Debilitating pain from lower back down to FRONT and INSIDE leg.

[Remington]

2 weeks ago I was doing T bar rows.
The next day I was home bending down to pick up a piece of paper and BAM!, I was hit with the most painful feeling in my lower right back.
I went to a chiropracter who took some Xrays and said he couldn't see anything but going by my symptoms, it appears I've 'injured' my sciatic nerve. He gave me an adjustment, showed me some stretches and sent me on my way.

That was a week ago. I went yesterday again and he adjusted me again and showed me more exercises.
Today when I woke up the pain was the absolute worst it's ever been.

It starts in my lower back---not the buttocks---and goes halfway down the FRONT--not the back of my right leg.
I can barely walk.
Any idea whats going on before I go to the emergency room.
I have no health insurance, so my choices are limited.
But im gonna have to bite the bullet and go to the ER on Monday.
Ibuprofin 800 4 times a day and Aleve as well as Doans has done NOTHING for me.
Please help this long time member get thru this.
Thanks a bunch in advance.
-me

[lovbyts]

Have you been using ice? I hear you about how bad it is but seroiusly I think in your case Ice will help a lot if you do it the way you should.

Lay, sit or whatever is comfortable for you on a good size ice pack. If you dont have one use frozen pees or even crushed ice put into a large or several zip lock baggies.

Lay on the ice or apply it directly to the skin (you will get use to it) for 20 - 30 min. Remove it for 20 - 30 minutes. and repeat at least 3x. Do this at least 3x a day.

Personally I would be very careful about any stretching for a while. Light easy stuff is fine but don't push anything or you will aggravate it worse.

ANYTHING you do, bending especially concentrate on your stomach/core muscles and keep them flexed. Use your knees to bend and even go down on a knee or both if you have to. Avoid bending forward since this adds more pressure to the disc that may be pinched.

You can also get a Velcro wrap that is similar to a weight belt to help keep things immobile for the time being but doing get dependent on it or it will make your back weaker. It's also a good way to hold the ice in place.

If this does not make things feel a lot better in a couple of days go to your GP and ask for Prednisone. If it's a sciatic issue this will help 99.9% of the time when the ice does not help. If it's a disc issue it should still help but you need to take a lot of time to heal.

Laying on a solid flat surface helps me such a the floor with a pad or blanket vs a couch or bed.

FYI do NOT, do no, do not use heat on your back. This will make things worse. AFTER your back is better, say 1 week+ it's OK to use heat. This means no hot bath, no hot tub, no hot packs. I think menthos type ice hot rubs are OK.

[Remington]

lovbyts.
I simply cannot thank you enough for your advice.
I'm going to make some changes with my approach to this thing.
First off, I'm going to UP my ice time.
I was doing 15 min on 3 times a day.
I like your approach much better.

Secondly--seeing as tomorrow will make 2 weeks dealing with this, I'm going to go to a local clinic here in Vegas.
My Google searches had me thinking an Epidural shot was sure to be given. I've since found out that they have to do an MRI before giving you that.
Not an option with no health insurance.
However, I looked into the prednisone as you suggested and see that many many more people get that from the doctor.

Can I ask one more question?
I have the feeling the clinic where I'm going to go wont know what dosage to give--so I'd like some ideas on what to suggest.
{crazy huh?? crazy that I --the PATIENT-- have to know what drug and dosage the DOCTOR should give me!}
Any ideas?

Once again...thank you a ton for your help with this.
I don't feel so helpless and hopeless anymore.

[lovbyts]

Personally I hate the epi dural injections. I've had several and not once has it helped me. Some people do claim it helps am but my experiences have not been good. I would go with prednisone.

