Sciaticaaaaaaa!

[cjb]

Don't go anywhere near the NHS with a sporting injury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jpb]

i was in a road accident a few years ago and ended up doing my lower back in seriously. i have lower back pain constantly but the leg pain every now and then and not both at the same time. i have muscle damage down there which also causes pain in the left hamstring (so much so that its excruciating to just touch the back of the leg). i had a discectomy to remove a few discs but it made the sciatica worse. turned out i had a lot of nerve damage. i had some treatment called pulse frequency lesioning where they put a huge needle in your back next to the nerve and this emittes a radio frequency that gets rid of scar tissue on the nerve. Best thing i ever had as the leg pain went away after a few months.

unfortunately...two years on and its back. sitting down for long periods will definatley make it worse. This thing has ruined my way of life and also my professional career. i must say though that before this happened i never cycled. i started cycling and it doesnt effect the pain what-so-ever (apart from the odd bug hill climb). cycling is a low impact sport and shouldn't make it any worse but things like running, walking,lifting and even standing or sitting for prolonged periods will cause it to hurt more.

Cycling is great as it doesn't cause more pain and also keeps you fit. I'm not glad this happened as its completley screwed my life but saying that, i wouldn't of found cycling without it!

 

[jpb]

P.S unfortunately for me... surgery made it even worse as there is a risk so have a long hard think about what you want and don't rush into it.

 

[cjb]

P.S unfortunately for me... surgery made it even worse as there is a risk so have a long hard think about what you want and don't rush into it.

I entirely agree with these sentiments.

 

[doog]

I was already for the knife when pre op the neurosurgeon noticed some minor improvements, he convinced me not to have surgery; his opinion was, that for those who are likely to recover themselves, and he put me in that category, surgery can have amazing short term results, but on average those who opted not to have surgery will be better off after 3 or 4 years. I declined the op, 3 years on I am largely pain free so maybe I made the correct decision.

I have heard that as well. Apparently there is no little or long term difference between those who have had surgery and those who dont.

I have decided after prolapse 2 not to risk surgery. This time around I had the most amazing sciatica. It literally worked its way down my leg bit by bit. Every night at 3 am when the amitriptyline had worn off I would have to get up and apply an ice pack to the pain and every night it would be lower down my leg until after about 4 weeks I had the most unbelievable pain in my toes!!

I am back to work the week after next and will be on the bike soon after hopefully. I guess I will have to flip the bars to give me a more upright position. Its a right pain because I wanted to fit another tour in before October, cant see that happening now.

 

[numbnuts]

Every night at 3 am when the amitriptyline

I'm on those amitriptyline I take 75mg at night time been on them since 1989

 

[spacecat]

Doog, Numbnuts Spacecat, we must organise a tour, the slipped disc audax :-) I'm sure we will find a few more entrants to join in. Hopefully it will not all be namby pamby LS/L5 Sciatica stuff, hopefully there will be some L5/L4 veterans who will know what real pain is

Yes, the first few weeks were extraordinary, night after night rolling around on the floor in agony, it felt as though someone was inside my shin bone with a blow torch, at times the pain turned white.

Hahaha, the tour sounds like a great idea! Then if one of us suddenly needs to lie down everyone else will understand lol

I managed the pub last night with a few friends, after the meal I had to go and lie down in the back of the car for half an hour, ffs.

I have an appointment tomorrow for Bowen Therapy. Tis supposed to encourage your body to fix itself. Maybe a long shot, but will give it a go and report back. I know that its physical but I do believe in a large connection between mind and body with injuries.

 

[cjb]

I was already for the knife when pre op the neurosurgeon noticed some minor improvements, he convinced me not to have surgery; his opinion was, that for those who are likely to recover themselves, and he put me in that category, surgery can have amazing short term results, but on average those who opted not to have surgery will be better off after 3 or 4 years. I declined the op, 3 years on I am largely pain free so maybe I made the correct decision.

I believe there is a saying that doctors use, which goes something like: "There is no medical condition which cannot be be made worse through surgery"

 

[doog]

I'm on those amitriptyline I take 75mg at night time been on them since 1989

wow

I wont moan again.


I was only 2 x 10mg amitriptyline at night,perhaps thats why I kept waking up.

Im up for the tour, we can get Nurofen plus to sponsor us

 

[jpb]

A tour sounds awesome. 100 miles in 5 days as we'll need to keep resting lol!

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I've just come back from surgery - and am off work for two months at least.
My back problems seemed to start after a freak toboggan accident. For years afterwards the docs would prescribe rest and paracetamol and that was it. Then, in January I had another attack, then another three months after, and another two weeks after that one. That's when I was prescribed an mri - which revealed a massive hernia in the lower disk. I saw one of the best surgeons in the area (I'm lucky!) and he basically said that surgery was absolutely necessary because otherwise I risk being paralyzed in later life. Interestingly for us here on a cycling forum, this surgeon not only told me that cycling was good for my back (so long as accompanied by stretching) but also he advised me not to cancel my tour of Greece but to go ahead. He was absolutely right. At no point during the Greek tour did I have any problems with my back, despite cycling 1500 kms with a height gain of 13000 metres! Overweight bosses should put that in their pipe and smoke it!
Now I have been ordered on the strongest terms not to twist my back, or bend it much or lift anything for the next three weeks at least. I'm also not allowed to go in a car for at least two weeks, stand still for any length of time or sit in a chair for too long. I also have to stay off my bike for a while. However, I should walk often (without pushing it, of course) and get out of bed. Going up and down stairs is no problem so long as I go slowly. He assures me that so long as I keep to these rules I shouldn't have any more back problems.
Love the idea of the broken back tour!

 

[spacecat]

Hi guys,

Just back from my 1st Bowen treatment, er, was a little wierd to say the least. Will now wait to see if anything happens. I was in agony driving through early afternoon and though still in pain was able to sit normally in the car on the way back.

She said some of the muscles in my left leg had reduced in size quite a bit compared to the right. But she also reckoned that it wasn't a disk but muscular/tendons/ligaments where I felt the initial tear at, and said it was hamstring associated? One wierd thing that I did feel was my left calf muscle twitching quite a bit whilst lying on the table.

We shall see.

 

[spacecat]

So, have been off the bike for a week in an attempt to see if it made a difference, against my better judgement, I might add. It didn't so it ain't the bike. Perhaps it was an attempt to placate others! Note to self: must stop doing that.

Went to my sons house yesterday on it though. I was bloomin knackered when I got there. Just shows even 1 week off has an effect.

 

[cyberknight]

I also suffer from sciatica / piriformis pain in my left upper buttock/ lumbar region.

While i was on holiday for 2 weeks my cycling mileage remained similar as i fitted in 3 good rides but my symptoms eased and by the time i was back at work my pain had gone.
I have been back at work for 3 weeks now and the pain has started to manifest itself again as upper buttock pain with a little niggle in the lumbar region, i drive fork trucks for half a day and when reversing i sit looking over my left shoulder.This leads me to believe in my case that it is the sitting down for long periods that is aggravating my symptoms.

I do find my left buttock muscle to be tighter when stretching and these ones do help...



http://www.healingmassage.ca/piriformissyn.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/featherbed/5013664206/

http://www.finezzasoccer.com/dynamic-flexibility-vs-static-stretching-for-warm-up-3/

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/stretching/allstretches.php (gluteal stretches )

 

[mr messy]

I found when my footwear starts to wear out the sciatica starts to stab. I normally walk on outside of foot causing uneven sole/heal wear, subsequently the more wear, the bigger the miss-alignment, the more pain. New boots usually helps calm things down.