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SCIATICA Losing mobility is a pain.

perry42

About 18 days ago I started to experience sharp pain in my lower back, left hip, and left leg. I had an MRI last Wednesday and will see the Doctor on the 3rd of April. "Getting old is not for sissy's". I cannot stand more than a few minutes and can only hobble around using a cane or a 4 wheeled walker with a built in seat. Not being able to lift/carry my shooting gear out to the range is driving me nuts. The thought of someone carving on my spine is of great concern to me. Sorry to rant about this but putting/posting my worries seems ease my mind.

perry42
 
See if your Dr will try Tramadol HCL. Brand name is ULTRAM. It worked for me. It's not 110% but at this point in time nothings going to cure.

FWIW using a cane usually leads to more degeneration and pain.
 
Be careful with Tramadol its an synthetic opioid and can get addictive. It helps some tho. I will say a prayer because its no fun having to go from active to inactive at any age.
 
I did MRI's for years. See if you can get your Dr. to prescribe some Aqua Therapy, his has helped my wife regain her mobility and greatly improve her quality of life.
 
I had a problem with sciatica that was handled by physical therapy.
The doc I went to said if I did surgery I would be back in pain in a few years. He said try physical therapy. It can't hurt. After 3 months on Nautilus back machines my back got better. I continued the physical therapy for a total of 9 months. It also included using a stair stepper to help my legs.
I got rid of a love seat that I used to slouch in. Then bought a new recliner and a new mattress. I quit sleeping on my back and stomach. All of that seems to have ended the sciatica for good.
 
Suffer with the same problems as you-found that PT and weight reduction helped the most. Minimize the tire around the belly and start a supervised stretching program for best non-surgical relief.
Had my neurosurgeon say - keep away from surgeons, we love to cut. Recommended physical therapy and it helped immensely

Best of luck to you and try to avoid Tramadol/Ultram--listed as THE most abused drug currently dispensed.

Gary
 
I know that pain all too well and can sympathize with what you're going through. 2 years ago I knew I'd damaged my back by lifting too much while moving my son into college. Pain and limited movement, but nothing that gave me the impression anything more serious was going on.
Then one day soon afterward my left leg went out from under me while trying to climb a ladder. I went from normal to zero strength in my left leg in about a heart beat. I could barely walk enough to get out of bed and to the bathroom.
Long story short, I'd herniated a disc and the fluid (crab meat as the doctor called it) had squirted out of the disc and filled in around a nerve bundle choking off the blood flow. Surgery fixed it and I'm back to normal now, but what a scare.

I hope your diagnosis is similarly and easy fix. Wishing you the best and a speedy recovery.
 
perry42 said:
About 18 days ago I started to experience sharp pain in my lower back, left hip, and left leg. I had an MRI last Wednesday and will see the Doctor on the 3rd of April. "Getting old is not for sissy's". I cannot stand more than a few minutes and can only hobble around using a cane or a 4 wheeled walker with a built in seat. Not being able to lift/carry my shooting gear out to the range is driving me nuts. The thought of someone carving on my spine is of great concern to me. Sorry to rant about this but putting/posting my worries seems ease my mind.

perry42
Click to expand...
My Heart goes out to you, I've been down that same road. Sciatica is a pain in the AZZ! The stretching excersises are a temporary fix but does help. The nerve is trapped between L-4 and L-5 vertebrate and does not move freely due to over calicification. Surgery was preformed and the calcium was removed.If there is too much removed the vertebrate will collapse back on each other and you will be back to square 1. Let them put a small bar in to keep the vertebrate apart or you will be in more pain than where you started.They failed to do that on me and wanted to go back in and place the bar in for another 40K.I found a pain management DR. that shot the area with a pain reliever and steroid that rebuilt the cartilage keeping the vertebrate apart. I lost 60 lbs and i'm FEELIN GOOD

GOOD LUCK ! Joe P. Phx Az.
 
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All great advise that I wish I had heard before my fusion surgery eight years ago. 18 months after that surgery I blew out two more discs. Now stretch and exercise pretty much daily to get by. Can still shoot prone but getting down is slow and getting up even slower.
Start stretching today!
 
Not being able to get around is terrible ,I have been through the back/knee thing and no what you are going through. I just had carpal tunnel surgery last Tuesday and have been whining about not being able to do what I want ever since. Went to range yesterday,must have made 8 trips to truck one handed. My problem is nothing next to what you are going through. Hang in there and best of luck. Keep us informed
 
Same same here. Reading through this, everyone above is advising to keep those muscles stretched and I will have to advice the same. If I skip my stretches I am right back to square one. Bad part is I am in my 40's and have a long road ahead.
And am stubborn so that does not help....

Leg, Glutes, and lower back muscles all the way down to the Clalf muscles... Got to stretch them.
 
I have lived(?) with back pain since 1968. Most days good some days bad but, it's always there. Hope you get a good doctor and do what they tell you!
 
perry42 said:
About 18 days ago I started to experience sharp pain in my lower back, left hip, and left leg. I had an MRI last Wednesday and will see the Doctor on the 3rd of April. "Getting old is not for sissy's". I cannot stand more than a few minutes and can only hobble around using a cane or a 4 wheeled walker with a built in seat. Not being able to lift/carry my shooting gear out to the range is driving me nuts. The thought of someone carving on my spine is of great concern to me. Sorry to rant about this but putting/posting my worries seems ease my mind.

perry42
Click to expand...

Had Sciatica last spring, caused by bone spurs on lower vertebrae. Tried PT, chiropractor, pain management drugs. The only thing that worked has been Acupuncture. A lifesaver.
 
I've tried it all(except chiropractors). PT prior didn't help me. Epidurals only last a little while, and become less effective each time. I had my 4th back surgery last November. I hope you can get through this without surgery, but don't be too afraid of getting cut. It works, instantly.

I'm 44 now, first surgery was 33. Doc was up front, you get about 5-6 years out if each of these. Problem is, the disc doesn't really heal, as there's no blood flow to the discs. Best you can hope for is the scar tissue holds the jelly in and you don't rupture through it, or out the other side. Scaf tissue, bone spurs and calcification all bring their own problems post surgery.

I still go to the gym (modified) hike, backpack, shoot, etc. The surgeries get me my life back, but it is unbelievably depressing when it re-ruptures. Keep a positive attitude, lean forward and attack. Attitude is 7:10th of recovery, no matter how you fix it.
 
Until you see your Neurologist, one of the easiest ways to reduce the pain is to drink more water. When you're dehydrated, parts of your spine become deflated, and will cause extra pressure on the sciatic nerve. Eating peanuts also helps. They contain lots of magnesium which is crucial for allowing muscles to relax. Before it can be treated, the cause has to be assessed first. You can cause more damage to yourself by listening to the wrong advise.
 
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ireload2 said:
I had a problem with sciatica that was handled by physical therapy.
The doc I went to said if I did surgery I would be back in pain in a few years. He said try physical therapy. It can't hurt. After 3 months on Nautilus back machines my back got better. I continued the physical therapy for a total of 9 months. It also included using a stair stepper to help my legs.
I got rid of a love seat that I used to slouch in. Then bought a new recliner and a new mattress. I quit sleeping on my back and stomach. All of that seems to have ended the sciatica for good.
Click to expand...

Yes for PT. Good info.
 
I have sciatica and tried the PT with no relief. Doctor did MRI and decided I needed more room where the nerve came out off my vertebrae he opened the hole in the vertebrae just like a carpal tunnel surgery and removed a few bone spurs down lower. Now my only problems are when work gets real physical and the PT stretches usually take care of that. Make sure you have a really good DR and let him tell you what you need.
 
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