I don't remember if you start with 5 pills 1 day and then go down to 4 3 2 1 or if it is the opposite

[kitstreasure]

As someone who has suffered long term (24years) with sciatic nerve damage and issues with my SI joints I have a few pieces of advice:
1) Evening Primrose oil has a precursor to Prolactin in it and taking 500-1000mg of this will help relax the tendons in the pelvis which will allow you to stretch the pelvic floor muscles and the muscles in the lower back better. Keeping those muscles loose (fluid/relaxed/unknotted) will help relieve the pressure on the nerves involved and therefore reduce your pain.
2) Get an inversion table or check into inversion therapy. You should be able to find someone that advertises non-surgical spine straightening. This is usually inversion therapy. The inversion therapy also helps stretch this whole area as well as your hams, and other back muscles. It does wonders for your flexibility and range of motion.
3) Sit on a swiss ball, ALOT. The more you can sit on something like that, the more it will open up the pelvic joints, again relieving the pressure on the nerves.
4) Squat to pick things up from the floor, don't bend. For awhile, you're going to need to avoid bending from the waist as much as possible to prevent further nerve impingement.

Lovbyts has covered ice and heat therapy so I think you've pretty well got your bases covered. Becareful if you do get prednisone, after all, it's a steroid and everyone here knows steroids have their own issues/complications/sides.

[Remington]

Thanks for the info Kyts....I'll look into that.

:::UPDATE:::

So this morning I went to a quick care clinic and was given SOMA and PREDNISONE.
As I expected I had to suggest it. He's was gonna let me wlk out of there with Naproxen.
No way was I taking that crap.

From what I've read it 'should' kick in in 24-72 hours. Anybody wanna verify that??

I also read to take a HOT Epson Salt bath.
I know heat is not recommended, but that's what the doctor suggested as well.
It's been 2 weeks since the onset, is this something I should try. Maybe just once?
Also---I know I should have gotten this info from the doc but I didn't---should I continue the Advil 800?

Thanks again to one and all.

[lovbyts]

Thanks for the info Kyts....I'll look into that.

:::UPDATE:::

So this morning I went to a quick care clinic and was given SOMA and PREDNISONE.
As I expected I had to suggest it. He's was gonna let me wlk out of there with Naproxen.
No way was I taking that crap.

From what I've read it 'should' kick in in 24-72 hours. Anybody wanna verify that??

I also read to take a HOT Epson Salt bath.
I know heat is not recommended, but that's what the doctor suggested as well.
It's been 2 weeks since the onset, is this something I should try. Maybe just once?
Also---I know I should have gotten this info from the doc but I didn't---should I continue the Advil 800?

Thanks again to one and all.

Yup that's about right. You should start feeling a big difference in 24 hrs.

It been 2 weeks so a hot/warm epson salts bath may not hurt but if you feel it getting tight I would get out and apply ice right away.
Advil is fine or anything that helps with the pain.

[Remington]

::another UPDATE::
Medicine is amazing.
Last night while watching the super bowl I noticed my pain was easily 70% better.
All that with one dose of Prednisone and 2 doses of Soma.
Today I can walk. My wife said I wasn't grunting in my sleep.
I'm gonna take it super easy today and tomorrow.
One point worth mentioning that I found strange was that founder of Prednisone committed suicide after he created Prednisone when he found out about all the side effects it caused.
Alllll righty then.....
I don't think a few days is gonna kill me.
But if this turns out to be my last post, well, then I'll see you on the other side.
Thanks again to everybody that offered help.

[jseek]

Ps. Prednisone can
1) decrease inflammation
2) cause a euphoria
3) decrease pain by above

However....follow through for the next while on stuff like....
Back flexibility....need full extension and flexion of low back before heavy stuff
Build your core till its awesome
Hip&hamstring flexibilty&strength...if not adequate we as humans leave hips in neutral, fix a static midrange posture with our hamstrings in a short and strong range....then flex our low to mid backs to lift.....which common sense would say us wrong that we use little 1-2 inch muscles and complex back joints and discs to lift with, yet the strong ham&butt muscles are taking it easy.

Mechanics...gotta make sure u r lifting properly always!

A simple tweak can b a warning sign....yes u can b the one who recovers 100% without anything else...but often the underlying cause of the issue isn't addressed because the most pressing problem we shortsightedly see (pain) is gone....until the next wrong move.

