bestbooties:
I was just about to put up a post on sciatica,as I had a bad do about 4 years ago,the worst pain I have ever experienced,bar none!
At it’s worst,it was like a hot wire from my arse cheek right down to my big toe.
After seeing the doc,the only help he gave was prescriptions for pain killers,and it was only when I was directed to a walk in physio that I learned what the problem is,and how to cure it.
It is usually caused when one of the discs between your vertibrae ruptures and traps the sciatic nerve at the base of your spine.
Apart from pain killers,the only recognised physio is doing press ups,but keep your hips on the floor.The idea is to open up the vertibrae to allow the disc to retract back between the vertibrae.
Do 10 of these pressups as many times a day as you can find time for.
I always have the lumbar support on my truck driving seat on full to arch my spine while at work.
There is no magic moment,no click and it’s back to normal,it took me 18 months to get over it last time,and ever since then,I’ve had pins and needles in my foot that wont go away.
I’ve taken much care in doing things since then and I’ve managed to do some quite heavy work,but out of the blue,I had a twinge in my back on Monday,and now it’s spread to my arse cheek and thigh,so I know what it is.
But now I’m ahead of the game knowing more than I did last time,and I’ve already started my physio in the hope that I can halt this before it gets any worse.
From my experience,sciatica starts from your spine and works it’s way down,if you have a pain started in your lower leg,I’d be surprised if it’s sciatica.
I had to have a medical when my sciatica was at it’s worst,and I told the doc,and he was most sympathetic and didn’t have me doing the “Touch your toes” routine.
Have suffered with the same problem for a number of years and totally agree with what has been said.
The only way to keep it “in check” is to do do the stretching exercises at the first sign of it making a comeback.
I find that having the shower as hot as you can stand it ,spraying on the lower back helps.
Pain killers are a no no for me as the make me constipated - not a pleasant experience combined with a bout of sciatica 