Viewing 28 posts - 41 through 68 (of 68 total)
  • Sciatica driving me mad! Can anyone help!?
  • john_l
    Free Member

    Where are you? I can recommend two excellent physios in London SW1 or Brighton – I’ve suffered with this for 20+ years.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Afraid between Durham and Newcastle – a bit of a trek to London town. Thank you though. I have had very good experience of a top class physio in regards to my knee a while back so have left a message to see if she can fit me in soon.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Ah I thought I had been just referred to physio, but looking at the sheet again I have been sent to Musculoskeletal Tier 2 clinic. After some googling it suggests these people cover quite a lot of areas and can also request scans or surgical referral (though very keen to avoid the latter!). Maybe he has sent me to right place! Looks like that then Triage’s to the correct place!

    arcadian
    Free Member

    Not entirely relevant to the topic, but had what I thought was a back pain flareup this winter. The culprit turned out to be my fluffy little dog, who was getting cold in the dog bed, and climbing into our bed in the middle of the night for warmth, shoving my spine/hips out of alignment with 14 kilos of cute dog.

    mucker
    Full Member

    Chiropractors are snake oil salespeople who will lighten your load by emptying your wallet.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    ahsat.

    I wish I’d had surgery earlier TBH. I’d gritted my teeth and MTFU’d for too long. But the results so far are very positive. The post surgery pain was no worse than pre-op. I’m now pain free in my back with only mild numbness in my hamstring and pins and needles in my toes. All to be expected following how bad it was prior.

    Amiltiptyline is working on the residual sciatica, the only side effect so far is some weight gain. And I’m big enough already. Physio starting tomorrow and hopefully the green light for upping the exercising which will help with the weight.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    Amiltiptyline

    That’s what I was given ! Certainly worked and let me get some sleep.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    bigblackshed – really hope you get sorted asap. Thank you for the thoughts. I guess my nervousness is I saw my Mum go through surgery for something similar when I was 18 and it was pretty awful! I am prepared to accept professional advice though. Need to get to the bottom of it.

    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    If you’re getting tingling in your legs then, as mentioned above, google piriformis.

    But watch out for the exercises on youtube, as they’re a bit full-on. Take it gently.

    The book I mentioned earlier is “Treat Your Own Back” by McKenzie.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Piriformis is interesting as I pulled a muscle in my bottom in an akward dismount at the weekend!

    Thank you all so much for all your help and support. STW can be great. Feel better knowing I have made some positive steps, if a long way to go. Physio apt booked for next week. She strongly asked me to avoid sitting so standing typing this with my copy of treat your own back off the book shelf.

    Thank you all

    ScotlandTheScared
    Full Member

    If you dont get an mri we could try sticking you in the core scanner at work when it arrives! And if that fails we could lop the leg off with the core splitter… Anyway, the 3 of us hope you are back on the bike soon so we can do the sandstone way. Get well soon!

    From S, E & C

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Lol – thanks Scotland! 🙂 I’ll bear that option in mind…. 😛

    Just remember to turn the gamma ray off when you put me through the core scanner!

    legolam
    Free Member

    My pet surgeon says that a Tier 2 MSK appointment is a good place to start as they’re essentially a diagnostic service with access to bone/nerve/physio specialists as necessary. We both agree that, if you have nerve symptoms, an MRI will help to clarify exactly what’s going on in there.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Thank you to my two resident personal health professionals. Much appreciated.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Just back from the physio, all good, green light given to get back swimming, Hydrotherapy starting next week.

    The best news is “there should be no reason why you won’t be back on the bike within 6 weeks”. 🙂

    I had surgery on 20th March, deflation, discectomy, stabilisation with instrumentation, and flexible fusion, on L3/4, L4/5 L5/S1. Before I could hardly walk. I’ve just walked to and from physio. 8 miles all in. Don’t discount surgery if you need it.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Excellent news bigblackshed. Here is to a very rapid recovery and that first taste of singletrack in 6 weeks. Keeping all my fingers crossed for you.

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    first taste of singletrack in 6 weeks.

    Make that 18 months. Last offroad was 30th January 2014 @ BPW.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    first taste of singletrack in 6 weeks.
    Make that 18 months. Last offroad was 30th January 2014 @ BPW.

    I kind of meant I hope that in 6 weeks time you will be back on the singletrack – sorry, it was badly worded!

    Ended up with a physio apt last night (due to a cancellation). Was there over an hour. The short summary, was ‘sort your life out, or you won’t be able to walk by the time you are 35’. I almost certainly do have a prolapse at the base of my spin, the swelling of which is thankfully starting to reduce. It is likely caused by AWFUL posture, hours on end sat at my desk, compacted by cycling and kettlebells – all forcing my back the wrong way! So I am now heavily tapped up to force me to sit up straight and have an occ health referral with the aim of getting sitting/standing desks at work and we will look into getting me one at home. Next week I am going to work on some back training exercises with her. I am also going to get back to swimming and mixing my training up a bit more. She said there is no reason i cant get back to biking, but only if I change the rest of my life!

