Anyone else ever get sciatica? I've been over two weeks now. Been to chiropractor, stretches every day, taking prescription Naproxen. It's been getting steadily worse. I have an appointment tomorrow with my GP, hoping to get cortisone shot or something that will give some relief. Any advice?

MRI. See what's really going on. That, and stop doing the things that make it hurt.

I agree with trapperkeck, Sciatica, occurs usually, when a nerve is pinched , where it comes through the spinal column. AS we get older , the disk cushions, deteriorate, this leaves less room for the nerve, it gets pinched and we hurt. old243

4 full ruptures in the lumbar area , so Yes

if it isn't getting better , either you keep doing something to inflame it if it is sciatica which is the nerve bundle traveling through the large leg muscles in your butt getting pinched

or you messed up something in the lumbar region

MRI

You have my sympathy. Sciatica stinks. I have suffered from it in the past.

You may want to reconsider the stretches. If done wrong, they can make things worse. You need to have a good picture of what's going on with your lower spine and your hip joint before you blame it all on a "pinched nerve". MRI for the spine, and for the hip joint, an x-ray is usually enough as long as the radiologist and the examining doctor are both competent and know what and how to look for. Ultrasound for the varicose veins in the pelvic area. An MRI will also exclude other, more rare but worse possible reasons for the pain such as prostate cancer.

It's a good idea to see different doctors as their approaches are often very different. Orthopedic surgeons/traumatologists will see usually see some kind of damage and try to ascribe the pain to compressed discs/protrusions/pinched nerve roots/hip joint spurs/arthritis, etc... some of these things will likely show on the MRI/x-rays but may NOT be the cause of the pain. Neurologists will likely focus on the pain itself and will try to find different ways to relieve it (including some unobvious things such as antidepressants for chronic pain). Chiropractors are usually the most proactive and self-assured about what to do with such pains, and will suggest various manipulations, massage, stretches, etc, but experience shows this may not be necessary and can also make things worse long-term.

A steroid shot may help very fast, but it's counterindicated if there's tendon damage involved, because delayed-release steroid drugs can weaken connective tissue and cause more tendon damage, so it's safer to get an MRI/x-ray of the area first, because some doctors just prescribe steroid shots without it.

Also give it some time, but take it easy in the meantime. There is another overlooked factor: the way you perceive joint pain is often connected to your anxiety levels (overall or caused about this problem), so the more you notice it, the more distressing it is. This psychosomatic problem is very real because it affects posture/gait, which causes a vicious circle with sciatica-type pains. Finding ways to distract from joint pain it is actually beneficial. Plus sometimes such pains just disappear on their own after a few weeks.


Shoes/insoles are also very important, especially if you have flat feet.
There's also such thing as poor walking habits, when you use the wrong muscles for all the different stages of taking a step – oftentimes people "forget" to use the lower leg muscles, overloading certain muscles and ligaments in the pelvic region, or sway while taking a step, which all affects the sciatic nerve. This happens a lot with people who drive more than they walk. There are exercises to improve your gait.

A poorly chosen mattress / pillow can cancel out all other efforts to improve the situation.

Splitting firewood has helped me deal with sciatica-type pain probably caused by busted L4-L5 discs (learned about this method from a friend with a similar problem) but I'm not sure it will work for anyone.

It's very disabling, this is not a recommendation, but My back was in extreme spasms once and I was doing a extension on my house at the time. I needed to break up an old set of concrete steps before able to proceed.
I started with a sledge hammer and could barely lift it, with a minute between attempts, by the end of the session I was swinging the hammer like John Henry and got it done. Something must have got realigned and the back felt great for some time after...

but see a doctor instead of breaking big rocks into little ones, lol

my back would be giving me fits in the spring after too much time doing not enough in the late winter

I would bundle up like it was 0 when it was 40-50 and go work in the garden and sweat through but man it would loosen up the muscles.

but if your just getting worse , it may be more than muscles

About the best thing you can for it... is to get used to it. That is another reward for living past 55 or 60.

I have had it for a number of years and is to the point I can't walk the length of Walmart without stopping a couple of times. I walk with a cane which seems to take the weight off of something down there and it lets me walk okay. Also, when I am shopping, just the little bit of weight I put on the cart is enough to alleviate the pain and let me walk okay.

I take two 500mg Tylenol and it will stop the most of the pain in a few minutes. The other thing I use is Aspercream or Walmart brand of roll-on topical Analgesic with Lidocaine. That stops the pain in a matter of minutes and last about 2 to 3 hours. When I put the roll-on on, I put it from the middle of my back, down to my tail bone and into hip bone and the indentation of the cheeks of my butt and the whole width of that area.

I have talked to 1/2 dozen Drs. about it and they all said the only thing you could realistically do is to get used to it. One suggested the cortisone shots, but also said the cortisone can erode the bone over time, and you will build up a resistance to it, to the point the dosage of shots have to be increased to the point they will no longer give them to you. This Dr. told me he wouldn't give over 3 injection of it a year.

There is one stretch exercise I do that helps a little, but I seldom do it.

