Herniated disc question

Chasity6

I am suffering with sciatica due to a second herniation to L4-5. I am trying to be more active but I find it causes my sciatica pain to worsen. Finding out in one month if I am going to require surgery again. I have tried steroid injections to no avail and currently am on steroids orally for bronchitis. I have to do small bouts of lite housework and lay down for a hour or so to keep sciatica at a tolerable level. Trying to get in at least a 30 minute walk daily. However I went for my walk now my sciatica is flaired even with steroids. Has anyone else suffered similar injury, what helped sciatica so you could get more active to try to allow for healing. Really would like to avoid another surgery and get back to work. I have been off since the end of February. I am gradually losing weight instead of increasing since changing dietary habits and logging calories. Hoping that will help reduce risk of another recurrent injury. Thanks for your advice.

clarissac15

I have chronic sciatic nerve pain and have tried many things. I went to several doctors and had all kinds of tests done with basically no relief. The combination that ended up working for me was daily stretching and a vitamin called 5htp. The stretching I do is yoga based and I really emphasize back and leg stretches specifically. I do it every single day multiple times a day especially before and after exercise. I never ever thought the pain would go away. I was on pain killers muscle relaxers and would just cry laying still. It was terrible. The 5htp is a mood stabilizer vitamin but one doctor recommended it to me to help relax my muscles. If you look it up online people take it for all kinds of things. The stretching and 5htp have been my savior. I hope you find some relief I know how bad that hurts.

slowrollem

Have you asked your orthopedist for a physical therapy referral? They would be the most qualified to give you excercise recommendations based on your needs. Tell them you want to work on your own at home and they can give you some simple excercises to do at home so you aren't breaking the bank to see them as frequently.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I find turmeric and black pepper capsules give me more relief than oramorph

BWBTrish

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arb037

Had 2 discs ruptured for 18+ years and was able to keep em under control for the most part by agressive stretching and ice therapy. I would mix in anti inflam medication as needed.
But eventually it progressed and i ended up having a 2 level microdiscectomy, been great since

Chasity6

Thanks I am pretty sure going to end up with surgery again. MRI results will determine if surgical or nerve damage. Just hoping to find a way to make the pain better so I can get active again.

Chasity6

Also going stir crazy staying at home can't wait to get back to work. Depressing for sure.

Cherimoose

Contract your TVA muscle (transversus abdominis) any time you move. Basically pull in your lower abs. This explains more:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=3p8eXl1OGdM

Getting to your ideal weight will help too. The TVA muscle doesn't support the spine as well when it's stretched out due to visceral fat.

arb037

Chasity6 wrote: »

Also going stir crazy staying at home can't wait to get back to work. Depressing for sure.

Totally can relate. I was down 7-9 months, had to wait nearly 3-4 before first surgery then had problems recovering for some reason and they had to go back in 2 months after. Was a long year to say the least

boucherjillian58

Hey Chasity! I know exactly what you are going through. At 23, I'm now 26, I was diagnosed with herniations to L4, L5, S1 area as well. In addition, they are degenerating, and torn apart. After a few weeks in physical therapy, sciatica developed. I've been on a crazy roller coaster these last few years, and if there's one thing that I can stress, is that weightlifting saved my back. I was getting epidurals every other week to the point where I went from 140 to 180 almost over night. I exploded from the steroids, which then made me more depressed. Eventually stated working out, yeah it hurt, it sucked, I felt disgusting, but I couldn't look at myself anymore and I knew over time, my back would just get worse. Eventually over time, I started doing more and more and more and lost weight. But I find it with us, that we can slip away from our patterns very easily. I'll get upset, binge eat, skip the gym for 2 weeks, and put on weight and then it's basically starting over again with my diet/gym routine. The best thing for people like us, who have an everyday battle, is to force ourselves to stick to a routine and diet, no matter how hard it is or how much we hate it. I have no one motivating me, or pushing myself, it all comes from me. Sometimes I give up on myself, but there needs to come a day where we say screw it, and we get after it. I also almost had back surgery, a microdisectimny to be exact, and I'm glad I cancelled because lifting weights really helped. Granted, it took me almost a year of strengthening my back until I was able to squat and deadlift, but you will get there, and when you do, you will see how much better your back feels.

PinkPixiexox

Don't push yourself. If your body is telling you it isn't currently happy with the level or type of exercise you are doing then stop until the problem is resolved. Concentrate on making good food choices and the rest can follow as and when you are ready