Sciatica advice- how to ease the pain, am in agony?

[Steve H]

alfie2244 said:

Not sure I have much to add to what has already been posted but many posts mirror my own experiences over the last few years....... 3pm today I had a spinal nerve root block..........not sure if this has already been mentioned but happy to update once / if it makes a difference to my problems. In the meantime all the best to those that are suffering.

I had this done a few years ago. Pretty effective and lasted for a couple of years, by the time the pain gradually reappeared the original injury was less severe so I haven't had to repeat it.

[TartanPaint]

Steve H said:

alfie2244 said:

Not sure I have much to add to what has already been posted but many posts mirror my own experiences over the last few years....... 3pm today I had a spinal nerve root block..........not sure if this has already been mentioned but happy to update once / if it makes a difference to my problems. In the meantime all the best to those that are suffering.

I had this done a few years ago. Pretty effective and lasted for a couple of years, by the time the pain gradually reappeared the original injury was less severe so I haven't had to repeat it.

Forgot to mention I had one, but it didn't have any effect at all for me (no negative effects either though). I believe 30-40% success rate? For the winners there's a variable length of time before it "wears off".. could be weeks, could be months. However, it was a very quick and painless procedure so no reason for others not to consider it if offered.

[alfie2244]

TartanPaint said:

Steve H said:

alfie2244 said:

Not sure I have much to add to what has already been posted but many posts mirror my own experiences over the last few years....... 3pm today I had a spinal nerve root block..........not sure if this has already been mentioned but happy to update once / if it makes a difference to my problems. In the meantime all the best to those that are suffering.

I had this done a few years ago. Pretty effective and lasted for a couple of years, by the time the pain gradually reappeared the original injury was less severe so I haven't had to repeat it.

Forgot to mention I had one, but it didn't have any effect at all for me (no negative effects either though). I believe 30-40% success rate? For the winners there's a variable length of time before it "wears off".. could be weeks, could be months. However, it was a very quick and painless procedure so no reason for others not to consider it if offered.

Very early days yet (not even 24hrs) but went out for my daily dogwalk on the Cotswolds this morning... feels a little better but I do have other linked pain issues which vary in intensity and hard to differentiate (not sure that makes sense sorry).....certainly hasn't done any harm so far but guessing it may be a while longer before any effects are really noticeable.

In the meantime I need to get a loofer so I can wash the antiseptic off my back where I cant reach MrsA away until Friday

[bad company]

I had my facet joint injection on Tuesday. There is certainly some improvement but I still can't walk more than 100 yards or so. Still its early days.

[julian64]

zeDuffMan said:

Exactly. Even if you've paid for an MRI and it comes back showing you don't have a slipped disc, that in itself tells you just as much as if it came back as positive. At least you're getting closer to the cause, rather than sitting around taking painkillers, hoping it will go away.

I work in MRI in the NHS and there was a feeble attempt made to convert all lumbar spine x-ray requests into MRIs for chronic back pain, but the simple fact is there isn't enough capacity to scan everybody, so they are reserved for certain cases, as described above. But if you can afford the MRI scan privately, just go for it, it's an excellent test.

This is a daft argument for a clinician. Why not have two doors walking into every hospital. A door marked 'full body MRI for those with money', 'and those with no money'

After all a full body MRI would be useful for almost everything you walk into a hospital for from an appendix, gallstones, hernia, all the way up to frequent headaches. So your argument seems to be that the MRI is the new standard investigation before the patient starts talking.

[tr7v8]

Only thing that has ever worked for me was Osteopath. Pain killers never touched it. Although Mrs got limited relief at Osteopath & is now using a Chinese acupuncturist.

[Steve H]

alfie2244 said:

Very early days yet (not even 24hrs) but went out for my daily dogwalk on the Cotswolds this morning... feels a little better but I do have other linked pain issues which vary in intensity and hard to differentiate (not sure that makes sense sorry).....certainly hasn't done any harm so far but guessing it may be a while longer before any effects are really noticeable.

In the meantime I need to get a loofer so I can wash the antiseptic off my back where I cant reach MrsA away until Friday

With mine they did a test first using a local anaesthetic mixed with steroids which lasted about a two weeks, that was amazing, worked the same day and completely pain free, the first time I'd slept through the night in a number of years.

The full nerve block where they zap it took a week after the procedure before I really knew there was a decent benefit, it was never quite as good as the aesthetic injection into the nerve root but it did last a lot longer!