Sciatica!!!

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Navrig
Posts: 197
Joined: 9 Apr 2018, 12:46pm

Re: Sciatica!!!

Post by Navrig »

Keep moving and gently stretch the painful buttock.

Best description for that stretch is the pretzel. You'll find it on YouTube.

This one.

https://youtu.be/oO5l4D1kg8E
Phileas
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2009, 6:12pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Sciatica!!!

Post by Phileas »

I’ve had a bout of sciatic trouble recently.

For me it’s always been a mainly a lower back, intermittent stabbing pain type of thing that fades over time but last week I got a new symptom - a shooting pain down my leg followed by a continuous dull pain that worsened when standing. The following day the pain subsided but left me with numbness on the bottom of my left foot which I’ve had since but the worse thing is that I’ve lost some mobility - it seems I can’t walk or cycle normally.

The essence of the problem is that I can’t raise my weight onto my left toes, which sounds almost trivial but it affects my ability to walk uphill and press down on a pedal.

The question is, will normal usage return or, if not, will I adapt?
Pebble
Posts: 1934
Joined: 7 Jun 2020, 11:59pm

Re: Sciatica!!!

Post by Pebble »

Phileas wrote:I’ve had a bout of sciatic trouble recently.

For me it’s always been a mainly a lower back, intermittent stabbing pain type of thing that fades over time but last week I got a new symptom - a shooting pain down my leg followed by a continuous dull pain that worsened when standing. The following day the pain subsided but left me with numbness on the bottom of my left foot which I’ve had since but the worse thing is that I’ve lost some mobility - it seems I can’t walk or cycle normally.

The essence of the problem is that I can’t raise my weight onto my left toes, which sounds almost trivial but it affects my ability to walk uphill and press down on a pedal.

The question is, will normal usage return or, if not, will I adapt?

that is a red light, esp the mobility as that could be motor loss - see a doctor

probably a slipped disc or something, what side of the sole of your foot? if it is the side with the big toe then it could be L5 , the side with the little toe then S1. Do an nternet search for "Dermatome Map"

Yes it probably will go back to normal (about 2 years for me) It is a horrible thing, best of luck, and do see a medical professional.
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Sciatica!!!

Post by Jdsk »

Phileas wrote:I’ve had a bout of sciatic trouble recently.

...

The question is, will normal usage return or, if not, will I adapt?

Sorry to hear that.

NHS advice:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sciatica/

That includes when to talk to your GP and when to contact emergency services.

And:

"Sciatica usually gets better in 4 to 6 weeks, but it can sometimes last longer."

Happy Christmas, apart from that.

Jonathan
Phileas
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2009, 6:12pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Sciatica!!!

Post by Phileas »

Yes, I’ve seen the NHS advice. It does say 4~6 weeks recovery but I’m aware nerve damage can become “permanent”.

The numbness is on the little-toe side - as far as I can tell, that corresponds S1.

I’ve been on a very short cycle ride which feels odd but I think I will be able fo cycle to work - although I don’t yet know if I’ll still be able to mash up hill on my single-speed.

I can tell I’m already partially adapting because I’m getting mild muscle pain and tiredness in my leg which I assume is due to my body compensating for the mobility loss.
David9694
Posts: 908
Joined: 10 Feb 2018, 8:42am

Re: Sciatica!!!a

Post by David9694 »

https://www.newhallhospital.co.uk/treat ... -treatment

I wanted to share my reflections on this problem, having had a six month bout of it in case it helps anyone coming into it. I’m much better now - the TL:DR from me is to find the right exercise and engage with it properly.

After 30 years of office work, I get a bit of back pain and stiffness from time to time and regularly doing a few floor exercises resolves this. I should say I’m mid fifties, able to do 5 hours’ country walking, and 3-4 hours cycling. I had back pain and stiffness in July ‘21, cleared it, but the leg pain lingered and would come on and worsen after an hour’s walking. It went diagonally across the back of the thigh to the knee on one side. For a couple of months, household activities like cooking a meal and - horror - fiddling with a bike on the work stand really brought it on - it seemed all the little back-and-forth movements you make with those things really aggravated it.

