Sciatica Pain

CAN AM MIKE said:
I had what I thought was severe Sciatica and after multiple treatments for pain relief and physical therapy Kaiser finally did a MRI. Diagnosis was spinal stenosis narrowing of outlet of Sciatic nerve. You have to pressure them to do the MRI it’s the only way to get to the underlying cause
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Did that require surgery?  My mother has had 2 back surgeries for it. Not fun . . .

 
Have gotten some great advice from folks here and have a couple appts lined up. Had to cancel Oregon dunes trip which is a bummer but hoping I can get back to somewhat normal life here soon. It hasn’t been two weeks yet and from everything I’ve heard and read, it’s a several week to several month recovery process. 
 

Andrew

 
South Bay said:
Did that require surgery?  My mother has had 2 back surgeries for it. Not fun . . .
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No surgery. Back surgeon said only 50% chance of improvement and a possibility of making it worse. He declined to do the procedure but offered to refer me to another surgeon who would. I said no thanks. It took about 18 months until the pain subsided but still on pain meds 

 
CAN AM MIKE said:
No surgery. Back surgeon said only 50% chance of improvement and a possibility of making it worse. He declined to do the procedure but offered to refer me to another surgeon who would. I said no thanks. It took about 18 months until the pain subsided but still on pain meds 
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My best friend went down that rabbit hole.. four surgeries total. Ruined his life.

It seems like every kind of surgery whether it be hip, knee, back, neck, etc.. never ends up well. I've been putting off a rotator cuff surgery for about 15 years..

 
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I make a salve with coconut oil and thc(homegrown).  Its soo easy to make cause it's a crock pot recipe and two ingredients...actually using some on my calf muscle that I got hurt rock climbing today and it definitely takes the pain away.

I have a friend with sciatica pain and uses it, she absolutely loves it. It gets deep to the  inflammation to where she can go surf for a few hours and not have cramp up. 

Maybe go to a dispensary and see if they have creams or salves and try that? 

I've been making mine for years and I give it out to my friends and coworkers all the time, I also bake with the oil,  and since its coconut oil you can totally use it as sex lube also!!😂😂

If you were closer I would totally let you have some to try it......you're in riverside? I'm north county sd(vista)...maybe we can make it happen somehow? If you are ok using a thc salve...

Matt

 
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wapawekka said:
Dropping some lbs is certainly something I need to do. Heaviest I’ve ever been. Hopefully this lights a fire.

Walking is something I haven’t done much of. I have been stretching when the pain isn’t too bad.  The doctor prescribed ibuprofen and I’ve been taking that. No help yet. 
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I was in your spot during the Spring of 2022.  Woke up one morning with the worst pain (down butt/hip/leg/foot/toe) I have ever felt in my life.  I mean pain that I didn't even know existed.  Turns out that it was sciatica, which is more of a symptom than a disease itself.  And the sciatica pain can have multiple causes.  Couldn't work for two months, and I have a desk job.  Got introduced to Mr. Percocet, which opens the door to a whole new set of problems.

After finally getting an MRI, my issue was a synovial cyst that was sitting right on my L5 nerve root.  Only solution was a somewhat minor back surgery to excise the cyst (they had to trim my lamina and facet joints to get access to where the cyst was).  Had the surgery.  Come to find out, when you have a compressed spinal nerve root for a long period of time, it can cause sciatic nerve damage that is more permanent in nature.  So, 14 months post surgery, I still have sciatic pain, but not even in the same universe as before.  Lyrica does a decent job of controlling it.  Still able to ride a quad.

As far as spinal stenosis (which I am developing as well), you can have a Laminectomy and/or Facetectomy which, theoretically are more minor procedures.  They are shaving/trimming bone to create more room in the spine for the sciatic nerve.  Now, spinal fusion surgery is an entirely different animal, and your read about many bad outcomes with that.  Even with a good outcome, I would think off-roading would be out of the question after a spinal fusion surgery. 

Is there anybody out there that has had a spinal fusion surgery and still does Glamis?

Good luck with your recovery, Wapawekka.

 
suber said:
I make a salve with coconut oil and thc(homegrown).  Its soo easy to make cause it's a crock pot recipe and two ingredients...actually using some on my calf muscle that I got hurt rock climbing today and it definitely takes the pain away.

