Discussion
I have had Sciatica and for well over a month now. I can cope alright during the day time, however bedtime is a different matter, i wake up around 3-4 am every morning in pain (it is not the mattress) so i end up on my reclining chair in the living room for some relief of the pain. I have been to the doctors who have given me pain killers , which to me are not effective at all. So i an thinking about purchasing s UV lamp for pain relief, has anyone tried this if so are they effective
Sciatica is a symptom of something else so painkillers might (or might not) give some relief but they won't cure.
As above, see a physio who would hopefully be able to find the cause and suggest treatment.
ETA: I had a mild, brief bout of this last yr and it came from my piriformis. A couple of weeks of frequent stretching and I'm all better.
As above, see a physio who would hopefully be able to find the cause and suggest treatment.
ETA: I had a mild, brief bout of this last yr and it came from my piriformis. A couple of weeks of frequent stretching and I'm all better.
Edited by Animal on Thursday 9th April 20:22
RT/M said:
I have had Sciatica and for well over a month now. I can cope alright during the day time, however bedtime is a different matter, i wake up around 3-4 am every morning in pain (it is not the mattress) so i end up on my reclining chair in the living room for some relief of the pain. I have been to the doctors who have given me pain killers , which to me are not effective at all. So i an thinking about purchasing s UV lamp for pain relief, has anyone tried this if so are they effective
That "remedy" and the others proposed in the replies above may not make a lick of difference and may exacerbate whatever is causing the "sciatica". You've got pain in your back which may be impingement of the sciatic nerve and this can be by many cause: Herniated disc, displaced vertebrae, spinal stenosis, tumour/cancer......The threatment of the cause might be anything from waiting for inflamattion to settle and then do some exercies to strengthen your "core" muscles through to surgery. An actual physiotherapist might diagnose it if the cause fits within their field of expertise. Otherwise you'll probably need some scans to see what's going on exactly. Do that sooner rather than later so you're not just masking it all with a painkiller that "works" (which has an addiction risk) or engaging on useless physical remedies in case the cause is something rather more serious....rodericb said:
That "remedy" and the others proposed in the replies above may not make a lick of difference and may exacerbate whatever is causing the "sciatica". You've got pain in your back which may be impingement of the sciatic nerve and this can be by many cause: Herniated disc, displaced vertebrae, spinal stenosis, tumour/cancer......The threatment of the cause might be anything from waiting for inflamattion to settle and then do some exercies to strengthen your "core" muscles through to surgery. An actual physiotherapist might diagnose it if the cause fits within their field of expertise.
Yes. Ish.rodericb said:
Otherwise you'll probably need some scans to see what's going on exactly. Do that sooner rather than later so you're not just masking it all with a painkiller that "works" (which has an addiction risk) or engaging on useless physical remedies in case the cause is something rather more serious....
No. The vast majority of back pain and sciatica will settle over 8-12 weeks. The painkillers allow you to move, and movement helps so use them. The likelihood of tumour in a 4 week history of sciatica is so vanishingly small you can forget it. (Obviously in an assessment I'd consider it...)It is worth being aware of the signs of cauda equina because although it's rare, it is an emergency and needs an urgent scan via A&E.
Doofus said:
Stretches and a sciatica pillow for between your legs in bed.
Definitely need a pillow between your legs if you are a side sleeper. Sleep on the non affected side. Swimming is good and exercises.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercises-sc...
Bill said:
It is worth being aware of the signs of cauda equina because although it's rare, it is an emergency and needs an urgent scan via A&E.
Being someone who has had 2 emergency ops in the last 2 years for cauda equina, I can assure you it's no fun, but the relief felt immediately after the operation was absolutely out of this world. If I could bottle that 'high', i'd be a billionaire. Bill said:
No. The vast majority of back pain and sciatica will settle over 8-12 weeks. The painkillers allow you to move, and movement helps so use them. The likelihood of tumour in a 4 week history of sciatica is so vanishingly small you can forget it. (Obviously in an assessment I'd consider it...)
It is worth being aware of the signs of cauda equina because although it's rare, it is an emergency and needs an urgent scan via A&E.
