Health Issues Sciatica

[SuicideBlonde]

I have had periods of horrible lower back pain, leg numbness, tingling, weakness, hip/butt pain and leg spasms more and more recently. It seems to get slightly worse before my period, but I am unsure if that is connected. I was in a car accident when I was like 19-20 and that fractured my sacrum and chipped one of my lower vertebrae. I am unsure if the car accident would still affect me like 13 years later. I try to do yoga when I am not hurting, but that seems to be less and less frequent. I am scared to stretch it and injure it more when it is bad. Started going to a chiropractor (family) to help and hope for x-ray or MRI soon.

Anyway, anyone with this issue or similar? Anything help? Any advice? I am so sick of it.

Thank you!

 

[AuburnLavender]

Hi! I was misdiagnosed with sciatica for 4 years when I was 16. I had all of the symptoms you describe and it took an MRI and a diagnostic operation to show that actually I have two compressed discs in my lower back and one of those is torn so it leaks fluid into my back. Unfortunately I have no practical advice. I have been looking at doing yoga but I'm very unsure about it. The exercise I try to do regularly is swimming as it's low impact. I'd def speak to your doctor about an MRI and possibly physiotherapy.
I know exactly how you feel when you say you want to feel normal. I get so frustrated with myself because I can't do so many things with my children. Some days I can barely walk and struggle to get out of bed. It's not an easy thing to cope with as it's a pain nobody can see and only if you have it can you understand it!

 

[AuburnLavender]

Meant to add the only thing that has 'helped' is the painkillers I take and the swimming . I am waiting on a surgical referral at the moment as well.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

The chiropractor is my bf's father. He said he will start and get me a MRI or ex-ray. This has acted up for years, but just recently worse. I hope something will help.

Good luck to you! Surgery is scary.

 

[AuburnLavender]

Thank you. It really is scary but I'm in so much pain!
I really hope you can get some answers and sort it out ASAP!

 

[Calliegirl]

My dr. thought I had a slipped disc, but an x-ray showed it was spinal osteoarthritis. Trama or injury, like from a car accident, can cause OA and it can affect you many years later. As the joints enlarge and bone spurs grow, they can compress nerves causing sciatica and other nerve pain, numbness, etc. I would definitely get an x-ray before letting him do anything to your spine. I know I wouldn't want him twisting anything, especially if I might have cartilage missing and bone rubbing against bone.

 

[Calliegirl]

I just realized you said you've already started going to the chiro. With your symptoms, if he is blindly manipulating your spine, without even a basic x-ray or tests to diagnose the cause of the symptoms, I would stay far, far away from him. Family or not, it isn't worth the possibility of ending up worse than you are now, with even more damage. You're the one that will have to live with it, not him.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I had sciatic pain for awhile, a few years ago. Mine was related to a specific action (stepping over a baby gate) and resolved itself when I changed my behavior. (I switched out my step-over gates to walk-through models.)
I wish I could be of more help

 

[Pirate]

I just realized you said you've already started going to the chiro. With your symptoms, if he is blindly manipulating your spine, without even a basic x-ray or tests to diagnose the cause of the symptoms, I would stay far, far away from him. Family or not, it isn't worth the possibility of ending up worse than you are now, with even more damage. You're the one that will have to live with it, not him.

I was just going to say this. I'd hold off any kind of treatment (other than painkillers, heat, etc) until you know the cause of the problem as he definately could cause more damage.

I hope youre feeling better soon though.