Sciatica Experiences

tanith

Your Mum needs to get the reason for the Sciatica diagnosed . Mine was caused by a compressed nerve in the spine and nothing touched it till I had surgery . Hopefully your Mum won't need anything so drastic but if its not settled down after a couple of weeks then there is an ongoing problem that needs sorting out. Agree with the advice that her GP needs to refer her...

shykins

i agree with the above posters...... i have had sciatica for years now.. hassle the drs to see why she has the sciatica.. tho i have to say it took me years to finally get a referral for an MRI

i used to have painkilling injections direct into my spin which helped no end but last year these stopped working.... i again got to the point of not being able to walk so i went to a chiropractor who also offered acupuncture.. i was up walking again in 2 weeks and no the needles dont hurt when they go in lol

also use a TENS machine not one of the cheapy ones get a proper one and that will help control the pain.. i ran the gauntlet of prescription meds but in the end they just made me feel out of it and depressed and nothing helped the pain so i threw them away and used my TENS and acupuncture

i do hope something helps soon cos i know how mind numbing the constant pain is
x

Hippychick

My Mum had sciatica in her leg, she was in so much pain that she couldn't stand up, eventually she went to an osteopath, who manipulated her leg somehow and freed the trapped nerve in one session only.

Wee_Bargain_Hunter

On a practical note, I found silky pj's great as they meant less effort + therefore less pain when trying to move in bed. Wish i'd remembered that recently - bought some cosy flannel sheets but it made it hard to turn in bed etc.

deedums

I also had sciatica last year. Even though I don't think I had it as bad as some of you, it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced! Eventually after many months of suffering (high dose prescription painkillers etc.) my GP referred me to a physio. Although she didn't physically do anything she was wonderful. To cut a long story short, she explained what I needed to do to try and alleviate the problem etc. I still get occasional pain and I immediately try to follow the advice she gave me so that it doesn't get worse.

One of my relatives also suffered with sciatica and went to a chiropractor and said it was the best thing she'd ever done.

Hope your mum is much better soon, she has my sympathy

mary43

I suffered from a sciatic nerve last year as a result of trying to lift something -my own silly fault.
It was so bad I found it difficult to sleep, sit, walk...........anything. I would have had to wait for physio so I booked an appointment for an aromotherapy massage. Six weeks and it was fine. Painkillers given by the GP just made me feel so much like a zombie I couldn't take them but the massage did the stick.

ali-t

When I had it, the best thing that worked for me was acupuncture. After 2 sessions I was skipping out the door. The GP just kept giving me stronger painkillers and I was using a tens machine but the acupuncture nailed it.

mutley74

regular excercise and some special technieques to stretch the sciatic nerve by a pilates teacher helped me. Pilates is a very good excercise to stretch the back muscles.

moomin_white

atpug wrote: »

regular excercise and some special technieques to stretch the sciatic nerve by a pilates teacher helped me. Pilates is a very good excercise to stretch the back muscles.

100% agree about Pilates - most back problems are caused by torso muscles not supporting the spine well enough (also by bad posture and incorrect bending,etc). Most of the exercises my physio gave me were pilates exercises which strengthen the muscles around the spine-which in turn stops your spine moving about and irritating the sciatic nerves.

I did a manual handling course a few years back and it shocked me how picking up heavy objects incorrectly can damage your back so easily and badly.

~daisy~_2

the sciatic nerve on some ppl runs through or very near to the piriformis muscle deep within the gluteus muslces in the butt - if this muscle becomes tight or tense for a vairety of reasons then this will produce pain in the lower back and radiating down the legs
a simple neuromuscular technique for a qualified massage therapist can work wonders on this type of pain
also a set of relevant stretches and strengthening exercises can help

HTH