Home › Main Category › Clubhouse
sciatica help
My 20 yr old son was told yesterday(by a Nurse Practitioner), that his back pain sounded like sciatica(no xray). He was given a shot we think was a steriod and given scripts for pain and muscle relaxers. The shot whatever it was did help. He's 20 so I didn't go in the exam room.
My question is this: What type of PT should he do to help improve? I don't think meds alone will cure this.
Thanks for your help.
My question is this: What type of PT should he do to help improve? I don't think meds alone will cure this.
Thanks for your help.
0
Replies
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
NRA Endowment Member
At any rate that will cause you mucho pain and tingling and if it gets irritated his back will "Go out" meaning two weeks of hopping around in agony! Shots are a temporary help. I have to be extra careful lifting and the way I lift and not too heavy stuff. Even bending over wrong can make it go out.
He needs a complete diagnosis like X-rays and scans to find out exactly what it is. He is young enough where they may be able to fix him up to like new, as we get older EVERYTHING takes longer to heal!
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
I did a little web research. At his age the causes concern me. But I also know if I looked up the top 20 diseases I would probably have symptoms of each one
Thanks for the replies! Keep'em coming!!
Big's advice is spot on. A complete checkup, including Xrays and whatever. It could just be temporary muscle strain that will go away, or it could be something that needs more attention. Don't be satisfied with the quickie diagnosis he got.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Been using them for years, seems like they always do right by me.
JAY
I'm not joking.
Most Chiros LOVE Belly Dance!
"If you get it and didn't work for it, someone else worked for it and didn't get it..."
"If you get it and didn't work for it, someone else worked for it and didn't get it..."
Semi ditto. My Chiro not only fixed me but taught me a lot about proper posture, etc. I;ve used a money clip in my front pocket for years.
I was laid up in bed for a month with a bruised sciatic nerve from a nasty fall. Add that to a herniated disc and I've had my fair share of back ailments.
Only thing that gets me right after tweaking my back Is a chiro. I WONT do pain meds. If I overdo a lift, I'm prone to compressing of the spine. I go to the chiro an after 1 visit of heat, muscle relaxation (the electrical pulses) and an adjustment, I'm 60% better walking out the door.
Just make sure he tells the doc about any slipped or herniated disks before he gets adjusted. The chiro has to be much more cautious so that he doesn't aggravate those issues.
Is that with the tie skirt or without?
However you want. It stretches the spine and it builds core muscle strength. I had a bad back injury in 2001, just before I started Belly Dance as coincidence would have it. I showed my Chiro some undulations and other movements - he went NUTS! Said "Keep doing that, and you'll NEVER have back problems again.". So far, he's been right!
There's an older guy in one of the classes I was in whose Doc/Chiro told him "If you were a woman, I'd tell you to go to a Belly Dance class.". He had enough wherewithal to go to one anyway, its kept him "out of trouble" for several years now.
"If you get it and didn't work for it, someone else worked for it and didn't get it..."
My sciatica was caused by driving for several hours with my wallet in my pants pocket. Same thing happened to my cousin.
DPRMD
I'v been recommending chiropractors to people for thirty years, based on their successes with family members. I've never been to one, personally - I'm waiting until I have to be hauled in there on a litter, I guess. I've just never had anything that I couldn't 'walk off' in a few months time. :tooth:
As you most likely already know, sciatica is nerve pain from the lumbar spine and sacrum. The nerve root of the spinal cord passes through and then branches out through openings to your lower back and legs. Pressure on these nerves causes sciatica.
Pressure is from one of three things, swelling of the nerve in restricted space, reduction in the space the nerve passes through, or both. Chiropractic can open some of the lowest lumbar vertebrae and release constriction.
Since weight is not an issue, stretching can help a lot, like an inversion table. All of your upper body weight rests on your L5 / sacrum joint and it is common for people to have pain there.
Swelling is inflammation. Anti-inflammatories can help alleviate the discomfort. Tylenol is NOT an anti-inflammatory, it is a pain killer. Aspirin, Motrin, Aleve, and steroids are anti inflammitories and can help with swelling discomfort.
A good bed is essential. After lots of research and trial and error, I sleep on a Tempur-pedic, and most nights I pop two Motrin to allow me to sleep as pain free as possible. Back pain is a cycle that you have to break. The more it hurts, the harder it is to sleep and relax, the more tired you are, the more tense you stay. Getting good rest is essential in my opinion. A recliner works best for me to get "neutral," and if I kick back I am out in 15 minutes or less.
Removing your wallet is helpful. I only keep mine in my front pocket now, as well. Belts that are too tight can also have an effect. I went to sliding belts instead of belts with fixed holes, and adjustable waist pants to relieve my lower back pain and the combination of stretching ( Chiropractic does this too ), moving my wallet, weight loss, sliding belts, exercise and adjustable waist band pants has made my lower back 80% better. I still take a Motrin or Tylenol to sleep better at night.
Oddly enough, try no salt and diuretics, too, like tea and cucumbers to lower swelling.
It can be miserable, and I wish him luck.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
DPRMD
Mine (which is inflamed right now from a 10 hour car ride yesterday) stems mostly from inflammation of the tissue around the sciatic in my lower back/hip area. It's always associated with my left leg side, but not left leg itself. That's the side the sciatic is on.
Tje sciatic nerve runs from your lower back to just about your knee and is ONE nerve cell. Amazing really. Depending on where the inflammation and injury to the nerve occurs, the pain can be localized or widespread.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
It's stretching and muscle training in general.
You don't have to subject yourself to belly dancing.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
You don't have to, but Zorba likes to do it anyways.
NRA Life Member
Belly Dance allows you to have some fun while exercising/stretching/etc.
"If you get it and didn't work for it, someone else worked for it and didn't get it..."
:that:
First time I got sciatica I went to a chiro. He prescribed 6 weeks laying down to allow the ruptured disc to settle down then manipulated my back and injected the area with something he called 'Glue' along with cortisone. It worked for a couple of years.
Did my back in again a few years later when I was attempting to arrest a drunk driver twice my size who assaulted me and threw me into a concrete wall.
Went to a back specialist/spine surgeon who did a full medical including MRI scans , x-rays etc. When he got the results he asked me how much pain I could stand. I told him a fair amount. He then prescribed a week of rest...........and then sent me to a gym with specific instructions to a personal trainer of the exercises that he wanted me to do. All the exercises were designed to strengthen the back muscles like situps, leg presses and weight training. The first 2 months were hell but after a while the pain subsided and my back felt good. That was 20 yrs ago. I stopped going to the gym a year later, but continued doing things like situps and stretches that Sherwood described. Only time I get any recurrence of pain is when I stop doing exercises.
( And yes, I did succeed in the arrest.......broke the guys jaw and left arm in the process)
Back/sciatica treatments are strange, some things like Chiro's work for some people, others find that exercise does it for them. The final solution can be surgery but the chances of something going wrong are increased.
Explore all the possibilities before you make any decisions..............and that requires accurate diagnosis through x-rays and MRI's.
I went to a chiro one occasion for a couple of weeks. It made me feel better immediately, but was no long term cure. For lower back pain, nothing is. I also had a wallet-problem causing pain down my right (wallet) leg. And I was doing a lot of sitting and had a lot of junk in my wallet. That cured itself when I removed my wallet and a lot of junk in it.
With a 1911 and a 30-06