I have a friend with sciatica pain and uses it, she absolutely loves it. It gets deep to the  inflammation to where she can go surf for a few hours and not have cramp up. 

Maybe go to a dispensary and see if they have creams or salves and try that? 

I've been making mine for years and I give it out to my friends and coworkers all the time, I also bake with the oil,  and since its coconut oil you can totally use it as sex lube also!!😂😂

If you were closer I would totally let you have some to try it......you're in riverside? I'm north county sd(vista)...maybe we can make it happen somehow? If you are ok using a thc salve...

Matt
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I'm curious to know more about this salve you have! Sounds legit!

 
wapawekka said:
Have gotten some great advice from folks here and have a couple appts lined up. Had to cancel Oregon dunes trip which is a bummer but hoping I can get back to somewhat normal life here soon. It hasn’t been two weeks yet and from everything I’ve heard and read, it’s a several week to several month recovery process. 
 

Andrew
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once you get that nerve calmed down; important to keep it from getting irritated again by using the various methods mentioned here.  IMO once it goes away - it's not gone forever.....

 
 My back flairs up every once in a while (usually when I pack on an extra 5-10lbs on). A little over a year ago, I tweaked my back surfing about 5 days before  I was going on a surf trip. Based on my history with this pain, it was going to be a few weeks of "taking it real easy" to get to where I was somewhat back to normal. One of my friends/ customers, was a ex moto racer, was on Nitro circus, Jackass, and did other crazy stunt stuff. The dudes body is a mess. Anyway, he insisted I go see his guy ( Dr. G ) in Costa Mesa. The place was a whos who of extreme sports going in and out. So I lay on a bed , and this assistant uses a machine thats basically a heavy duty ultrasound. Put the gel on, and they rub this device around the area that hurts. Kinda doing this loud snapping noise that actually felt good. After about 10 minutes, this girl asks me to get up and see how it felt. I looked at her like come on! I'm an old pro at have back issues and there's no way 10 minutes of anything was going to be instantly noticeable. Happy to say I ate my words. I stood up, and felt a difference right away. I reach over to stretch, and before the treatment I could barely touch my knees ( I can easily touch the ground when my back is good), now, I almost got to my ankles. !0 minutes got me another 12" of flexibility with less pain. Theres a few other things they do during your hour treatment like heat/ ice, and these magnetic charge things, but that ultrasound devise is a game changer. I went the next couple days and ended up getting to about 90% and being able to surf for 5 days. There's no way I could of done that without. Supposedly, the ultrasound breaks up the inflammation around the nerve endings that our bodies do as a way to keep us from hurting that area any more. Its not a cure, but its an amazing way to reduce your discomfort in a very short amount of time without drugs. Again, Dr.G in Costa Mesa.

 
Surf and Dune said:
 My back flairs up every once in a while (usually when I pack on an extra 5-10lbs on). A little over a year ago, I tweaked my back surfing about 5 days before  I was going on a surf trip. Based on my history with this pain, it was going to be a few weeks of "taking it real easy" to get to where I was somewhat back to normal. One of my friends/ customers, was a ex moto racer, was on Nitro circus, Jackass, and did other crazy stunt stuff. The dudes body is a mess. Anyway, he insisted I go see his guy ( Dr. G ) in Costa Mesa. The place was a whos who of extreme sports going in and out. So I lay on a bed , and this assistant uses a machine thats basically a heavy duty ultrasound. Put the gel on, and they rub this device around the area that hurts. Kinda doing this loud snapping noise that actually felt good. After about 10 minutes, this girl asks me to get up and see how it felt. I looked at her like come on! I'm an old pro at have back issues and there's no way 10 minutes of anything was going to be instantly noticeable. Happy to say I ate my words. I stood up, and felt a difference right away. I reach over to stretch, and before the treatment I could barely touch my knees ( I can easily touch the ground when my back is good), now, I almost got to my ankles. !0 minutes got me another 12" of flexibility with less pain. Theres a few other things they do during your hour treatment like heat/ ice, and these magnetic charge things, but that ultrasound devise is a game changer. I went the next couple days and ended up getting to about 90% and being able to surf for 5 days. There's no way I could of done that without. Supposedly, the ultrasound breaks up the inflammation around the nerve endings that our bodies do as a way to keep us from hurting that area any more. Its not a cure, but its an amazing way to reduce your discomfort in a very short amount of time without drugs. Again, Dr.G in Costa Mesa.
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Wow, that is amazing.  Thanks for the share . . .

