Sciatica?

Author
Discussion

arguti

1,771 posts

185 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
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If you are getting foot drop from sciatica which it sounds like, your gp should get you an urgent MRI scan - as others have said, it sounds like nerve root impingement which may require treat,ent

sparkyhx

4,123 posts

203 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
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I had sciatica for a year, had physio, chiropractor, osteopathy.

Eventualy went private and the consultant immediately asked, when I entered the room, why was I limping? I didn't actually know and hadn't noticed. He then got me to stand on my tiptoes one foot at a time. I could no longer lift myself up on the leg. Up to a few years earlier I could calf raise 500lb.

I eventually had surgery on the disc, but have been left with permanent nerve damage and can't feel the right hand side of the foot

The moral is get it sorted

davhill

5,263 posts

183 months

Sunday 14th October 2012
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The initial onset of my sciatica was fast. I described it to the docs as 'feeling like a dislocated hip' 'cos it felt exactly like what I imagine such a dislocation would feel like.

Too long a story for detail but it was four ops leading to successful implantation of a spinal cord stimulator. Helps a bit but the pain is still there and can be bad.

Just FYI, at one point the physioterrorists thought I had a hip issue and X-rayed both my hips - just a little socket wear/attrition to be expected in a(then)55-year-old.

The MRIs showed a textbook prolapse of the lowest lumbar disc (L5/S1). You need an MRI.

Jonboy_t

5,038 posts

182 months

Sunday 14th October 2012
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davhill said:
The MRIs showed a textbook prolapse of the lowest lumbar disc (L5/S1). You need an MRI.
This! Had an MRI last week, should get the results back in a couple of weeks, but without it, there is no sure fire way of diagnosing if it is sciatica or something more sinister (not that sciatica isn't nasty!).


oldbanger

Original Poster:

4,316 posts

237 months

Monday 7th January 2013
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Just a little update.

Hip x-ray came back normal, but I got referred for physio.

Physio says there's nothing they can do and to do leg lifts. Byeeee...

Pain has receeded a lot, just a niggle now. Still can't sit cross-legged for more than about a minute though, but I stopped falling after the first 3 weeks.