Sciatica No Fun

I had excruciating pain start out of the blue down my right leg from my butt to my toes. Every step was like a cattle prod down the leg. One doc wanted to do a fusion. Got 2nd opinion and he said fusion was not needed. He did an L2 to S1 Laminectomy. He decompressed the spinal cord. Completely took care of the pain.
That was three years ago. Now, I have fallen in the backyard right on my back end. When I lay down I have pain right in the middle of my back until it flattens out. Pain now going down the front of my left leg and hip. Guess I need another MRI and probably another surgery.

 

This. I have a neck shoulder pain I swore was nerve related. Turned out it wasn’t after begging for mri (not fun) after PT didn’t work. Medical massage was doing wonders until Covid and they shut down.

 

So, here’s a couple pictures of my back to validate what I gotta say



so, siatica is no joke. Surgery allowed me to stop taking opiates and I am able to sleep on my side again.

 

I have a couple of questions.

How old are you?

Are you sure they did a complete laminectomy from L2 to S1?

 

Ok, I gotta ask. How did you all mess your backs up so badly? There has to be a moment when you knew you screwed things. I was a little surprised to see how many people have back issues.

I know mine. I was 26 and competing in a CrossFit competition. Doing a snatch with wayyy to much weight compared to my previous personal record; locked out my lower back once I got it up and.. crunch. Still have issues off and on but are manageable

 

A lot of the time it’s generic.

 

I hate to break it to you guys, but our bodies were not designed to be supported in a standing position. We have about 5000 more years of evolution to go through before we’re fully ready for that.

 

Got some experience with this myself. If you have not had any surgery talk with a good chiropractor. With x-rays and possibly even MRI they can see how far gone you are. Then it comes down to a few choices:

1. Adjustments may be all you need.
2. Possible a VAX-D 9000 https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/features/vax-d-treating-back-pain-without-surgery
3. Minor surgery to remove spurs.
4. The bolts and fuse like some of the pics in this thread.

Me personally I'd only go 4 if there is no other option because as some stated ... You loose mobility. Plus some friends that have had that fuse done still need pain meds. So in that regard if your one of those unlucky folks it doesn't help much. (Still pain and less mobile)

Hope this can help some.

 

I find it very unfortunate when people feel the way you do after a surgery, what it really shows it that your surgeon did not curb your expectations. First of all, spinal surgery is never done to alleviate pain. Pain will likely remain there, the point of the surgery is not to fix that. Surgery is indicated once neurological deficit begins (numbness/weakness/loss of bowel/bladder control). It is the responsibility of the provider to curb the expectations of pain relief. The thing is, once surgery is indicated, our goal is to keep things from getting worse - not necessarily make things better. Unfortunately most people wait far into their symptoms to seek out treatment, and then have unrealistic expectations for the outcome.

 

Well I’m going to join you guys on here. Been in ems for 20 yrs has taken its toll. Ive delt with this pain off and on but this last week has been excruciating. Going to see my primary this tuesday. I feel its a bone spur that is my cause. Can feel a bumpy spot near my spine. But who know what else is going on.

 

I probably herniated a lower disc while working last Saturday, my back brace arrived Thursday enabling me to continue working. There is still excruciating pain, but I am able to get around and work.

 

If you truly did herniate a disc, I highly recommend getting it checked out and not pushing off treatment. While it may just be a muscle strain, if it truly is a herniated disc you’re just going to create bigger problems for later. For example, if you place a tourniquet on your leg for ten seconds, it’ll get better once you take it off - if you leave it on for ten minutes, you’re pushing it to where there may be permanent damage.

As for a herniated disc, if it does require surgery - it could be something a simple as a minimally invasive microdiscectomy - which is a same day surgery, which means you’ll go home the same day, and the outcomes are often amazing. If you put it off, you’re risking permanent symptoms. While it can take months, to years for symptoms to become permanent - early treatment is best.

 

You could be right, but I herniated 2 disc in my neck in the mid 90's... no surgery - just PT and paying attention to what I am doing. My lower back has given me problems on & off for about 40 years, plus I have had a hip injury... no insurance - no surgery.

 

I had L4 L5 ruptured out and pushed up on the nerves, that pain was no fun, figured PT would help, it did for few weeks, then went over the border to get Injections, that helped too, then it got worse, nerves that run along front of leg affected the top of my foot and big toe, so I now have a bit of drop foot on the right foot, barely feel anything on top of the foot as well, so I had a laminectomy, they cut away the bulging disks, carved away some bone and put the nerves in the carved out section

 

Been there. At 28, I had herniated 2 or 3 lower discs. Put up with the pain for 6 months but talking drugs to numb the pain. My Dr. thought it was muscle spasms causing my pains. Anyway, had surgery, laminectomy or laminotomy. Basically they cut part of the vertebrae out to make room for pinched nerves. Following surgery, never had relief. Went for 3 rounds of ESI's. And time, finally got some relief. I was 23 working at a cabinet shop and stayed bent over into a cabinet for majority of the time. Practically touching my toes all day. My surgeon said that was my cause of injury. Keeping the front of the discs compressed, eventually made them bust out the back. After all that, you figure ways to go about things in an easier manner. I'm 42 now. It sucked.