But hopefully your back turns out to be great and with wisdom from this tweak you come back better than ever!

[kitstreasure]

Remington, heat is the main thing I do for my back besides the inversion. When I hurt, I'll jump in a HOT shower, and stay there until I start sweating. Once, I'm sweating, I'll clean up, get out and get on the inversion table before I cool off. It does WONDERS.

Make sure you up your calcium intake while on prednisone, watch your calories (or you'll be gaining weight in the blink of an eye), and stay away from Naproxen and other NSAIDS while on prednisone since they both irritate the intestinal walls.

[lovbyts]

Remington, heat is the main thing I do for my back besides the inversion. When I hurt, I'll jump in a HOT shower, and stay there until I start sweating. Once, I'm sweating, I'll clean up, get out and get on the inversion table before I cool off. It does WONDERS.

Make sure you up your calcium intake while on prednisone, watch your calories (or you'll be gaining weight in the blink of an eye), and stay away from Naproxen and other NSAIDS while on prednisone since they both irritate the intestinal walls.

Well then you have not had much of a real injury and only some sore muscles or you would quickly learn how this is 100% the wrong thing to do. You will see there are dozens of us here who have had serous back injuries, sciatic nerve issues, bulging discs, herniated discs, ruptured discs, one or more surgeries and other serious injuries and all the doctors, studies and supporting evidence say to NOT use heat.

[lovbyts]

::another UPDATE::
Medicine is amazing.
Last night while watching the super bowl I noticed my pain was easily 70% better.
All that with one dose of Prednisone and 2 doses of Soma.
Today I can walk. My wife said I wasn't grunting in my sleep.
I'm gonna take it super easy today and tomorrow.
One point worth mentioning that I found strange was that founder of Prednisone committed suicide after he created Prednisone when he found out about all the side effects it caused.
Alllll righty then.....
I don't think a few days is gonna kill me.
But if this turns out to be my last post, well, then I'll see you on the other side.
Thanks again to everybody that offered help.

Glad to hear it is helping. I know prednisone would do the trick.

[Remington]

::update / question::
I was given a 16 day supply {40 tabs} of Prednisone for the pain.
After the first dose, I felt 80% better.
Second dose...same--80% better.
Third dose...pain has returned when standing.
Just as painful as when this started.
The pain is back. I don't know what to do.
Is this the sort of medicine that needs to build up in the system?
The first day I took it the effects were AMAZING.
But that's not the case anymore.
Now I can barley stand for more than 3 min before the pain sets in....BAD.
Will this medicine start working again?

[canesfan804]

Nice time for this post I have been going through this for about a week now. Started with a pressure like feeling on my tailbone and running down the left glute, lasted about 3 days then felt fine on Sunday. Monday felt great I had chest, back and traps so while doing shrugs on the smith machine I felt a little something on the lower right side of my back. I pushed through and felt the tightness last night on the tail bone. Tonight it is actually hurting kinda bad. Id say a 5-6 outta 10. I have started ice with 800mg advil. I am hoping this is nothing serious as I just started 500mg test e last week. Side note last wed I pinned left glute and this Sun was right glute. Any chance of this having something to do with it. I dont think its PIP. Sorry I am not trying to hijack thread but I see you already have some help here so why start another was my thinking.

[canesfan804]

bump

[lovbyts]

::update / question::
I was given a 16 day supply {40 tabs} of Prednisone for the pain.
After the first dose, I felt 80% better.
Second dose...same--80% better.
Third dose...pain has returned when standing.
Just as painful as when this started.
The pain is back. I don't know what to do.
Is this the sort of medicine that needs to build up in the system?
The first day I took it the effects were AMAZING.
But that's not the case anymore.
Now I can barley stand for more than 3 min before the pain sets in....BAD.
Will this medicine start working again?

I'm sorry to hear that, that really sucks. Maybe because things felt so much better somehow you overdid it and re injured again. I would definitely continue using the prednisone and ice like I had previously suggested and hopefully things will turn around quickly.

