Wellness

[chrystaltree]

Where do you people find these quack doctors?  Sciatic is not a disease, sciatic just means that you have back (or leg) pain that is nerve pain.  That it's.  It just describes the pain.  A real doctor goes on to find out the reason for that pain so that a treatment plan can be put into place.  It could be surgery or injections or medication or PT or rest.  It depends on the condition that is causing the pain.  So, to say go buy a new mattress is absolutely horrible.  It's egregious.  I know that some local, pcp's aren't up on this stuff.  So, they should refer their patients to doctors who do know something.  My sciatic was due to spinal stenosis.   My husband's sciatic years ago was due to a herniated disc.  He had surgery and I get spinal injections every 3 months.  Injections don't work for everyone but I get a good 10 weeks of pain relief from them.  If you've been in pain for longer than a few weeks, go see a real doctor and you'll need an mri to diagnose.

[fortune]

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@Mz iMac wrote:

@kivah

"Would a new mattress help - and, if so, which type? What causes this?"

Why didn't you ask your doctor while in his office?

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@Mz iMac

Maybe the doctor is a mattress salesman on the side.  This warrants more research than just a new mattress IMO!

[Lilly Belle]

I agree with Chrystaltree,"A real doctor goes on to find out the reason for that pain so that a treatment plan can be put into place."  Several months a go, I began to have sciatic nerve pain shooting down my left leg pretty much all day and night.  The Chiropractor that I had been seeing for almost 10 years kept telling me it was because my pelvis was out of alignment so she would adjust my pelvis and within two days the sciatica would return when my pelvis rotated back out of alignment. Even though I asked repeatedly what could be causing the pelvis rotation she never quite answered me and suggested I keep coming back for adjustments.  I asked around and found another Chiropractor who agreed my problem was from a rotated pelvis. Over the course of a few visits and some in depth conversations about my daily routine we discovered that the PT I was doing to rebuild my knee strength (I had a tendon release done in Dec. 16 on my left knee)  was causing my hamstrings to be tight (even though they didn't feel tight to me) which was causing problems with pulling on my gluteal muscles and piriformis which is turn was causing my pelvis to rotate.  Now I only do my knee PT a few times a week and make sure I keep my hamstrings stretched out and I have no more Sciatic nerve pain because my pelvis is properly aligned.  I am so grateful to my Chiroprator for being a "detective" and helping me figure out what the true source of my imbalance was instead of keeping me coming back for adjustments 2x a week.   If you are looking for a new mattress, I bought a Novosbed online and really like it a lot.  It is a high quality memory foam mattress that feels very similar to a Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme but costs much less. They have a great 120 night sleep trial too.  Good Luck with getting to the root cause of your Sciatica.

[Kachina624]

I have chronic back problems but only had one bout of sciatica a number of years ago.  My doctor referred me to physical therapy.  After about 2 weeks of treatment, I was good as new.  It's the only time PT ever helped me. 

[conlt]

Goodness, I have Sciatica come and go several times a year. The pain is unbearable sometimes. The thing that has helped me the most is going to a massage therapist. I go to the same one all of the time and she works on the muscles that surround that sciatic nerve. Also stretching my leg in bed. Lay flat, hold the leg up straight, put a long twisted towel over the top of your foot and flex the foot down towards your body, stretching the back of your calf. You can Youtube sciatic exercises. I don't do any of the floor exercises. I have a Lori griner lobak trax and that seems to help. I did buy a Serta IComfort memory foam mattress that anyone would have to pry away from me if they wanted it. I love it that much. That mattress was one of the best that I have ever purchased but that alone, I don't think would make my pain go away. The massage therapist is really the best thing that I have found for my Sciatica. 

[conlt]

I will tell you that I would have to be half dead to take an injection in my spine. I am a RN and we have a 50 year old man who was lifting weights and injured his spine, herniated disc. He went to a walk-in clinic and they injected his spine and he ended up a paraplegic, in a wheelchair from the injection. That is not my treatment of choice. When I started with the massage I was in great pain, and I went once a week until the pain was gone now I go twice a month. Love it. 

[conlt]

Sitting in any position is not good for sciatica. Sitting in bed watching TV puts too much pressure on your spine. Can you lay on your side with a pillow between your knees and watch TV?

[kivah]

@conlt

I would NEVER go to a walk-in clinic.

[kivah]

I've been sleeping on the same side of my mattress for 16 yrs- and noticed there was an indentation of my body. It's a heavy queen size - and I was unable to turn it around.

I just had a male friend turn it around --- and last night, the pain was less. It's also a coil mattress - maybe I need a different type.