Lots of great advice. I haven't tried the tennis ball thing yet, maybe this weekend. It looks kind of painful to tell you the truth!

I felt good laying down before work, but within a minute of getting up my back, butt and leg were killing me!

I learned just how much the suckage sucks this year. Developed a bulged disc due to disc degeneration. Right where the lumbar and sacroiliac meet. The worst for me is driving. The chiropractor helps while i’m there but as soon as I start the drive home it’s all undone.

Had the exact same thing a few yeas ago.
Got to the point where I couldn't stand more than about 5 minutes at a time.

Doc said it was piriformis myofascial syndrome.
Piriformis was balled up and needed a myofascial release.

Piriformis attaches the top of the femur, across the sciatic notch, to the outside edge of your sacrum. With mine being balled up, it was pulling my hip out at a weird angle, causing me to walk funky. When I'd lay down, my left leg would be almost completely perpendicular to my right.

Doc tried 'dry needling'. Not enjoyable at all. Basically these 8-10" needles inserted into the piriformis, trying to hit a trigger point and get a release.

Cortisone injection helped somewhat.

Physical therapist really helped. One day during a rubdown, using her elbow, she hit a trigger point just the right way, and my ass started convulsing. She thought I was doing it intentionally at first, but no, it was what a textbook example of a release looked like.

Certain stretching exercises that also helped:
stretch #1
stretch #2


Good luck with it!

I know that debilitating pain all too well.

Inversion table and core fitness exercise all the way.

The inversion table is really good for relieving pressure, especially when you're feeling acute pain and can't stretch.

When your pain is lessened, you need to commit to strengthening your core, especially your abs and your glutes. You may likely have anterior pelvic tilt, which I found only exacerbated my pain. That's due to weak abs, overtight hip flexors and weak glutes.

I always lapsed into cycles of laziness which directly correlated with acute pain from my bulging disk and sciatica. I've been really good about fitness since the summer and have had no pain at all.

Finally, be careful how you sleep. Sleep only on your back with a pillow under your knees to help restore the normal curvature of your spin.

Get over the acute phase first, then commit to a regimen of core exercise and stretching. Also, figure out how all your extremities are actually connected; you'd be really surprised by how what you think is the cause of your problem actually isn't. Everything is really interconnected, especially with your posterior chain of muscles.

Definitely stick to the stretches. I do three stretches, and knock on wood, they have changed my life of pain in three months. I would say I live with a very small fraction of my previous pain. I do the seated stretches:

- Sit up straight in chair (sit back in the seat), lower your head and raise one leg at a time while simultaneously
bringing your foot towards you.
- Sit up straight in chair (edge of seat), cross each leg with your ankle resting on your opposite knee. Push down on the suspended knee. You don't need to be super flexible for this. You can start by resting your ankle on the knee with that leg extended straight out.
- Sit up straight in chair (edge of seat), keep your upper body straight and bend at the hips to lower the upper body down between your knees.

Easy does it - with back problems, sudden movements can suck. Best of luck to all with back problems.

Borrowed my wife’s tens unit......talk about a weird feeling in my butt!!!

I wonder if I can get a different effect with a drive stun from my Taser???

Kinesiology Tape (often called KT tape, or you can find other brands such as Rock Tape) was completely life changing for me.

Several years ago I had a horse flip over on top of me resulting in spinal stenosis in my back which created Sciatica pain. So much that I was not only miserable, but hardly able to ride anymore. I was recommended trying the tape by a trainer friend of mine who had major damage to her shoulder and it was a huge help. I honestly thought it was BS but willing to try anything at that point. I didn't see a huge difference the first day, but after day 3, I was completely pain free. Bama taped me for almost 2 years straight. After the pain was gone I focused on getting back in the gym and strengthening my core and adding in daily stretching. I have been almost pain free ever since, even while riding. I don't have to use the tape daily anymore either, just if it's bugging me, like after a long car ride or overdoing it one day, but most of the time a soak in the tub takes care of it.

I honestly didn't even realize how much pain I was in, until it was completely gone. I've also used it on my knee with success.

I had it so bad I had to pull over 3 times during my 30 minute drive to and from work, this lasted about 3 weeks.

The first night I had it I had the only way I could get relief was by laying on the kitchen floor.

I immediately started in with the hamstring stretches and that seemed to be the answer for me.

I stretch my hamstrings daily, if I miss a day or two I can feel that it wants to come back.

.

I have a family member dealing with sciatica who hasn't had any luck fixing it. Would a massage therapist doing a psoas release possibly help? Anyone who has had that done knows how painful it is, but it's amazing how much that contributes to different issues.

I have it occasionally from ruptured L4-L5 and L5-S1 disks. I had microdiscectomies 15 years ago and have had no treatment since. But occasionally get a flair up The only thing that that helps me is to walk it out. The more I exercise the better it feels. If I take it easy, it's all the more painful when I get up and start moving around. I tell myself when I get a sciatica flare up that it's time to go spend a day working in the yard. That puts it to rest.

What a timely post! I woke up one morning about a week and a half ago to pain in my lower back, hip, and upper leg that would sometimes take my breath away. I had no idea what was causing the pain, but now I do. Thanks guys! Slap me in a dress and call me Nancy; the things I learn on SF.
Rod

A) A real therapeutic/deep tissue massage works wonders. Ask if they do pnf stretching. Not saying you need it, but it seems to distinguish the real therapeutic masseuses from the others.

B) Yoga

Find a massage therapist with a NMT (Neuro Muscular Therapist) certification. A person with that training is trained to deal with things like nerve pressure, sciatica, and deep muscle issues that go beyond regular MT training.

When I was headed toward my four-level cervical fusion surgery, my massage therapist was able to do things that relieved pressure and enabled me to stay as active as possible until the surgery date. Since then, I have monthly sessions where she catches little aches, pains, and tingles before they turn into long-term problems.

She has literally kept me feeling 20 years younger. It helps a lot that she and my wife are friends and my wife understands how the therapy works.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
My problem is a herniated disk with severe lumbar stenosis. I've had 3-4 epidural injections and one medial branch ablation to kill the pain nerves.

My symptoms were: couldn't stand for long, couldn't walk far. No pain on sitting. On standing I had neural claudication, that is, pain down the back of my legs.

I started working out at the gym with a personal trainer about 9 months ago. Since then I've had no significant back pain on standing or walking, can walk long distances; have no neural claudication; have not needed any injections for more than a year.

I attribute the improvement to improved abdominal and back muscle strength. Today I was leaning back, lifting a 100-pound stack; another client of my trainer commented that I have a strong lower back.

Recently I had a repeat MRI of the lower back, and the spinal stenosis appears no better, maybe worse. Go figure.

I'm 75 and feel better than I have in 10 years or so.

Yes, strengthen the tummy and the back. Legs too if you are so inclined. I never would have guessed you are 75. I was strong strong when I was young but dont think I will ever get back to the weights again. Maybe in a lighter form of excercise. I feel pretty good for 61 years age. Just my current life style is a set back to better health.

quote:

Originally posted by sig sailor:
What a timely post! I woke up one morning about a week and a half ago to pain in my lower back, hip, and upper leg that would sometimes take my breath away. I had no idea what was causing the pain, but now I do. Thanks guys! Slap me in a dress and call me Nancy; the things I learn on SF.
Rod

. Nancy. This is where I first asked about and learned about sciatica. I could walk and carry about 100 feet and I would be forced to sqwat down and heel. Or plant myself bent above a shower stool holding on both handles while never sitting down. Stretching and strengthening really helped.