[Remington]

Thanks.
But I couldn't have re-injured it sitting on the couch---cause thats all I could do.
lol

Now the pain seems to have made it's way towards my groin area.
How can this be sciatica if never once I felt pain in my butt cheeks?

For the record...in my 43 years on earth, I have never once typed out the words butt cheeks.
FYI

[Prospect]

Sounds def like sciatica. This i know because i ruptured my L4 L5 and it was pushed into my sciatica. Its not fun to say the least and it shot pain literally from my ass cheek all the way to my toes. I walked like a 90 year old man until i managed to have surgery. The surgery was out patient and only took a short time. It did however cost me about 15k. I injured mine in the oil field picking up the wrong way on some really heavy parts. I short stepped while carrying the product and it brought me to my knees. This was in 2008 and it will never go away. The pain is not near as intense but i can still feel it there. Some days are better than the next. The only way to find out is to have an MRI done. An X-Ray will not show this. They will put you on pain meds and anti inflammatory but i would suggest only take the pain meds for a short time as they will do more harm than good. That's no road i would send my worst enemy down. If the pain is in your groin do you think maybe you got a hernia? You need to have a MRI done ASAP its only gonna get worst my friend. I really hope its not that serious and i wish you the best. GL

[Remington]

QUESTION
The last 2 weeks, my right leg down by the knee mostly on the outside part--same side where my back pain was- is KILLING me.
I can't stand more than a few minutes.
I've been doing the McKenzie stretches and using an inversion table.
I don't have insurance so for at least the next 3 months an MRI is out of the question.
I've been taking ibuprofin 800mg--4 times a day.
Well...I was--but I haven't in about 8 days.

Should I continue using ice on and off during the day?
Should I try icing my leg as well or just the lower back where the injury was?
Is there something else I could be doing to stop this pain in my leg?
I'm starting a new job in 2 weeks where I'll HAVE to stand for 8 hours straight.

Any ideas?

[kitstreasure]

I had completely forgotten about this thread and for some reason my notifications don't work. So, late though it may be I would like to address this issue right here:

Well then you have not had much of a real injury and only some sore muscles or you would quickly learn how this is 100% the wrong thing to do. You will see there are dozens of us here who have had serous back injuries, sciatic nerve issues, bulging discs, herniated discs, ruptured discs, one or more surgeries and other serious injuries and all the doctors, studies and supporting evidence say to NOT use heat.

I haven't had back surgery or ruptured disks. I do have: scoliosis, sciatica (24 years now), I have broken my left hip and pelvis repeatedly, and I have broken several vertebrae in my neck and back. If you ice my back you will put me in screaming, crying, agonizing pain. Granted cold works for a vast majority of people since it numbs the nerves to some extent, however, there are what's known as paradoxical cases that respond the opposite of what is expected to any given treatment. (Giving speed to ADHD kids is a perfect example, they have a known paradoxical reaction to stimulants that calms them down.)

Now, I was in my post directly responding to the OP's mention that the doctor had told him to take a HOT epsom salt bath. So, rather than contradicting your advice (which seems to have caused you offense), I was simply giving him more information from someone who uses HEAT as a way to deal with the pain and stiffness.

[kitstreasure]

QUESTION
The last 2 weeks, my right leg down by the knee mostly on the outside part--same side where my back pain was- is KILLING me.
I can't stand more than a few minutes.
I've been doing the McKenzie stretches and using an inversion table.
I don't have insurance so for at least the next 3 months an MRI is out of the question.
I've been taking ibuprofin 800mg--4 times a day.
Well...I was--but I haven't in about 8 days.

Should I continue using ice on and off during the day?
Should I try icing my leg as well or just the lower back where the injury was?
Is there something else I could be doing to stop this pain in my leg?
I'm starting a new job in 2 weeks where I'll HAVE to stand for 8 hours straight.

Any ideas?

Did you ever get an answer to this here or somewhere else? Have you been able to start your new job?