 
Surf and Dune said:
 My back flairs up every once in a while (usually when I pack on an extra 5-10lbs on). A little over a year ago, I tweaked my back surfing about 5 days before  I was going on a surf trip. Based on my history with this pain, it was going to be a few weeks of "taking it real easy" to get to where I was somewhat back to normal. One of my friends/ customers, was a ex moto racer, was on Nitro circus, Jackass, and did other crazy stunt stuff. The dudes body is a mess. Anyway, he insisted I go see his guy ( Dr. G ) in Costa Mesa. The place was a whos who of extreme sports going in and out. So I lay on a bed , and this assistant uses a machine thats basically a heavy duty ultrasound. Put the gel on, and they rub this device around the area that hurts. Kinda doing this loud snapping noise that actually felt good. After about 10 minutes, this girl asks me to get up and see how it felt. I looked at her like come on! I'm an old pro at have back issues and there's no way 10 minutes of anything was going to be instantly noticeable. Happy to say I ate my words. I stood up, and felt a difference right away. I reach over to stretch, and before the treatment I could barely touch my knees ( I can easily touch the ground when my back is good), now, I almost got to my ankles. !0 minutes got me another 12" of flexibility with less pain. Theres a few other things they do during your hour treatment like heat/ ice, and these magnetic charge things, but that ultrasound devise is a game changer. I went the next couple days and ended up getting to about 90% and being able to surf for 5 days. There's no way I could of done that without. Supposedly, the ultrasound breaks up the inflammation around the nerve endings that our bodies do as a way to keep us from hurting that area any more. Its not a cure, but its an amazing way to reduce your discomfort in a very short amount of time without drugs. Again, Dr.G in Costa Mesa.
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Ultrasound treatment is like magic.

I had very bad shoulder issues in high school from football.  The only way I could NOT have excruciating pain with normal activities was cortisone ultrasound treatments 3x a week.  This was ultimately a tendon issue that cause nerve problems in my whole arm..  The ultrasound treatment allowed me to still play on Friday.  No contact during the week tho.  My coach hated the doctor for that requirement.  Took it out on me...lol  Everyone else was running drills, I was doing ladders and laps on the track.  F'n ahole..

 
Had chronic back pain in my 20s after injuring it pretty badly. Nothing made it better. 800mg ibuprofen all day, etc. 

Took up Yoga, learned to stretch properly and core strengthening exercises, not a single issue since. Fix your posture, strengthen the muscles that support the bones, or this will end up dominating your life. 

 
Update: In less pain each day. Still reminds me it’s there but not as piercing as it was. Still have nearly zero range of motion though. Doing some small stretches the physical therapist has shown me. 2x a week chiropractor/physical therapist, steroids and various pain meds. 
 

MRI is scheduled but it’s a few weeks out. I couldn’t lay in a bed anyway at the moment. 
 

I have zero intention of this reoccurring. Going to follow all the advice given including losing some lbs and daily stretches. It will always be in the back of my mind that I’m one tweak away from being laid up. 

 
hello_newman said:
Is there anybody out there that has had a spinal fusion surgery and still does Glamis?
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I had a C5-C6 fusion back in '93, old school fusion where they used bone from my hip and wear a halo for awhile while it fused, and never had an issue with it since. But have heard some horror stories about low back fusions.

I think it's hit and miss on joint surgeries and it's not always the procedure, it's who is doing the surgery. I had my left ACL replaced twice due to who did the work. The second time was Dr. Cook, the Portland Trailblazer team doc at the time. After he did his work my knee was awesome. The skill levels of doctors varies widely IMO, and the good ones are in the minority unfortunately.

 
just got to ride it out man. I had it also.... lasted 3 weeks the second time but like 6 weeks the first time. 

 
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