sciatica

I've suffered several bouts of Sciatica and agree it can be excruciating . I finally went to a chiropractor who not only relieved my pain gave me some stretching excercises I use if I feel a twinge of it returning. Could you ask your doctor to be referred for physio. There are utube videos that show how to stretch the nerve gently but ask you GP first.

Just getting over it myself I refuse to take pills ... you need ice and stretching excercise to relieve the trapped nerve\muscle which has gone into spasm
Mine is gradually releasing and going back to normal

Chiropractor followed by regular pilates or yoga. Hope your pain is relieved soon.

Bowen therapy did wonders for my sciatica. I go back for top-up treatments ever six weeks or so. You can learn about it here and locate your nearest therapist. They are usually qualified physiotherapists who use Bowen as an alternative treatment.

get an actipatch from the chemist ,it costs about £20 and lasts a month,they get fab reviews for sciatica

Osteopath and (very gentle!) yoga!

I found physio helped but there's likely to be a long wait. I had a long time off work with sciatica. I took just enough painkillers to take the edge of the pain but not knock me out too much. Look up exercises for piriformis syndrome online.

I had sciatica on and off for years and then found an injuries specialist who focused on the back and injury Pilates. I'm a different woman. He sourced the problem very quickly unlike my GPs [I don't have a personal one].

My husband is suffering with this as well as something wrong with his heel which I can't pronounce - I think the latter has probably exacerbated the former as he's walking like an old(er) man. He will only take paracetamol. I'll try to find the actipatch paddyann -it might help him.

Here’s another one who recommends osteopathy. I’m not really one for alternative therapies but honestly it really works. I hope you recover soon. It’s a miserable painful condition.

Osteopath for me - much gentler than a chiropractor. Its something that does take time to get over and can reoccur but I hope you find a remedy that works for you, its a miserable thing to have .

A bag frozen peas wrapped in a towel, for day, cold rub in cream at night and stretch gently .

A good physiotherapist will treat the sciatica and give you exercises. Take up pilates asap and yoga but with well qualified and experienced instructors.

I'm not surprised the medications aren't dealing with the pain, my experience is they rarely do but are guaranteed to make you feel dreadful. Codeine is addictive, paracetamol has recently been found to have no impact on back pain,amitriptiline seems to have unpleasant side effects from the experience of people I know who have taken it. Naproxen is an anti inflammatory and 500mg 4 times a day should be helping, if it isn't, stop taking it. Did your GP advise you to take the anti inflammatory after food?
I am not opposed to medication but you seem to have been given a lot for sciatica.
Boots sell Tense machines which can help with sciatica and other back pain. Hope you get some relief.

I am hoping to get an appointment tomorow with a private physcio reccomended by a friend who had sciatica earlier this year, she says it made so much difference.She also stopped all the meds from gp and took anadin extra in stead. I will try anything to help as i have had it for ten days now and it is really getting me down.

I too was prescibed amytriptaline and it was awful. Felt like a zombie till way past lunchtime couldn't focus or concentrate on anything. I would try physio and acupuncture but do sympathise with you the pain is awful. Hope you get better soon

Heat pads give temporary relief but physiotherapy may be needed. Ask your GP to refer you.

I’ve tried everything! Osteopath was too sore; chiropractor was sometimes effective, but sometimes I felt that the treatment prolonged the problem. I’ve had nerve root injections (didn’t work) and lumbar epidurals (didn’t work). Long term medication (lyrica) doped me up but helped the pain. It was only after weaning myself off it after years of use that I realised how “dulled” I had been. Now I’ve found a physio who suits me and I attend a regular Pilates class, which keeps the sciatica mostly at a very mild level. One other helpful thing for me is a little device called Sciaticalm, a bit like a Tens machine, but more user friendly. I bought it online and use it regularly.

I spent over £2,000 on Osteopaths a couple of years ago.
All was fine as long as I went once a week.
Now I do Pilates and she knows far more of what's going on and how to fix it than any of the osteopaths did.
I think most of these clinics that are popping up everywhere are money making machines.
Stens machines are good, but stretching out that nerve is the best way to go.

Willow; does your husband have plantar fascitis? I found that inserts in my shoes helped but the ones I used no longer seem to be made. When I had sciatica I found that sleeping with a pillow between my knees helped. GP's are useless when it comes to things like that; I ended up using osteopaths and physios. I'm now taking turmeric as a cure all for everything; probably a placebo effect but it works for me!

...oh, and I swear by voltarol gel....

Plantar Fasciitis is painful. The physio recommended I soak my feet every evening, using two bowls of tap water. One as hot as the tap would allow, the other cold. Additionally, he gave me exercises including one where I rolled the foot on a small bottle of frozen water. My GP considered steroid injections but said they'd be very painful and research showed that 3 months later there was no difference between patients who did or didn't have a steroid injection.

Have a look at the stretching exercises for sciatica on YouTube. I have slight irritation of the sciatic nerve, just affecting my derriere, and lower back. I started doing some of the stretches as demonstrated, and have found relief.

Tegan2 yes that's what it seems like - he's looked it up with Dr Google but a work colleague also confirmed that's what it sounds like. He needs to go to the doctors but working an hour away from home every day he can't get there. I'll mention the inserts - he has to wear safety boots at work which probably doesn't help. He's office based but up and down the factory all day long. Sadly his weight definitely isn't helping! We have some Voltorol so I'll dig it out for him.

Have got an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, feeling so desperate now and worn out with the pain.

Goodness knows how people coped years ago with this sort of thing, as they didnt have any drugs or treatments to fall back on.