Pain from Sciatic Nerve?

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A few months ago, I developed intermittent shooting pain in my lower back and down my right leg. It comes and goes, and is especially bad now because I spend most of my time seated (work, school).

I went to a chiropractor, but that only helped temporarily. A guy at the gym mentioned something about IT band stretches. The stretches definitely stretched whatever is aching, but helps for 3 or 4 minutes at most.

Do you guys (who have felt this) think I should try getting a massage? What about foam roller work? Any suggestions you can offer would be great, it’s really annoying that it hurts all day long!

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Be careful with the massage…they could irritate the sciatic problem (had a bad experience with it when I had my ruptured disc…before I knew it was a rupture)…the massage felt great at the time but irritated the crap out of the area and the day after was extremely painful.

Best bet is to go see somebody…sciatic problems are usually the result of a bulging or ruptured disc.

ICE worked really well on mine (ended up having surgery to repair it because the rupture was so bad…but the ice helped more than anything.

Just my $.02

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[quote]ProgMtl wrote:
Be careful with the massage…they could irritate the sciatic problem (had a bad experience with it when I had my ruptured disc…before I knew it was a rupture)…the massage felt great at the time but irritated the crap out of the area and the day after was extremely painful.

Best bet is to go see somebody…sciatic problems are usually the result of a bulging or ruptured disc.

ICE worked really well on mine (ended up having surgery to repair it because the rupture was so bad…but the ice helped more than anything.

Just my $.02[/quote]

Thanks, do you mean see a doctor about it? Any specific type of doctor that would be best? I just mentioned massage because I’ve heard there’s physical therapy type massages that can address it. But, definitely don’t want to make it worse!

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Yeah…an ortho surgeon…a good massage person may help…just be specific in what & where the pain is before you let them work on you.

I feel for you…sciatic pain is almost unbearable…affects everything you do

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Thanks man, the chiro I saw seemed to just do a typical adjustment. I kept telling him the problem, and I didn’t see any difference in his technique. I just bought a foam roller, after searching the forums for suggestions. Hopefully it will help with some consistent work.

I might try a reputable masseuse next…

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
ProgMtl wrote:
Yeah…an ortho surgeon…a good massage person may help…just be specific in what & where the pain is before you let them work on you.

I feel for you…sciatic pain is almost unbearable…affects everything you do

I have to disagree with this. A lot of surgeons will recommend… surgery, which should always be a LAST resort.

A good chiro or osteo should ba able to diagnose and ttreat the problem. Tghe problem is that a lot of them are only interested in treating symptoms not causes.

Your broblem might even just be a piriformis syndrome, aggravated by your prolonged sitting.

Try and get a personal ref to a good chiro or osteo (one with a proven track record) and take it from there.

BBB[/quote]

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[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
ProgMtl wrote:
Yeah…an ortho surgeon…a good massage person may help…just be specific in what & where the pain is before you let them work on you.

I feel for you…sciatic pain is almost unbearable…affects everything you do

I have to disagree with this. A lot of surgeons will recommend… surgery, which should always be a LAST resort.

A good chiro or osteo should ba able to diagnose and ttreat the problem. Tghe problem is that a lot of them are only interested in treating symptoms not causes.

Your broblem might even just be a piriformis syndrome, aggravated by your prolonged sitting.

Try and get a personal ref to a good chiro or osteo (one with a proven track record) and take it from there.

BBB[/quote]

This is good advice. I recently dealt with this as well. My primary doctor kept trying to tell me that it was a back problem, despite not having any real back pain. She was recommending surgery, which I didn’t agree with at all.

Eventually, I went to Physical Therapist and he said it was piriformis syndrome. Since then, I’ve been stretching and doing SMR for the glute/piriformis and my sciatic hasn’t bothered me for a while now.

I also spend most of my day sitting for work, so I think it’s a good idea to look into this.

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[quote]jermag27 wrote:
A few months ago, I developed intermittent shooting pain in my lower back and down my right leg. It comes and goes, and is especially bad now because I spend most of my time seated (work, school).

I went to a chiropractor, but that only helped temporarily. A guy at the gym mentioned something about IT band stretches. The stretches definitely stretched whatever is aching, but helps for 3 or 4 minutes at most.

