Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
  • Prolapsed disc look after ya backs !
  • unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    My sciatica turned out to be a prolapsed disc, the best part is that we are on holiday in the Lake District .

    Arranging to have the campervan returned to London as I can’t drive and get the train back.

    RAC will take it back great service.

    What a palaver the pain is excruciating like I have never known had me crying like a baby.

    Now for another drug induced night of being in pain and awake all night.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Time to work on your core when you can. Get well soon. Nerve block injection, if appropriate, is highly recommended too but private treatment may be needed to get a quick result.
    Ask for some nice strong painkillers to take home. Get well soon.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    You have my sympathy.

    Mine has been on the mend after having facet joint injections and nerve root block. But since Saturday it’s been plying up down my leg. The physio this morning was torture. Worse now than before I went.

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    thecaptain
    Free Member

    I’d hold off on the radical medical options for a little while if possible. These things often do resolve themselves given time and gentle exercise (mine did). Of course, sometimes you don’t have much of a choice…

    back2basics
    Free Member

    prolotherapy cured me after 12 months of inaffective Accupuncture, pyshio, core work etcc etc, specifically it removed all sciatic pain while riding.

    luket
    Full Member

    Ouch. I feel your pain. I have been diagnosed with the same.

    My first couple of flare-ups had me in spasm and unable to lift myself off the floor. The second of which was, comically in hindsight, in a big crowd just before my first lap of a mountain mayhem. I had to be driven home lying on a van mattress.

    On the plus side once the muscle spasms and then the resulting stiffness eased it was remarkable how quickly I was back to normal each time. Trying to get mobile early seemed to help.

    On the minus side, it happened again after 6 months. And more times in the 5 years since. It was only later that mine was diagnosed and, while very much YMMV, and I am certainly no expert, it seems to me that core strength is the key to holding off the next flare-up. And cycling isn’t bad as recovery exercise.

    therag
    Free Member

    Sympathies, long term sufferer here. 21 years and counting!
    The best tablets I’ve found so far are diazepam, they relax it and send me out for 4-6hrs.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Stay strong!

    I had a big episode (although doesn’t sound quite as painful as yours) about 1 year ago. Laid me out for a couple of days and off work for another fortnight (so painful sitting/standing/repeating).

    My initial treatment of the spasm probably didn’t help, I think I was icing when I should have been heating or vice versa, likewise, although I was barely capable of much more, I’m beginning to think the constant lying down didn’t help either.

    Canadian healthcare/physio/doctors didn’t do much good, lots of conflicting and at times very dubious sounding advice. Best advice I got was from a yogi flatmate who advised only the most basic pilates exercises with the spine in the ‘braced’ position on the floor. I focused on short routines of simple exercises but trying to do them throughout the day.

    Long story short, I’m now firing on almost all cylinders, have completed two week long backpacking trips in Canada with a bike tour through the Rockies in between, topped off with a weekend surfing and kayaking. I’m still wary of tennis and golf though, too much bending and twisting for my liking!

    You will get better and it will be quicker than you might think.

    (thanks too wanmankylung off this forum also for some good advice/support).

    zbonty
    Full Member

    Been there too. I know that pain!

    Too many painkillers just were’nt working it in the end.
    The nerve root block only worked on me for a few weeks. I subsequently had a steroid injection in the spine which worked wonders. It enabled me to begin gentle exercise (Pilates) after 18 months of complete inactivity. I then took up yoga and been doing that for nearly two years. Thats been the key to my recovery. It takes constant work though.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    Been there +1

    I tried to do without painkillers initially but that doesn’t work and so got some good pills from the GP 🙂 Means you can actually sleep at night.

    In my case, physio work sorted it out. Took a few months but came back as good as new, if not stronger. Still need to take care with things however and keep up the core work.

    corroded
    Free Member

    Been there too. Diazepam in the short term, yoga in the long term…

    boxelder
    Full Member

    8 years here. It gets better. Try MacKenzie, but take it easy. It aims to centralise the pain and should ‘draw’ the sciatica up your leg.
    Good luck

    MaryHinge
    Free Member

    Been there too, a few times.

    All good now. Lots of core work helps, but ONLY AFTER it has healed.

    Give it plenty of time to heal. Do nothing strenuous. I had 3 months of doing pretty much nothing, then started very gentle core work and built up over a few months. Had great advise from local NHS physio.

    I had a relapse a couple of times pushing too far just doing life stuff, but recovered quicker each time.

    I’m now fully fit, just done an ironman distance triathlon, lots of gardening, building works with mates/family, ride bikes run and swim lots.

    All down to taking time to heal and getting the core work done.

    A tip for recovery – when you think you are ready to start doing stuff, rest for another week or two. Coming back too soon will slide you right back down again.

    unfitgeezer
    Free Member

    Thanks for all advice another restless night now waiting at a village gp so they can write a letter to say I’m not fit to drive.

    therag
    Free Member

    Even when I’m not having an episode, driving a car is uncomfortable at best, I now drive a van everyday as the seat is more of a dinning chair position than a low down slouch.
    One way a physio found to release the pain is lay down on your front ( sometimes easyier said than done ) holding on to something, I use a door frame, and get someone to hold your foot and lean back with all their weight and hold the position for five minutes.
    It takes the pressure off the trapped nerve and is one of the nicest feelings I’ve ever felt after days of horrific pain.
    My bulging discs usually take Aprox 6-8 weeks to fully reduce, but the worst of the pain is the first few days.

    olddog
    Full Member

    My first episode was really bad as I took too long to go to see the doctor. Physio really helped, but took time.

    Now know what to do to help prevent or if I get another episode. I do a lot of flexibility exercises (and yoga) and I’ve not had a really bad do since the first.

    Good luck, and if my experience is to go by, then it can get better

    lowey
    Full Member

    Horrible horrible thing and the pain is excruciating.

    Just be wary of any problems with your water works. This can be a sign of Cauda equina syndrome which is a medical emergency and will almost certainly require surgery to correct. I had all this when I was 21. Wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy.

    catvet
    Free Member

    One year on from acute severe far lateral prolapse of L3/L4 so affecting front of leg ( femoral ) not sciatic nerve 3 MRI scans. Two top consultants neither would operate, rest and pain relief initially, Physio made it worse, swimming moderate, just went back to riding bike gently and worked from there, still have some discomfort.

    Not convinced anything works as ultimately the immune system and desiccation of PID will resolve most of discomfort. When all said and done this is a few millimetres of protuberant disc material pressing against a dorsal root nerve , just along side the spine, how are most therapies going to help bar surgery ? Most improvements are anecdotal, in medicine to prove anything you need randomised double blind trial work, and the relevant statistical analysis .
    Given that the disc can protrude or prolapse 360 degrees it’s only when they press on a nerve pain is elicited, many PID go totally unnoticed.

    catvet
    Free Member

    The best synopsis of the disease is on the BASS site ( british association of spinal surgeons) under patient advice and nerve damage.
    MOST people are not aware that the disease has an hereditary predisposition augmented by various repetitive activities….. Ie blame your parents!!!

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Late thread bump, I forgot to mention that the best thing I did when healing was try a couple of different braces around my core, basically weightlifters belts or corsets 😀

    Most doctors seemed to advise against, but while I was healing but still obliged to spend many hours a day seated in the office, I swear these braces helped, kept me more upright until I could start doing more core exercises.

    Find it curious that these aren’t more widely used during the healing process but perhaps there is a valid reason for it.

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