The 8-12 weeks thing is great if you are in the vast majority. A proper assessment will determine whether you're in the vast majority or not and, above all else, should result in a treatment plan either way. It's when you're not in the vast majority that leaving it keeps you debilitated, may make what you've got worse or could be an indication of something more serious. If the OP was in their twenties, wait it out. If they're older, are missing work, eating potent pain killers (not that the OP is) or whatever there's a bit more gravity to the situation, in my opinion. This type of thing should be easily done in even a half-functional health system.It is worth being aware of the signs of cauda equina because although it's rare, it is an emergency and needs an urgent scan via A&E.
I've been down the road of the person who is not in the majority - pars defects on L5 and L6 - which needed to be known so it could be treated correctly. I have a mate who fell onto the ground at literally walking pace, somehow "chipped a bone" in his spine, went off work due to injury and spent the next twenty years on ever increasingly powerful pain killers of varying levels of hillbilliness and legality. So it can be pretty rough.
Edited by rodericb on Monday 13th April 11:36
Assessment and a steer from a professional is one thing, but only a tiny number need a scan because it usually doesn't change the management particularly early on and isn't a good predictor of outcome. Something like 30% of people with no pain have degenerative changes, disc bulges etc on MRI. And a similar proportion with pain have no signs on MRI.
People want to "know what's going on" but even with a scan it's often hard to be certain.
People want to "know what's going on" but even with a scan it's often hard to be certain.
Animal said:
Sciatica is a symptom of something else so painkillers might (or might not) give some relief but they won't cure.
As above, see a physio who would hopefully be able to find the cause and suggest treatment.
ETA: I had a mild, brief bout of this last yr and it came from my piriformis. A couple of weeks of frequent stretching and I'm all better.
This is true, stretching does help cure it, but you need to find the cause. As above, see a physio who would hopefully be able to find the cause and suggest treatment.
ETA: I had a mild, brief bout of this last yr and it came from my piriformis. A couple of weeks of frequent stretching and I'm all better.
Edited by Animal on Thursday 9th April 20:22
Mine was damaged vertebrae, not much can be done, but I got lucky with a spinal jab several years ago at a private hospital.
Bill said:
Assessment and a steer from a professional is one thing, but only a tiny number need a scan because it usually doesn't change the management particularly early on and isn't a good predictor of outcome. Something like 30% of people with no pain have degenerative changes, disc bulges etc on MRI. And a similar proportion with pain have no signs on MRI.
People want to "know what's going on" but even with a scan it's often hard to be certain.
And the ones who do need a scan (urgently) often don’t get it.People want to "know what's going on" but even with a scan it's often hard to be certain.
I wish I had made enquiries as to “what was going on” when I had sciatica and low back pain because a few months later I ended up with a massive disc herniation, sent home from A&E then swiftly ended up permanently f
ked with CES.The bar for MRI is far too high and they don’t seem to learn.
In Egypt two years ago was doing up our villa to sell ,was on my own ,
woke up one morning and was in serious pain , lower back shooting down one leg , I had to lie on the cold tiled floor to get any relief , was like that for aw week .
Eventually i called a friend , who took me to a local quack ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, they gave me a bottle of pills and a large bottle of liquid . take a pill and a 10ml dose of liqid he said ....BUT NO MORE than that.
I hobbled back took the medicine then laid in the pool ,,,,,, then felt really dizzy .. managed to get out and collapsed on the lounge floor . I was out for nearly 24hrs . the pain had been replaced by euphoric feeling of weightlessness , but i had no will to get up /
WTF
It turned out the tablets were a derivative of Xylazine, ( horse tranquilizers and the liquid was an oramorph
i stopped taking the tablets but continued with the oramorph .... had no pain after that
after 2 weeks it fixed itself
woke up one morning and was in serious pain , lower back shooting down one leg , I had to lie on the cold tiled floor to get any relief , was like that for aw week .
Eventually i called a friend , who took me to a local quack ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, they gave me a bottle of pills and a large bottle of liquid . take a pill and a 10ml dose of liqid he said ....BUT NO MORE than that.
I hobbled back took the medicine then laid in the pool ,,,,,, then felt really dizzy .. managed to get out and collapsed on the lounge floor . I was out for nearly 24hrs . the pain had been replaced by euphoric feeling of weightlessness , but i had no will to get up /
WTF
It turned out the tablets were a derivative of Xylazine, ( horse tranquilizers and the liquid was an oramorph
i stopped taking the tablets but continued with the oramorph .... had no pain after that
after 2 weeks it fixed itself
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