Training with sciatica

[big roid]

I've had sciatica for 3 months now. I had to stop training cause the pain was very bad. The pain has somewhat less now but I still feel it in my hip. I'm starting to train again slowly. Anyone else have any experience with this? Sciatica sucks I would rather break my leg then have this shit!

[Ramstein II]

just started month 4 with my sciatica. Yes, it does suck. Nerve pain is the worst pain there is. First, have you seen a Dr. about it? You need to find out what's wrong. Herniated disc is the obvious choice, but a few other things can cause similar symptoms. If it is herniated you need to know how and where. When I figured out where my herniation was I figured out what my ranges of motion are--I know what flares it up because I can imagine where the disc is pressing on the nerve. You don't always need an MRI to figure it out. They can often figure it out by where you hurt and what positions aggrivate it.

Mine is herniated at S1/L5 which is pretty common. What's not common is that my herniation is to the side which makes rehab very difficult. I'm at the mercy of my body's ability to fix this fucker on its own. Luckily my body seems to be doing that--just slowly.

My pain is in the hip/butt and on the outside of my left calf. I also get tingling/numbness in my toes on the left foot. Some people do a few exercises given to them by PTs and Drs. and heal in a few weeks. Not me.
I went through rehab and it did nothing for me but inflamed the living hell out of my back real bad. I'm avoiding surgery and narcotics at all costs. Both can royally screw you up. There is a debate about McKenzie versus Williams exercises. You can read about it on the web. Keeping my back straight and laying off the activities that inflame me (walking) has helped me the most. In fact, my pain is getting tollerable now to the point that I don't notice or think about it all the time.


When do you hurt? sitting, standing, laying down on back, laying down on stomach etc...?

You'll read and hear that disc injuries should heal in no more than 6 weeks. I think that's gotta be BS. I think "sore backs" get thrown into that statistic.

I truly believe that inflammation around the injury compounds the problem. What I did for the first 2.5 months was aggravate the injury. This just kept it inflamed. I kept insisting on walking for cardio which just kept me inflamed 24/7. The inflamed soft tissue crowds the nerve which is being pressed on by the disc. The disc has a little space between it and the nerve. When it herniates it takes up a bunch of that space. Your body “thinks” the herniation is an invader and orders the area inflamed. This can take up any remaining space between the nerve and herniation and cause even more compression which leads to severe pain. If you do any glute exercises at all you’re butt will get inflamed from the muscle trama and I bet you’ll hurt worse for a while. I hate anti-inflammatories b/c I believe they interfere with muscle growth. But, I gotta say that I took prescription Naproxen for 10 days and then Aleve on an as needed basis and that seemed to set me off in the right direction. It knocked the inflammation way down and allowed me to get a break. Now that I'm off the stuff completely my inflammation has not come back. Since I know where the herniation is I can keep from inflaming it.
Some studies have come out showing that the body can (but not always) “heal” discs by “resorbing” them. Essentially the immune system attacks the disc and shrinks it. This especially happens if the disc herniation is a “sequestered” herniation, meaning the inner core has been squished completely out. This “resorpotion” is what I’m hoping for and believe is happening. I think being able to get off the anti-inflammatories helps me. But, they were useful in getting me to this point.

Bottom line: You’ve got to see a Dr if you haven’t already. Go to the best.

Tell us more about your injury.

[smoker]

I am with you brothers.

At 43, I am in my 8th month of rehab, similar area and numbness and tingling down my left side. My left calf is still tight and I have some numdness in my heel. If I move my hips too fast it sends an electric jolt down my lower back through the center of my a**. Sitting for long periods is the worst, almost impossible to stand up straight after that. I live to drive in my truck and turn on the seat warmers.

What has help has been the 6 weeks of PT I had. They taught me some stretches and real basic reverse flex exercises. They also had me doing reverse hyper extensions on this contraption that I am sure Saddam used in his prison. I had some very cute young therapists, although the best ones were these old former east german girls volleyball coaches. Seriously, one of them was named Helga, she had man hands. When she was done with me it felt great, she pressed on the nerve and did all sorts of things that relaxed the muscle around the nerve. Too bad she looked like Jethro.

The warm bath tub has brought relief as well, but it has been a slow healing process. I never quit working out, I just modified my workout to use machines instead of free weights, I get better stability and has helped me a great deal.

[big roid]

The pain is in my hip and runs down my leg. I'm not sure how it happened. I went and had it x-rayed so I should know something soon. I don't have insurance so I can't go to a PT. How do you guys work a job with sciatica? I can't even stand sometimes much less lots of walking around and stuff.

[MikeHeavypecs]

I know exactly what you are describing. I have had the numbness and tingling sensations for 5 years now. I still work out pretty heavy as long as I am using a bench with a support, or back support for Smith machine etc. However, last month all within a matter of days, my left calf started cramping like I can't describe and then I lost all strength in half of my left calf. Very concerning because I can't even do calf raises on my left side, or even stand on my left toes (zero control of the outer half of the left calf) and half (the outer portion) of my foot is pretty much numb.

Going to my Neurosurgeon just to get his opinion on this next week.....

Mike

[big roid]

Just got my X-rays back. It looks like my vertabre at C4/C5 and C5/S1 are out of allignment some. Prolly causeing the nerve to pinch. I guess I'll let the chriopractor glance at it and get his opinion.