Sciatica!
I have a long history with sciatic nerve pain that usually shows up after shoveling snow. Two weeks ago I threw out my back shoveling snow. Typically I am able to heat the lower back, stretch the glutes and do some simple floor exercise and it goes away over a two week period. This time around it is not going away. The only relief I get is when I walk. After the first half mile the pain disappears and things go back to normal.
Not sure what I did to the lower back this time, but something is different as the pain is not responding to the standard measures taken in the past. Set to visit the doc next week, however I pretty much know what will be said. Any help you folks can offer I will take a look at. |
First these stretches: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...l#post15372967
Then do this: Low back pain: From crippled to 100% in 10 days ? Steven Low Made an amazing difference to my long-term lower back pain. |
My mom had an operation for sciatica and got instant relief. Out patient small incision fairly quick recovery. The surgeon said its like a roto rooter plumbing procedure. Anyway it helped her a lot. |
Have been doing the McKenzie exercises as that has always worked. Mornings are an absolute bear to deal with, but eventually it loosens up. Takes a few hours of stretching, exercises and walking. When I was twenty seven recovery was so much faster! Within a week things were significantly better. Not so 30+ years later. Sigh. Aging is not easy.
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Stenosis
If you have spinal stenosis stretching is not going to help. It is the narrowing of the nerve canal causing pinched nerve/s. Hence, the analogy of Roto Rooter. Basically the boring out of the canal, giving the nerve/s room. Hopefully, resulting in relief from the pain.
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20789735)
Have been doing the McKenzie exercises as that has always worked. Mornings are an absolute bear to deal with, but eventually it loosens up. Takes a few hours of stretching, exercises and walking. When I was twenty seven recovery was so much faster! Within a week things were significantly better. Not so 30+ years later. Sigh. Aging is not easy.
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Originally Posted by delbiker1
(Post 20790128)
If you have spinal stenosis stretching is not going to help. It is the narrowing of the nerve canal causing pinched nerve/s. Hence, the analogy of Roto Rooter. Basically the boring out of the canal, giving the nerve/s room. Hopefully, resulting in relief from the pain.
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This morning there was a break through. Couldn't walk but half a mile. Too much pain to handle. Got home and put heat on it, then did a full routine of stretch and exercises (McKenzie) and started feeling better. Sitting in the office chair I have heat applied to the glutes and it seems to be working. Not so tight right now, but I really do fear the morning. Going to be stiff as a board I am sure. Slowly, but surely I will get it done!
MRI years ago showed no narrowing of the passage. Not sure if it has narrowed over time, but I think it would have shown up this summer while riding and shoveling dirt. It is this dang snow that does it almost every time! |
Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
(Post 20790294)
MRI confirmed severe lumbar stenosis about 10 years ago. But it does help. Not just stretching, but many different activities including heavy weight lifting. Went Alpine skiing today, snowshoeing yesterday, back was OK, everything else got really tired today. Spinning and strength work at the gym tomorrow due to snowpocalypse. Just hope I have the strength and energy, but farting it off, as we used to say in the Army, is no longer an option. Maybe someday that won't work anymore and I'll have to have back surgery, but that certainly isn't my first option. I don't know what's involved in presenting so that one can get insurance to pay for a laminectormy. I suspect it's something like not being able to walk anymore.
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Originally Posted by delbiker1
(Post 20790324)
Thanks for the reply. I have a long history of spinal issues also. I have had 4 surgeries: 2 partial discectomies, disc replacement at L5-S1, and fusion at C5-C6. I was in PT, exercising, stretching, ice and heat, for quite awhile before the first 2 and did get to the point of being almost bed ridden before the surgeries were done. Chronic, agonizing, horrific pain that I hope to never have to experience again. The replacement at L5-S1 was still considered experimental when I had it done, surprisingly my insurance did cover it. A lot of documentation of the injury and of the prognosis of other options, and the cost of those other options. I hope your regimen keeps working for you. I was out of options if I wanted to get back to a more normal life. Living in constant debilitating pain is no way to live. Fortunately I have done well post op with all of them. Not true for too many others. I wish you the best and keep doing what you like to do.
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
(Post 20790294)
MRI confirmed severe lumbar stenosis about 10 years ago. But it does help. Not just stretching, but many different activities including heavy weight lifting. Went Alpine skiing today, snowshoeing yesterday, back was OK, everything else got really tired today. Spinning and strength work at the gym tomorrow due to snowpocalypse. Just hope I have the strength and energy, but farting it off, as we used to say in the Army, is no longer an option. Maybe someday that won't work anymore and I'll have to have back surgery, but that certainly isn't my first option. I don't know what's involved in presenting so that one can get insurance to pay for a laminectormy. I suspect it's something like not being able to walk anymore.
So, I've made adjustments. Lots of stretching, cycling opens the spaces up. I was having a lot of severe leg pain in the left leg (down to my calf) right before my recent C5/C6 fusion. I don't want to get my hopes up but that hasn't returned so I'm hoping the spinal cord impingement in my neck was increasing the leg symptoms. |
If there's just one thing I could say to those with back pain, it's this: ride your bike, a lot. After I injured my back skiing after years of not working my back, cycling was what made the pain go away. That's when I took up randonneuring for a few years.