Isn't getting old fun?

Garry-

I feel for your pain and discomfort. Its a constant pain that no matter how you position yourself there is no relief. Pain meds never worked for me either. Like someone mentioned above, stretching wrong will only aggravate it. In my case, the Dr had me going to physical therapy daily. One machine they put me on daily kept the pain alive for a few weeks. Until I told the Dr that on weekends the pain was basically gone. Then only reappeared after going on that specific machine (Roman chair). Once I stopped using that machine, the pain basically stopped. I found out just by going back to my daily routine the pain basically disappeared for good. During the period when my lower back/leg pain was pretty bad an appointment was made to see a surgeon. That appointment took about 3 months from the time I made it. In the mean time all of my issues had cleared up. I did see the surgeon and he was reading the MRI report, listing all of the things that were "shot" in my lower back. He even said he was surprised I walked into his office without the help of crutches. I said had he saw me the day of my appt was first made, he would have saw those crutches. And when my back is feeling good, there isnt anything I cant do. But when its bad, there isnt squat I can do. He recommended a steroid injection the next time things flair up. I said I recently had 2 failed attempts that didnt do a thing. So I wasnt to optimistic about strike three. He said the next time my back/leg give me trouble he recommended moving the steroid shot placement. About a month later the pain reared up again. I went in for the steroid shot. The first two shots I had I felt zero pain whatsoever. So when they asked me if I wanted to be put under for the shot I laughed and said no. The procedure was visible on a big screen tv to aid the Dr. He said your going to feel some pressure. Holy cow, he stuck the nerve with the needle and I felt the worst pain I ever felt follow down my leg all the way to my toes. In fact, I swear my toes probably it up like ten little flashlights!! Then he said, I need to do it one more time! I made it thru the procedure like a man, but boy that was the most pain I had ever felt. But it ended quickly and by the time I left the Drs office, I knew he hit spot. That was in '07 and I havent had sciatica pain since. My advice is to follow your daily routine as normal even if things hurt, they will get better. My condition is called Spondylolisthesis. Its because I have two cracked bones in my lower back that allows the backbone to shift to the side, pinching the nerve in the process. Nothing surgically has ever been done to fix the issue. And since '07 it hasnt given me issues. Im 61 yrs old, still work construction full time and feel like I'm twenty. So there is hope for your pain, good luck.

I have same problem L3 L4 L5 has arthritis accumulating in them pinching nerves took a epidural and it took 3 weeks to get full relief Dr wants to do surgery and remove build up said 78 percent chance I won’t be paralyzed I’m just gonna eat Tylenol and hope for the best best of luck to you too

if your overweight start losing

Whatever you do, don't get a Laminectomy !!!

w

I've got some advice that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet, evaluate how you relax. Sounds odd I know. I'm not as old as some on here but I've had intermittent back problems for 20 years. Sometimes I can assign a cause sometimes not. And I'm talking sciatica type, not sore muscles. I'm in good shape, not overweight, but when it hits me I feel like I am literally going to snap in half. This past year over trapping and hunting season I was spending more time doubled over in pain than not and I couldn't assign a cause. I am normally busting my tail all of hunting and trapping season but this didn't make sense. The more I thought about it, it was usually a day after I left my farm. I have a camper down there now, working on building a cabin but haven't come up with the scratch yet. At night I pass the time watching some TV at the dinner table prior to turning in. Turned out it was just the uncomfortable excuse for a seat in that camper. I brought in a zero gravity type camp chair to sit in during the evenings and I haven't had those issues since. Moral of the story is maybe we could all reevaluate our favorite lounge chair or where we spend time relaxing. Maybe it's time for a new one or one more ergonomic than what you have. You may be surprised at what it does for your back. Good luck!

Core muscles

Get the MRI and find out what is going on. Go to an orthopedic spine specialist, forget the GP. Best outcome is to get the inflammation to go down and relieve pressure on the nerve, then do PT to strengthen core muscles and keep them strong to help prevent recurrence.

I think I got the same thing. Lower right back, reoccurring work injury, a few chiro visits and it’s better after a few weeks. But the last one about a month ago was brutal! If a 10 on the pain scale is blacking out, this was an 8.5 for about 2 days. Chiro said stretching could make it worse. Wait until it’s better to stretch. But I want to go to a doctor to see what’s really going on, and if there’s something I can do about it.
He also said muscle relaxers might make it feel better, but if you sneeze or something you could really toss something out of wack. Robaxacet did nothing.

I put up with sciatica for several years before it got so bad my left leg went totally numb. I had a microdiscectomy in 2005 on L3,L4 and L5 vertebrae's and haven't had any problems with it since. Recovery was 6 weeks and back to work.

Get an inversion table and a kettlebell. Learn how to do 2 hand swings correctly. I have close to zero faith in “modern medicine”. All a Dr is gonna use an MRI for is to explain to you why you need a surgery and then be put on pain meds. The only 2 types of treatment an MD knows because those are the 2 ways the money rolls in. Hospitals and big pharma dont benefit from you fixing your body at home with diet or workout regimen.