[lovbyts]

I had completely forgotten about this thread and for some reason my notifications don't work. So, late though it may be I would like to address this issue right here:



I haven't had back surgery or ruptured disks. I do have: scoliosis, sciatica (24 years now), I have broken my left hip and pelvis repeatedly, and I have broken several vertebrae in my neck and back. If you ice my back you will put me in screaming, crying, agonizing pain. Granted cold works for a vast majority of people since it numbs the nerves to some extent, however, there are what's known as paradoxical cases that respond the opposite of what is expected to any given treatment. (Giving speed to ADHD kids is a perfect example, they have a known paradoxical reaction to stimulants that calms them down.)

Now, I was in my post directly responding to the OP's mention that the doctor had told him to take a HOT epsom salt bath. So, rather than contradicting your advice (which seems to have caused you offense), I was simply giving him more information from someone who uses HEAT as a way to deal with the pain and stiffness.

No offense taken or meant. Simply going off my past 25 years of experience as well as most of the people who have had similar injuries on this forum. There is always an exception to the rule but it's best to 1st try the rule instead of the exception. I was stupid enough to use heat on mine right after my 2nd injury and it literally almost killed me due to almost passing out in the hot tub and I have no doubt I would have drowned.

Heat is OK/good starting about a week or sometimes more after the injury to help get blood flowing to heal the area. Ice works good as a anti inflammatory. If the sciatic nerve had not been pinched or inflamed and it had been a simple muscle strain heat would be perfectly fine. I know I use to use heat on my lower back for the sciatic nerve and it felt better, for a short time and then it always got worse or back to where it was for weeks or even months. Once I stayed away from heat and only used ice it would typically be gone in 1, 2 or maybe 3 days tops.

Also with the ice it's something you have to learn to work up to. You dont just stick a ice pack against virgin skin and expect it to feel good. It will typically hurt/burn at first and defiantly does not feel good. You have to work into it slowly where you start on the outside of a shirt or wrapped in a towel. Eventually the COLD will feel good and you will feel a huge difference; in MOST cases.

For strains or sprains one of the best things you can do is contrast therapy. Ice and heat.

[Remington]

::update::

Well enough was enough. I couldn't go on any longer.
Went to a doctor and TRIED to get a cortisone shot.
EXTENSIVE research led me to a clinic here in Las Vgeas. I called---and was told YES they do use Decadron injections for my symptoms.

Well--I went there and although the doctor was super super nice and friendly--and quite intelligent--he decided NOT to give me an injection.
His solution--which does make sense by the way was to perscribe a "prednisone burst" which consists of another script for 60 mg daily for 5 days.
I looked it up online and it appears this new dosage should do the trick.
We'll see.

[jimmyinkedup]

I think your injury is prob more isolated than your symtpoms. To alleviate (or attempt to) discomfort we compensate and often this causes secondary pain and discomfort in other areas. I hope your last visit gave you the solution. Best of luck.

[Combatant]

I would personally try a massage therapist to remedy your problem. Sometimes the issue initial injury causes pain but upon healing the muscles around whatever ligament or tendon that was strained become very tight. This tightness can cause as much or more pain than the original injury, and the only way to break up and loosen the muscles is by proper massage to get deep down to relax the tension. Give it a try because a lot of times that's all you need to heal, it's safer than shots or pills.

[nafnlaus]

get an mri, xrays dont show bulges and rarely show herniations. minimize sitting, dont go near chiropractors. Leave the pain killers and do a maximum allowed dosage anti inflammatory for a short period, see a PT and work on your core. There are about 12 types of surgeries available and none of them are good, most are invasive and have the risk of leaving you paralyzed. Most of them are to reduce pain till up to 2 years,after that time odds are that people with bulges develop full herniations and herniation patients go to maximum disc degeneration. Physical therapy is the only good way out disc injuries, sciatic pain is not something to be taken lightly. Herniations can cause paralysis, lower back disc injuries can also damage nerves leading to groin = not fun.

if this goes the worst way for you, you might want to look in to spinal fusion and full disc replacement. i wish you the best of luck