Sciatica

[yaleguy3]

One great tip I have is to get a beach towel hold one corner and 'swizzle' it round. ie rotational movements till it is like a long sausage. Then wrap it round your waist and tie it.

When you sleep and relax this will keep your spine curved properly.

That made more difference than any amount of treatments I have had since I was 18.

The other tip is you must have a car with supportive seats. If you dont have lumbar support in your current car or you experience more pain after driving the car the ONLY option is to sell your car immediately and get one that works for you - seriously otherwise you will never break out of the pain cycle.

 

[Burnerman]

Thanks for the advice and sympathies, everyone
3 days on the deck looking at the ceiling and 40 odd tablets later I still can't walk more than a few steps but I feel I'm coming out of the acute phase.....looks like it'll be a quiet week for me!
Cheers!
John

 

[Corgigrouch]

Once you are mobile, then keep mobile... I found that swimming helped. Generally the medical profession give it 12 weeks for it to sort itself out and if they have given you anything with codine in, then be careful as it errm bungs you up...

 

[peaps]

Glass backs

 

[yaleguy3]

Believe me I know the pain is bad but pain means function and health.

There was nothing worse than one day I had terrible pain and then the pain went to be replaced by no feeling in my right leg. I could not stand on it and it just collapsed under me and I fell to the floor - no reflexes.
You always wonder when you are naive about people who say they have no feeling and you think well fine surely you just walk around and hey the benefit is you can't hurt yourself. Doesn't work like that.
No feeling means your brain can't tell whether your leg is upside down , inside out ,back to front or missing. Your body therefore can't send the appropriate control signals because it doesn't know what it is supposed to be doing and even if it did the signals wont get through. You end up with 2 stone of useless appendage and the fear of life in a wheelchair.
Fortunately for me the bruising and inflamation to my spinal cord went away but it took many many months before my leg felt normal again and I had normal feeling and function again.
I raced a go kart at the time and had entered a national competition to get a sponsored race drive in the Clio Cup.
I nearly pulled out because I could not feel the pedals properly.
Despite the problem I went ahead with the competition and made the semi final which was only 20 drivers out of 500 who had entered.

The reason for this episode..

like a fool my back wasn't giving me any problems for a change and was relatively pain free so I had a go on my wifes small exercise trampoline..
very very very bad idea.
If you have a chronic back problem you have to remember it even when it does not seem too bad.
Bent down to pick up a sock that I had dropped from a wash basket with a simoultaneous bending and twisting movement - result 10 weeks of absolute agony and enough cocodamol to turn my crap to conctrete.

 

[pred]

After a few weeks of agony, haveing visited my GP then homiopathetic which apart from relieveing me of my hard earned cash were a complete waste of time, then a chiropractor was recomended, my spine was banana shape off to the right, the next day after seeing her i was back working for Pickfords.