 

Had some serious L5/S1 issues after a bad car wreck. So bad at first I couldn't look down to pee.

PT was useless. Went through three that kept ending up at "well I'm out of ideas." Surgery is the absolute last option, and is truly robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Eventually started reading Dr. Stuart McGill. That changed everything. Park bench stretch, belly laying/breathing, and eventually walking made a world of difference. This reduced the pain and then let me work on strengthening my spinal erectors and move forward.

 

Not to discredit Dr. McGill, or his program at all - but it is important to note that Dr. McGill has a Ph.D. in Kinesiology, and is not a Medical Doctor. While I think his program is great, it is not for everyone, and some people do need surgery. I've seen too many patients that think they can do physical therapy to fix their issues that need surgical intervention, and wait until their symptoms are irreversible, and they're looking for a miracle. The biggest advice I could give, is if you are having issues with your back, and you are doing physical therapy and notice them getting worse - seek out a higher level of care.

 

Yep dealt with it for a year and a half. I could suppress sneeezes without any problems...

 

I damaged my head, neck and shoulder in a bike accident in 1971, I herniated two disc in my neck in 1993 and that event was followed by severe whiplash when I was rear ended by a taxi a few months later. The Doctors wanted to perform surgery right away... I declined. PT, stretching and consciously reducing my risk have made me 99% pain free and nearly 100% functional. I really hate that I had surgery on my shoulder, but it was unavoidable and I am still recovering from that surgery 15 years later.

My motto is to avoid surgery whenever possible.

 

I'll add my story, but first it is very important to state that each case is unique and until you have an MRI you will not know the details of your particular issue.
I was in the Marine Corps, it was 1985. I bent over to help lift up a set of bleachers and felt sharp pain that almost made me collapse. I went to medical and was told I had muscle spasms and was given muscle-relaxers. About a week later I was beginning a 3-mile run and I collapsed in excruciating pain, feeling like someone had yanked a vertebra out of my spine. I had to crawl to medical. I went to and paid for (The military didn't recognize chiropractors at the time) a local Chiro and he gave me great relief but it never lasted. He finally told me he could do no more for me and that I needed surgery. By that time I had gone for about 3 weeks with almost NO sleep because I was in so much pain.
I was checked in to a Hospital and put on 30 days of strict bedrest. I was only allowed out of bed to use the bathroom, nothing else. Prior to getting into bed they tested my nerve impingement by measuring electrical impulses. This test involved needles, wires, blood and horrible pain.
After 30 days they re-did the test and I had gotten worse. At that point they prescribed another 30 days but also began the tests required prior to surgery. Keep in mind that there were no MRIs in 1985, so they did what's called a Myleogram, which involved injecting dye into my spinal column and then shooting photos of it as it went through the affected area.
I finally had the entire disc at L5S1 removed. When I awoke I was SO relieved to finally have that horrible sciatica completely gone. I had no fusion or hardware or anything else and by the time that was over and I had recovered enough to leave, I had been in the hospital for 97 consecutive days. I was then put on 30 days of convalescent leave from the Marine Corps and because I was stationed in Hawaii at the time, I went to the beach every day for 30 days and mostly just lay in a lawn chair. I also began walking every day. First, just a block or two, but gradually working up to many miles. My surgery was in January of 1986 and in November of 1987 I ran my first Marathon in Honolulu.
I had a 22-year career in the Marine Corps afterwards which included being a parachutist and jump master and also doing triathlons as a hobby, culminating with my doing an Ironman at the age of 40. Over the rears I have had some issues from time to time but they have always been corrected by a few visits to a Chiropractor. Nowadays a person with exactly what I had can often get relief from simple outpatient micro-surgery and go home the same day. Because of that, I highly recommend considering surgery if you have been suffering a for a long time.

 

Haha. Nice comedy routine there. I went the route of seeking out someone who had helped olympians return from similar injuries to compete again. May not work for everyone, as every body and ever case is different. Spinal surgery should be the absolute last option after exhausting all others. The risks and long term problems outweigh any and all short term benefits.

The biggest advice you should give is get a second, or third, opinion and pursue all levels of care. You may not have the right PT or you may taking advice from a joke online.

 

Well, I did say my biggest advice was to seek out a higher level of care - you'd have to seek that out before getting a second, or third opinion. But, it is clear that you already know everything, which must be pretty awesome. Congratulations to you.

 

In my younger days, I thought sciatica was a joke. Last year changed my mind when I got hit with it on my right side for almost a year. It's pain that keeps on giving.

I went to a chiropractor for 2 months of treatments and it got much better - better never completely disappeared.

Mine eventually faded early this year, and I'm good so far.

I just hope I don't get hit with it again.

 

I am about 98% recovered, and I am wearing the brace less often - just for heavy lifting now.

 

Been there. I have had a couple spine surgeries related- one on neck and one on lower back. One thing I have learned, working on your core and overall strength and flexibility really helps. I started doing 6 basic yoga moves a couple months ago and have never felt better.