For a time all my coat pockets were rattling with tubes of ibuprofen gel - that seemed to help to begin with. To the hiking party from St Winifred’s Girl Guides, apologies, it wasn’t what it may have looked like, honest. (That was a joke, from my wife’s standard wind-ups if I disappear off behind a tree on a walk.)

A night’s sleep helped. Cycling itself was fine, thankfully. The other really distinct thing was in a typical case of walking with my wife a woodland, coming back to the car was really difficult, as whatever muscles contracted - about 15 minutes of pain, unable to get comfortable.

In September, I saw my GP - there’s basically a surgical route and a physio route and I started to see a sports therapy person in my village: at some expense. GP was interested in was there an injury incident (no) any numbness going to the toilet (no) and any pins & needles at any time (no) as flags of something more serious. It was hard to believe at times that the thigh pain was coming from somewhere else.

I started to struggle to sit my (home) office chair - sometimes, lying on the bed with my laptop was the only way to be comfortable - often I’d only last the morning in my chair. Work referred me first to a telephone physio and then a “proper” Physio. I also saw the GP again in November and had an x-ray of my hip and a blood test - no abnormality found - he was looking for arthritis. Telephone physio recommended standing back against a gloss painted door and sliding down and up it. Curiously, all 3 therapy professionals I consulted seemed quite crestfallen that on a second appointment I didn’t come bounding in cured.

The f2f physio thought my pelvis was out of alignment due to tight muscles and that as a result I was getting sciatic pain. Of all the stuff online line I read, the site above, my local private hospital, I found best described my set of problems - I was in the green zone if you look at the body diagram of where that sort of leg pain actually originates from. A lot of other web sites scatter gun you with all sorts of potential causes.

In terms of existing floor exercises, I do typically child’s pose, then cobra, knee roll and the clam. Physio advised to really lean over with the clam (I find it’s best to tuck the lower arm around the back) and do a knee lift of a couple of inches to target one of the groin muscles.

All of us in cycling know about having a strong, fit core - your core protects your lower body from the effects of the pedalling action; if it starts to give out on a long ride that can cause you lower back problems. We also know that everything is connected - the song tells us so. This still feels like an obscure subject, when it’s the likely source of so many related complaints.

So lying on your back, you can arch your lack or fatten it to the ground - the midway point is pelvis neutral in physio-speak. You raise your knees and lift a bent leg up and bring the foot down flat : toe tap it’s called. You shouldn’t need to bring flatten your back to do this. Try raising both legs, try cycling them in the air. And all the other core exercises in that book.

That’s part 1 - part 2, and the good news is that most of these can be done anywhere - for me was to stretch the thigh and calf muscles front and back. Our problem in cycling is that we really develop only certain muscles and others get left behind. Mix that with being a desk jockey like me...

We’ve all seen the runners on one leg clasping an upturned ankle - can you do that? Enlist a piece of soft furniture of the right height to rest the top of your foot on if not. The next, and I think this is the one that really sorted me is: ski sit (feet together, knees bent, bum out) and then from the knee one leg forward to stretch the back of that thigh - and swap, even if you’ve only got one bad side. Next, one foot in front of the other and bend the rear knee and stretch the back of the calf and the ankle. Then “take the knee” - down on one knee, the other leg stretched out behind and stretch the front of of the rear thigh - don’t let the bent knee go further forward than your toes.

Some of the exercises were new to me, others I’d attempted before e.g from posters up at the gym. Both mind and body are programmed to compensate: for if one muscle/group gives out, another seeks to take over. That can mean you (I) side-step the intended exercise and miss the target muscle, (ii) for fear of pushing too hard, or giving-in to a muscle that doesn’t want to play don’t you don’t engage it - which is where some professional supervision is helpful.

So I hope all that helps someone.
Spa Audax Ti Ultegra; Genesis Equilibrium 853; Raleigh Record Ace 1983; “Raleigh Competition”, “Raleigh Gran Sport 1982”; “Allegro Special”, Bob Jackson tourer, Ridley alu step-through with Swytch front wheel; gravel bike from an MB Dronfield 531 frame.
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