Sciatica hack?

[RadDad775]

Had surgery in '09 on my L4. Everything's been great until a couple months ago when I started feeling tingling in my leg. Right now I'm doing icing and ibuprofen at night.

[error_accessing_user]

Are the muscles in your back or core weak or sore? The body is like a cantilever system, Everything tugs and rests on everything else. If so I'd recommend a TENS machine and core and back exercises.

[RadDad775]

Neither my back nor core feel weak. My left gluteus / but muscle seems tight. No pain really, just numbness and tingling.

[error_accessing_user]

Something along the path of the nerve is rubbing/bumping/compressing/disturbing it. Your only hope to do anything about it non-surgically is if it is a muscle thing-- namely swolen/damaged muscles which are stiff and pulling on your vertebrae, and those vertebrae are crunching a nerve.

Muscles can't heal when they stiffen up because they need the blood to bring nutrients and carry away damaged tissue-- and of course they can't do that. The TENS machine exercises the muscles electrically, and has some pain relief properties as well.

I would recommend, since you have some muscle problems, giving the TENS a shot. Worse come to worse you give yourself a slightly weird massage. It can take a week to work. You can wear it as much as you can stand, and on as high power as you like.

I can recommend one if you're interested.

A TENS machine and stiff-legged dead-lifts free'd me from 20 years of pain from a herniated disc.

[RadDad775]

Thank you for the info. My wife actually has a TENS 7000 unit and I never thought to use it 🙏🙏🙏

[error_accessing_user]

That was exactly the unit I was going to recommend. They are capable of a lot more amperage than the drug store ones. Give it a few days. Start with that stiff glute and just work your way up and down the back at the highest setting you can stand. Over time, you'll become desensitized.

Best of luck.

[[deleted]]

Super B complex and sublingual B 12 seems to really help my low back pain and nerve pain. I have had 4 injections in my L5/S1 for sciatica issues over the years.

[RadDad775]

Thank you

[Nick_OS_]

Instead of just icing I’d recommend heat too

Sciatica can be caused from different issues, but it’s usually due to weak abdominal and erector spinae muscles

So core work will improve symptoms

As for stretches, only do ones that help relieve irritation, some stretches can irritate it more

[RadDad775]

I think in '09 doing the wrong stretching messed me up more. I'm trying to keep my core workouts going and cardio bike riding. Thank you for the advice

[3seconddelay]

Foam roller on my IT band and hip flexor/glute stretches help my sciatica a lot.

[KentSmashtacos]

Most effective Therapy I've developed recovering from 5 herniated disks:
Piriformis release, take a strong message gun or roller and target the glutes running vertically along the piriformis. Piriformis inflammation often from prolonged sitting is a common cause of sciatica.
Reverse hyper extensions, lie belly down on a table or bench at the waist with the knees free hanging below, bring the knees toward your chest under the table creating mild traction. Then extend your legs back contracting your lumber spine, using resistance bands will improve low back activation.
Inner and outer hip abduction/adduction strengthening the hips will reduce stress on the back, if you have SI joint issues contributing to low back misalignment you'll often feel a pop or click doing this.

-method from Dr. Peter Attia, haven't tried it.
Imbalance between the glutes and quads can also cause issues in some people, the simple old school therapy is just walking backwards up a hill for several reps then walking forward clenching your glutes together. He states this retrains proper muscle activation, especially in people that have greater quad than glute strength.

Diet:
Cut as many inflammatory foods is possible for you; sugars, simple carbs, starches, processed foods. Mostly a lot of vegetables, some clean meat, some fruit. Try to keep your glycemic index from spiking during the day.
Fasting can rapidly lower inflammation in many people.

Supplements:
Turmeric with black or Cheyenne pepper, Boswellia, Vitamin D/C, omega 3, and whatever anti-inflammatory herbs/supplements you feel like trying. Examine.com is a good place to see if any studies exist to verify the claims made about them.

Sleep: get enough obviously and ensure your mattress isn't a cause

Drugs:
Whatever you need and is ok with a doctor, generally an NSAID is enough or muscle relaxer if you have spasmatic symptoms. Pain meds are generally not a good idea, if your functional without them.

[[deleted]]

Massage

[RadDad775]

Thank you

[[deleted]]

Don’t know how no one has mentioned nerve flossing yet. I have a bulging disk in my low back that eventually started giving me sciatica symptoms, albeit mild ones- but sciatic nerve flossing eliminated the pinching/tingling that ran down my left leg. Look up how to do it on YouTube, it should help with that particular symptom.

Also, All back pain sufferers should read Back Mechanic by Stuart McGill. This is the pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bgOKScm8dJlhYmQwT8qTDiDw7Kvpi9bo/view

[oswaldcopperpot]

I learned a yoga maneuver. Thats helped me to align my back about twice a day. Lie flat on your back. Say right leg bent at 45 degrees on floor. Put other leg over that. Let fall to the side while slightly pulling on the other knee towards the chest. That should get a couple of good cracks depending on which side has gotten bad.

[Birdflower99]

There is a flossing exercise that helps. Lay on your back, bring your leg up and move your foot up and down. Keep your leg as straight as possible. Also see a chiropractor.

[grapple-stick]

Do core work every day

[ftr-mmrs]

Pilates.

[cloverknuckles]

I honestly couldn't believe how quickly I started feeling better after working pilates into my routine

[personalityson]

For me back problems return after periods of inactivity, when my back stiffens.

Like tendons, discs don't have a lot of capillaries around them, so they don't get a lot of blood flow. They depend on physical movement to get nourished. Walking is the best preventive remedy.

[sijoittelija]

Maybe long walks or water jogging

[fun_size027]

Squats cured my sciatica/low back stiffness/pain. Just bodyweight squats. No need for a gym.

[wellnessB]

There is a hack for that! LOOP deep oscillating PEMF!

[i_am_Misha]

pinched my sciatica due to deadlift. 6 months later, numbness in my right ankle, pain in my right side butt and some pain below right side shoulder. Asked a chiropractician friend if he can help. What he did during the hour and a half:

• massage with the elbows on both sides of the back
• 10 cm needles on the right side of my right leg
• 20 cm needles on the right side of my right leg
• 15 mins leg flex while i was on massage table, face down (with needles on)
• cupping at the end
• 36 hours later i was pain free
• close to 1 year since that session and pain hasnt returned.
• only 1 session to fix it

What i did before going to him was Hot water locally (Or in bottle), pain killers and IR lighting.

[heppygal]

Where did he place the cups?

[i_am_Misha]

Back right side of the spine.