Hi Dr, I am a 28 year old female who has had sciatic symptoms from the age of 8. I get shooting pains down my left and sometimes right leg. Throughout the years I have leant how to ease the pain through continued exercise. I tend to get sciatica when I am most tense or feeling very stressed e.g studying for exams, death in the family, relationship breakup, moving house. Do you have any tips to combat the shooting pains altogether? ( left and right leg) Kind Regards Kerry
@dannylamb456 The recommendations are the same for multiple disc herniations as for a single herniation. It may take longer to see results because there are multiple points of nerve irritation, but most people can still manage the problem with exercises and other self-treatments. I suggest starting with the exercise in my Sciatica Exercises Part 1 video and the methods in my ebook available on the website shown on the video. Good luck!
@DrGeorgeBest Hey doc, sorry to bother you but now it's serious, I've got three slipped discs, namely between L3 and L4, L4 and L5 and between L5 and S1. Any suggestions?
@Geardoodle The increase in symptoms could be due to muscular entrapment of the nerve, or it could be that the disc herniation has worsened and the nerve gets pulled up against it more with incline.It would probably be best to avoid inversion for now. I suggest you start with my Sciatica Exercises Part 1 video and cold packs as directed in the ebook available on my website. If you don't get improvement, a new MRI would be a good idea to evaluate further. Good luck!
....3.I'm assuming that during the incline the sciatic nerve is getting pinched in some way.It feels to me that the pain is coming from the muscle that your showing in the video.I'm feeling a muscle in the left buttock contracting and having spasms.These spasms are also occuring in my thigh and calve.I wonder if this is somethig that a chiropractor might be able to correct??
Meds just aren't working.The pain is so aweful,it's really getting to me mentally.
....2.The muscles in my left buttock,thigh and calve are aching to the point that I'm not sleeping well.I've been walking with a notable limp for about 10 days now.Like I said,this is an old injury,but I've never felt it with such intensity for this length of time.I got an inversion table last week to see if that would help.My problem that I'm having with the table is that when i incline to strech myself the leg pain becomes terrible....
1.I've had an ongoing problem with l5 disc herniation and sciatic pain for about 13 years now.Over the years I learned how to keep back strains to a minimum to as not to overly agrravate the pain.However,about 2 weeks ago,I woke up with unbelievable pain in my low back,and hip,and pain going down my leg.It's the same pain that I've had for years,but it's so much more severe and lasting now......
@Specialboy1 I suggest you check out my Sciatica Exercises Part 1 and Part 2 videos and try the tests/exercises on them. Your symptoms may be related to a bulging disc, or could be a less-serious problem of muscle trigger points, possibly associate with a sacroiliac joint that is not moving properly. If neither exercise is helpful, I'd suggest getting checked by a chiropractor to see if it is a sacroiliac problem. Good luck!
I've had a constant stiffness and sharp pain just above my left buttock since February of 2010. Standing too long, walking too long, or even sitting too long will send jolts of pain down through my left leg down into my foot making it quite uncomfortable...Prolonged exposure to cold weather also increases pain. I know I shouldn't be as worried as I am, but I'm going to be twenty in July and I should not be feeling this old at such a young age. :(
@desb63 Since you've had pain for several years, it may take up to several months for maximum recovery. It is good that you've at least had some improvement from the surgery. I wish you good luck with your recovery.
I have just undergone surgery at L5 S1 I've had sciatic pain for several years as well as muscle spasms from my toes curling to cramps all over left leg, above ankle outside of my leg gets the most problems constant twitching then cramps,I also have foot drop so am unable to operate my foot.Surgery was decompression with pedical screws for spondylolthesis also fusion,bone was also removed from nerves to give them more room.I have less pain in my lower back now but still have some pain in foot.
@dannylamb456 Hi Danny, I always recommend starting with the basics - the McKenzie exercise in the position that best centralizes symptoms (as explained in my videos and ebook on my website), piriformis stretching as shown in the Sciatica Exercises Part 2 video, and applying cold packs to the low back as directed in my ebook.See how that goes over the next few days and if it's not getting better, then you may need something more advanced or perhaps professional treatment.
@DrGeorgeBest Hi doc, it's me again, apparently my right leg was only muscle pain but now it's true sciatica and in my LEFT leg, I can feel a bubble pressing on the nerve. Any suggestions? Please answer, it hurts alot.
@nikkianika I suggest you start with the exercise in my Sciatica Exercises, Part 1 video. Try to find the position that best centralizes the symptoms (explained in the video and in the free ebook available on the website shown on the video). Use that position frequently - about a minute at a time, up to 4 or 5 times per hour you're awake. Usually that will begin to improve the symptoms within a few days to a week. See my website for further info and feel free to contact me via email there.
Hi doc, please answer, I'm in so much pain! Severe pain in lower back. It pulsates all day. Severe pain in left buttock that shoots down left leg. Left buttock has lost a lot of fat and is dented/flattened/misshaped where the pain is. Sitting is painful, standing is painful, walking hurts. I have disc bulge at L3-4 & L4-5 & degenerate disc changes as per MRI. I also have a huge bulge on my lower back that shows through my clothes. What should I do? Severe pain 24hours per day. I'm only 33. Help
@heyyy19 ...continued from previous post - If the problem is from degenerative narrowing of the nerve openings, flexion stretching exercises (such as lying face down on an exercise ball) and abdominal core strengthening maybe helpful. Other treatments like spinal decompression and massage can also relieve pressure on the nerves, and spinal injections can temporarily relieve symptoms by decreasing pressure from inflammatory swelling.
@heyyy19 Symptoms that improve with sitting and increase with standing are usually related to either degenerative arthritic changes in the joints at the back of the spine or occasionally dysfunction in one or both sacroiliac joints. With degenerative arthritis, extra bone, thickened ligaments, and sometimes cysts on the spinal joints can narrow the space at the back of the openings where the nerves come out and standing places the spine in slight extension which further decreases the space.
Hi Dr. I have sciatica symptoms-- pain runs from buttock area down to calf--that completely goes away if I sit down, but if I stand up it gets progressively worse. From what I've read, most people seem to have pain sitting down and not when they're walking, but i'm the opposite and wonder what that could mean in regards to my sciatic condition. Thanks for the info!
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