Do you guys (who have felt this) think I should try getting a massage? What about foam roller work? Any suggestions you can offer would be great, it’s really annoying that it hurts all day long![/quote]

I work closely with therapist’s and MD’s and the most prudent thing to do would be get an MRI performed. It would be helpful to know how you injured the area??? (i.e., squatting, deadlifting, or just woke up one day with the pain???)

Ruptured discs are fairly excruciating but contrary to popular belief surgery is not always the answer or necessary.

Step #1 is to lay off the offending actvities. (I know unrealistic for the athlete.)

step #2 ice ice ice…espescially after working out or when inflamed. Heat is okay, but when pain is in the 10 zone ice it.

step#3 An analgesic of some type (ibuprofen or aleve.) I think aleve is best. make sure you take this for at least a week regularly. The big mistake most make is taking it irregularly (It’s got to get into the blood and saturate the tissues to work 100%.)

#4 gentle massage should be fine (NO DEEP TISSUE WORK.)Accupressure is good.
Passive hamstring stretching and periformis stretching done gently and within limits done by another person while you lie on back on floor or bed really helps.

#5 when/if able gentle ab crunches (not to intense though.)
Ruling out a herniated disc it’s most likely you have some type of pinched nerve causing the pain and parasthesia down leg.

Best to get the MRI (with contrast if you can convince the MD.) Good luck.

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Thanks for the info, I’m taking notes for sure.

My lower back started tightening up pretty bad after doing squats a few months ago. I was squatting light weight, with good form, but it just tightened up and wouldn’t let go. It wasn’t that painful, just annoying, but ended up migrating down my right leg.

I have been able to squat well since then, and have actually set PR’s for squat. I just make sure to warm up well, and keep strict form. So there’s no pain during my workout, but the few days afterward I get tightness in my lower back, and shooting pain from my right ass cheek down my right leg (especially upon standing).

I agree about surgery. I got dooped into having shoulder surgery (left shoulder) 3 years ago, didn’t stop the pain. Since then, I have focused on building the muscle around my shoulder joints, and have had no pain since. I know I can beat this back/leg pain, just hoping for a non-surgical way!

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BTW, the more I read about IT band info, the more I think that is what I feel that is so tight. The pain goes from my right hip, down the outside of my upper leg.

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[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
jermag27 wrote:
BTW, the more I read about IT band info, the more I think that is what I feel that is so tight. The pain goes from my right hip, down the outside of my upper leg.

Ah well ‘sciatic’ pain would be through the buttock and down the posterior aspect of the leg.

If you lived in the UK I could do an assesment for you at minimal charge.

BBB[/quote]

Thanks man, well I appreciate your help anyway!

It’s hard to pinpoint. I can feel the pain in my right-lower back, through my right cheek, down my right leg. If I’m seated, and put my right foot on my left knee, then pull my right knee towards me I can really feel it (if that helps).

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stretch stretch stretch and then stretch some more. for my siatica i had pain when bending forward. for me the solution was to do stretches where i bent backward (lay on ground and do a pushup while keeping hips glued to ground). i got a hard bed and tried to sleep on my stomach as much as possible. antiinflammartories will help, but always eat with food. took a while to get over, but did it without surgery. massage was good for me as well.

i believe my muscles got tired and enflamed from compensating for other weaker or overburdened ones which served to make things worse. first thing i did every day was come home lay on back on the floor and put my legs up on the couch - took a lot of the stress off immediately. hope this helps siatica sux.

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[quote] OK, that stretch you describe targets the piriformis muscle. However, the pain referral pattern you describe seems more appropriate to the TFL (tensor fascia lata).

Have a look at this and see what you think. It’s not a great clip but it’s the best I could find for you on short notice, lol.

BBB

PS - you might as well have a look at this one on the QLs, too :wink:

http://www.ehow.com/video_4398183_trigger-points-quadratus-lumborum.html [/quote]

That’s awesome man, the Piriformis does sound similar to the location of my pain. I’ll have my wife watch the video and apply pressure to the trigger points.

So what do the trigger points due? Are they confused with “pinched nerves”? Thanks again for your time!