of it to start with. As far as me that’s been 5 years and no pain since . Good luck
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
Yeah, right side wasnt feeling to hot? Probably some left side too.
What must always be considered is advice from someone who had a acceptable outcome is worthless to the next guy. Just as with DR's say, that a little cut here and in a few weeks you will be good to go, is also worthless to you as a patient. There is no guarantee, even one from god that you will not be worse after, than before, if you have damaged nerves. The sooner you get something done, after all CT's, MRI's, even Myelogram are done, if you wait or think you can lift or bench press your way out of this. If you caused any nerve damage, you're screwed. IT will follow you to the end of days.When I had mine The Neurosurgeon and I had a long talk about the possible outcome, going bad. They can remove the pinch point, or even fuse the disks, but even then you are only going to be~50% or so. With nerve damage there is no miracle cure.
The damage could be there, the DR could have damaged a nerve. And the surgery that is at the base of your spine has to be done from the backside and the surgeon has to feel blind to fix the problem. Alternatively the base surgery is in such a location where they open up your belly and take all your parts out and place them in sterile bags or trays, do the surgery then try to stuff all your plumbing back into your body. I have discussed this with a few well known Neurosurgeons And they all were against doing it either way, as that can be one of the most problematic surgery to recover, if ever.
I'm sure the hospitals and the surgeons would like to move a patient out and on, right into therapy. The DR's I've worked with all said 9 months of light duty minimum. Most of us won't take that long and in 3-6 months they are back complaining.
The damage could be there, the DR could have damaged a nerve. And the surgery that is at the base of your spine has to be done from the backside and the surgeon has to feel blind to fix the problem. Alternatively the base surgery is in such a location where they open up your belly and take all your parts out and place them in sterile bags or trays, do the surgery then try to stuff all your plumbing back into your body. I have discussed this with a few well known Neurosurgeons And they all were against doing it either way, as that can be one of the most problematic surgery to recover, if ever.
I'm sure the hospitals and the surgeons would like to move a patient out and on, right into therapy. The DR's I've worked with all said 9 months of light duty minimum. Most of us won't take that long and in 3-6 months they are back complaining.
jonbearman
I live in new york state,how unfortunate !
For the amount of pain and the fact that my legs shut off one day and caused me to fall on a cement floor at work, I was happy to have a slice and dice which got rid of 75 percent of pain and as I healed it got better. I still have aching some 15 years out but that is my fault for over doing it.
bluealtered
Silver $$ Contributor
I wasn't going to respond to this but after reading it and seeing the number of pages showing how many of us have this pain issue i will. As i write this i'm sitting here an old man who has lived a very active outdoors life style. Doing so meant at times that there could and was going to be stays in the hospitals, and there has been more of those than most people incounter in their lives. One of the biggest problems i think is that while i was young and laying in that hospital bed i could still look down at my chest and see that big red letter "S" on my chest, yes i know now how dumb that sounds but some of you will understand it. (besides the doctors always told me i would heal, ...but they lied)
The bottom line is simple at this point, because of the things i did during my life i have a total of nine ruptured disks in my back, five lower and four in my neck. In 2002 i was told that at some point within six months to a year i would sit down and not get back up again. This scared me so bad that after i finished learning how to walk again i made it a point that no matter what the pain i would do my bucket list and i have.
The point i'm trying to make here is that your life didn't end when you got hurt, it just changed. It is now 2018 and i am still living my life the way i want considering all the things that happened along the way. What happens now to you is up to you, you are the only one who can choose how you will live from here on out.
I have had two lower back surgeries because my left leg quit working, the rest i live with. Yes there is pain and always will be, that is just the way it is. Here is the deal with your pain, if your injury is new then yes it hurts like hell, but as time goes by you become used to it, because it is always going to be there and after a period of time your mind will deal with it and it becomes an accepted part of your life. Pain Meds are or may be needed right after your surgery, but if you keep using them you end up with two more problems besides the pain, your head becomes fuzzy and that will keep you from doing the rehab you must do to get back into life. The second problem is that now you also have a drug habit to kick as your trying to overcome everything else.
There are two more points i would like to make here, one is that the more surgeries you have the mores chances something can/will go wrong. The second one is something you had better consider before any surgery of any kind. Look up the surgery you are going to have and look up what the end results are 5-6-10 years are down the road after the surgery. How many of those people still feel better ? How many wish they had never done it because the pain ended up being worse than before ? Not looking this up before hand is the biggest mistake you can make. Please really think this over before going ahead, surgery is something you can't take back after it's done.
I'm now sixteen years into this and i can,(most days) walk 1-2 miles every morning, i go to the range at least once a week and predator hunt once a week, i have found that exercise is one of THE keys to overcoming what may look like a hopeless life change, but it's only hopeless if you let it be. What it is, is that you have simply encountered a bump in the road, overcome it and do whatever you want afterwords.
The bottom line is simple at this point, because of the things i did during my life i have a total of nine ruptured disks in my back, five lower and four in my neck. In 2002 i was told that at some point within six months to a year i would sit down and not get back up again. This scared me so bad that after i finished learning how to walk again i made it a point that no matter what the pain i would do my bucket list and i have.
The point i'm trying to make here is that your life didn't end when you got hurt, it just changed. It is now 2018 and i am still living my life the way i want considering all the things that happened along the way. What happens now to you is up to you, you are the only one who can choose how you will live from here on out.
I have had two lower back surgeries because my left leg quit working, the rest i live with. Yes there is pain and always will be, that is just the way it is. Here is the deal with your pain, if your injury is new then yes it hurts like hell, but as time goes by you become used to it, because it is always going to be there and after a period of time your mind will deal with it and it becomes an accepted part of your life. Pain Meds are or may be needed right after your surgery, but if you keep using them you end up with two more problems besides the pain, your head becomes fuzzy and that will keep you from doing the rehab you must do to get back into life. The second problem is that now you also have a drug habit to kick as your trying to overcome everything else.
There are two more points i would like to make here, one is that the more surgeries you have the mores chances something can/will go wrong. The second one is something you had better consider before any surgery of any kind. Look up the surgery you are going to have and look up what the end results are 5-6-10 years are down the road after the surgery. How many of those people still feel better ? How many wish they had never done it because the pain ended up being worse than before ? Not looking this up before hand is the biggest mistake you can make. Please really think this over before going ahead, surgery is something you can't take back after it's done.
I'm now sixteen years into this and i can,(most days) walk 1-2 miles every morning, i go to the range at least once a week and predator hunt once a week, i have found that exercise is one of THE keys to overcoming what may look like a hopeless life change, but it's only hopeless if you let it be. What it is, is that you have simply encountered a bump in the road, overcome it and do whatever you want afterwords.
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bluealtered
Silver $$ Contributor
I want to add this to what i have shared with you. There is a book based on chronic pain research by Stanford University that is published by Bull Publishing Co. of Boulder Colorado, it is called: Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain. It will/can help guide you through what has happened to you and can help you with both the physical and mental parts of living with chronic pain. Yes, your mental attitude is very important while overcoming this change in your life.
Many of the states in America teach this program for free, go to your local human resources dept. (or whatever it may be called where you live.) If your state doesn't have one then contact Bull Publishing for a copy of the book. (Not free) This book is based on current research work, (2015). Please share this information with anybody you know who may be dealing with pain in their life.
Many of the states in America teach this program for free, go to your local human resources dept. (or whatever it may be called where you live.) If your state doesn't have one then contact Bull Publishing for a copy of the book. (Not free) This book is based on current research work, (2015). Please share this information with anybody you know who may be dealing with pain in their life.
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