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Thread: Sciatica

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    Sciatica

    Does anyone know some good ways to handle sciatica and manage the pain?

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    Look up piriformis stretches. That's what worked for me.
    And, believe it or not, abdominal core strengthening exercises, like planks.
    Last edited by kantwin; March 1st, 2017 at 10:23 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sickofpc View Post
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    Does anyone know some good ways to handle sciatica and manage the pain?
    I have had Sciatica for 12 years now. The first step is usually to see a Orthopedic doctor. They usually will run a series of MRIs on you to try and determine exactly which disc or sac in the spine is crushing or pinching which nerve. Once they locate the problem area, the next step usually includes spinal injections to the affected spot with steroid injections. If that does not work, the next step is called a RFA (Radio frequency Ablation). They put a needle into the affected nerve and actually burn it in 2 with radio waves, cutting the nerve connection.

    Now, that cured about 80% of my problem, but the nerve will tend to grow back in a year or 2. The Doctor will also usually want you to get a TENS unit, which uses 2 rubber pads with electrodes in them that attached in the locale of the effected nerves and sends pulsed shock waves to the region. This uses up all of the nerve fluids that transfer the pain signal to the neurons. This device works fairly well when used in conjunction with certain pain medications.

    Even with all of that, My sciatica is still an issue. And the doctors have said they have done all they can. They do not use steroid injections past a certain point because they are physically harmful to you. The pain meds are the worst part of it, as they have a number that do work well, and a number that don't do squat.

    My doctor prescribed the usual TENs unit therapy along with Oxycodone (a highly addictive and not too great pain reliever) Oh, it works well enough until it caused opioid constipation and that becomes an even worse problem than the Sciatica.

    I complained about the drug, and he gave me something called Ultram, or Tramadol. It is a non narcotic pain reliever that has worked very well for me along with the TENs unit. Problem is, because people abuse the drug, they have now become "schedule 4" drugs... which means they are darn near impossible to get any more.

    Basically, what you will wind up facing is a TENs unit, and maybe physical therapy... which does hardly any real long term good. Any more, the result is the doctor telling you there is nothing they can do, and you will just have to suck it up. They do not want to get on an AMA watch list for prescribing sched. 4 medications, as the AMA is breaking down very hard on doctors who prescribe them for any reason any more.

    Good luck, and welcome to the world of modern medicine.
    If you do not read the news you are uninformed. If you do you are misinformed. Mark Twain


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    For me, the physical therapy stretches actually helped quite a bit. I was extremely skeptical, since PT rarely did any good, but this time, I had a great group of therapists, over about 3 months time - going twice a week - that I completely forgot about the pain I was having. After almost a year of being pain free, silly me, stopped doing the stretches, and it started nagging me again. So, I try to continue the stretches, and it comes and goes now, since I don't have anyone harping on me to do them. I'll get about a week of no pain, and forget to do the stretches, and a few days after that, the pain starts to come back.

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    I don't have it, but my friend had such an injury almost two years ago that one leg was almost unusable. He could barely walk, and stairs were impossible. After PT, he was able to walk miles and navigate stairs. He still goes to PT to keep it in check.
    Y'ALL MEANS ALL.

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    I am dong PT for my rotator cuff pain and it is working pretty well so far. My doctor gave me some rubber stretching bands and a few basic exercises to do. He was going to give me a steroid injection in the shoulder and I told him it would not be needed as the PT seemed to be doing the trick. He was shocked, actually. He was amazed that I was actually doing the recommended exercises, as most old farts just blow it off and demand an instant cure.

    He even went in and told his nurse he had a patient that did what he was told to do... Imagine that.

    Problem with me and the sciatica was the location of the pinched nerve. The PT didn't do any good because it was so low in the spine. L5 S1 area. SO I guess I just have to settle for 20% pain and the TENs unit and meds to make life bearable. It is what it is, and at 67, doing a lot of exercise is not always an easy thing. I do tread mill for 2 hours a day and doing resistance exercises to keep the blubber off. That works fairly well.

    Just because you are an old fart doesn't mean you have to be a fat old fart.
    If you do not read the news you are uninformed. If you do you are misinformed. Mark Twain


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    ST, I doubt that all your work-out uses up the calories you consume in one breakfast at Papa's. LOL
    "A boy cannot become a girl and a man cannot become a woman, not even if he shuts his eyes and wishes really hard."



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    Quote Originally Posted by Ludwig View Post
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    ST, I doubt that all your work-out uses up the calories you consume in one breakfast at Papa's. LOL
    Probably not. I go every Thursday morning. Once a week.

    Right now, due to trying to keep my diabetes numbers in the ballpark my doctor wants, I am eating only 2 times a day, and keeping the calories down to 1800 or less. It wasn't easy at first, but after a while your stomach gets used to being empty from 9 to dinner time. Once you get used to it, it almost makes lunch an unattractive meal at best.

    Problem with most young doctors nowadays is that their answer to everything is to drink water only, eat nothing but lettuce, and exercise 8 hours a day.
    If you do not read the news you are uninformed. If you do you are misinformed. Mark Twain


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    Quote Originally Posted by sojourner truth View Post
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    Probably not. I go every Thursday morning. Once a week.
    Every Thursday morning = once a week.
    Whodathunk?
    LOL

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  18. #10
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    Sometimes one has to spell these things out to folks....
    If you do not read the news you are uninformed. If you do you are misinformed. Mark Twain


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