Of course I also worked my back, hard, stretched and etc. If one is just starting out to rehab a bad back, Core Advantage with Tom Danielson is a good start. After my ski injury, I spent a year slowly progressing through the exercises in that book. Took ~20 minutes every morning. And ride your bike. I've always used a full-on road position, bars as low as my frame allows and with a good long reach. |
Update: Back muscles are fine, no soreness or aches, only a little tight on the left side when getting dressed. There is serious sciatic nerve pain that will not go away. Waiting for the doc to call back. The confusing thing is that sitting in a certain position with a hot heat pad brings relief. In the past any sitting was avoided! Something is different this time around.
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20792907)
Update: Back muscles are fine, no soreness or aches, only a little tight on the left side when getting dressed. There is serious sciatic nerve pain that will not go away. Waiting for the doc to call back. The confusing thing is that sitting in a certain position with a hot heat pad brings relief. In the past any sitting was avoided! Something is different this time around.
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Another update today. When I picked myself up from the office chair to get some lunch there was little to now nerve pain. I spent lunch hour doing floor exercises and only stretched once. It is feeling surprisingly good right now, but again, I fear the morning.
It is amazing how heat really does keep things loose. I always put ice on a pulled and inflamed muscle, but heat seems to be the thing here. |
Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20793804)
Another update today. When I picked myself up from the office chair to get some lunch there was little to now nerve pain. I spent lunch hour doing floor exercises and only stretched once. It is feeling surprisingly good right now, but again, I fear the morning.
It is amazing how heat really does keep things loose. I always put ice on a pulled and inflamed muscle, but heat seems to be the thing here. |
I really don't understand the severe pain in the morning. While sleeping I assume the body is relaxed. Am I mistaken? Last night 3am woke up with severe pain. Took two hours to work it out. Went back to sleep at 5am and woke up at 6am with severe pain. Took another 3 hours to work it out. For the rest of the day I have stretched 3 times and floor exercises 3 times, plus sitting with a heating pad set to high all day while I work. It feels fairly normal right now. Come morning it will be awful again. I sleep with the heating pad as well. Makes no sense.
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20793804)
It is amazing how heat really does keep things loose. I always put ice on a pulled and inflamed muscle, but heat seems to be the thing here.
But as to heat, we purchased a hot tub 14 years ago, and for a while I was using it 2 and 3 times a day. Simply wonderful. And then there's my friend the ice pack. They've both become like a part of the family, I'd really miss having to live without them. |
Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20796789)
I really don't understand the severe pain in the morning. While sleeping I assume the body is relaxed. Am I mistaken? Last night 3am woke up with severe pain. Took two hours to work it out. Went back to sleep at 5am and woke up at 6am with severe pain. Took another 3 hours to work it out. For the rest of the day I have stretched 3 times and floor exercises 3 times, plus sitting with a heating pad set to high all day while I work. It feels fairly normal right now. Come morning it will be awful again. I sleep with the heating pad as well. Makes no sense.
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Sciatic nerve pain in the left glute and leg down to the ankle. only. No back pain at all. In the past the lower back muscles were inflamed, but not this time. Just weird. Will give it another month. If not healed by then, off to the doc I go.
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20801150)
Sciatic nerve pain in the left glute and leg down to the ankle. only. No back pain at all. In the past the lower back muscles were inflamed, but not this time. Just weird. Will give it another month. If not healed by then, off to the doc I go.
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had to stop putting my wallet in the back pocket because of sciatica
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During the season I ride every day. In winter I hike 3 miles or less as it is tough on the knees in the cold. This happened when shoveling the driveway.
Slept last night for 7 hours! Put two very large pillows between the legs and found a position laying on my right side that worked. Very painful to try and walk in the morning, however I stretched and it was easier. After a mile of walking it was feeling much better. Drove the truck with manual tranny to the store and it was feeling pretty good. So good that I jumped on the cruiser to put around the neighborhood since the streets were clear of snow. This is when I realized the origin of the problem. Mounting and dismounting the bike is what I believe has caused the issue in the first place. When I swung the right leg over the bike it really affected the sciatic nerve. While riding there was pain in the groin just a little bit. Got to thinking and realized that while riding the cruiser this summer on longer rides (20 miles) I was feeling this same pain, just not as intense. The road bike I did not feel the pain. So far this has been an interesting journey with much more discovery to come. |
Originally Posted by TiHabanero
(Post 20804711)
During the season I ride every day. In winter I hike 3 miles or less as it is tough on the knees in the cold. This happened when shoveling the driveway.
Slept last night for 7 hours! Put two very large pillows between the legs and found a position laying on my right side that worked. Very painful to try and walk in the morning, however I stretched and it was easier. After a mile of walking it was feeling much better. Drove the truck with manual tranny to the store and it was feeling pretty good. So good that I jumped on the cruiser to put around the neighborhood since the streets were clear of snow. This is when I realized the origin of the problem. Mounting and dismounting the bike is what I believe has caused the issue in the first place. When I swung the right leg over the bike it really affected the sciatic nerve. While riding there was pain in the groin just a little bit. Got to thinking and realized that while riding the cruiser this summer on longer rides (20 miles) I was feeling this same pain, just not as intense. The road bike I did not feel the pain. So far this has been an interesting journey with much more discovery to come. When mounting, try moving your crotch forward and leaning down over the bars as you swing it. Or mount while dabbing. With your foot on the pedal, the saddle's a lot lower. Change saddle or fit on the cruiser or just don't ride it. Groin pain is not acceptable, period. |
Years ago when racing I burned out on indoor riding. I have rollers and they at least provide something for me to do while spinning. Also have a resistance trainer that I used today after the cruiser ride. Lasted 9 minutes and called it good enough. Will break out the rollers this weekend and see what happens. Music will need to be excessively loud and from the 70's-80's.Tiime to fire up the Klipsch.
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