    So here is goes – the first day of the rest of my life!

    Right, must go and stand up now!

    UncleFred
    Free Member

    I’m currently loading up on Ibroprufen and Co-codamol ahead of seeing my Osteo this afternoon who will attempt to get me upright. L4-L5 prolapse according to my last MRI, it been manageable since february but laying a floor, moving a sofa and then fallong over whilst playing frisbee have all contributed to a flair up over the weekend.

    I’ve got an 8 hour economy flight to look forward to on Saturday with 2 four year olds to keep company, so immediate and effective pain relief is necessary!

    20 minutes of stretching, twice a day and swimming have all been added to my daily routine in the last couple months.

    I’ve just got to accept that i’m going to have to manage the pain and my expectations in future. I hate getting old.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Have you considered a medical professional rather than an Osteopath?

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Have a look at the Bambach Saddle Seat. It’s done wonders for my sons and my postier. Makes you sit up, you can’t slouch, you just fall off.

    UncleFred
    Free Member

    Have you considered a medical professional rather than an Osteopath?

    I did see a medical professional, the one that i was referred to by the other medical professional that i saw. This medical professional got me standing up straight for the first time in 3 days. Spent a good 20 minutes massaging my lower back and legs, gave some acupuncture and then showed me a selection of stretches to do to improve my mobility and reduce my pain ahead of my flight, all treatment was based on my symptoms, MRI results and his observations. A pretty comprehensive hour of unrushed treatment.

    Lazgoat
    Free Member

    Oh, one thing that my GP mentioned when I was in agony was that if you suddenly can’t feel/lose sensation in your testicles and/or penis then you should call 999 immediately and let them know. Apparently the loss of feeling is due to the pressure on the nerve and if it isn’t relieved very quickly you risk permanent damage.

    Wishing you a good recovery.

    andy4d
    Full Member

    Well I had disc issues in my neck years ago the physio never fixed, then they said I should try accupuncture….nonsense, mumbo jumbo I thought. Anyway was ready to try anything so found a gp who also did accupuncture and was amazed at the results after a few sessions. Was converted. So when my lower back went years later off I popped to the same fella and was amazed to get same great results. That was years ago and I have only been back the odd time since when it flares up again. So cannot sing the praises of accupuncture enough.

    back2basics
    Free Member

    if you suddenly can’t feel/lose sensation in your testicles and/or penis then you should call 999 immediately

    i just say the “safe” word and it comes back almost immediatley

    oh i see were still talking sciatica

    lowey
    Full Member

    if you suddenly can’t feel/lose sensation in your testicles and/or penis then you should call 999 immediately

    Cauda equina syndrome. Happened to me, other symptoms are inability to urinate with any pressure, just dribbles out. Its a classed as a medical emergency and almost always needs urgent surgery.

    Worth a read if you ever suffer from back pain so you know the signs.

    ahsat
    Full Member

    Well this standing up lark is working and it seems Singletrack as ever is the answer – big pile of them under the screen (in the box). Its not the ideal set up (ironing board a bit low) and I am going to bite the bullet and buy a proper standing desk (gulp – that is the holiday savings ruined a bit) as I cant easily change this to sitting when I need. Yesterday was the first day though I managed reasonably pain free!


    DrTashaBarlow on Twitter

    if you suddenly can’t feel/lose sensation in your testicles and/or penis then you should call 999 immediately

    If I start feeling testicles I am going to call 999 straight away! 😛 Agree though – any loss of feeling in the crotch is not good at all. Keeping that in mind.

    Have a look at the Bambach Saddle Seat.

    Look good – unfortunately cant afford both desk and fancy seat at the moment so will save pennies for a seat. My aim is to be able to go to the Alps as planned by mid August.

    Bushwacked
    Free Member

    Sounds like you are taking action and hope everything gets resolved. Professional advice is key and some scans will make a big difference to understanding if anything major is wrong

    I had some painful back problems for about 12 months and after seeing a BUPA physio for 6 months of regular sessions, I went and saw a private but highly recommended Physio who after one session gave me the tools to resolve what had been major problem and was seriously getting me down. Standing from sitting, bending down and back up, along with getting out of bed became big problems and constant pain during my day.

    Turned out my Psoas muscle was tight from sitting at a desk, driving and riding. As it tightened it became really painful and put pressure on my back pulling everything out of alignment. This physio worked my psoas and, while it was the most excruciating pain resulting in me swearing my head off at him like I was possessed, I spent the next week pain free. Now I do what he did myself whenever I get pain and I’ve not had any major issues for about 4 months now.

    I’m also using a foam roller loads – 3-4 times a week – I’d highly recommend them for IT band and Glute muscles especially. Also the pigeon yoga pose is great for opening up the piriformis muscle which can become tight and lead to sciatic nerve issues.
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQMsyrLowFw[/video]

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