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Sciatica Questions and AnswersI HATE LEGAL DISCLAIMERS. My lawyer insists...Thanks for understanding... Please send me your sciatica questions via the CONTACT ME form. I will do my best to find an answer to your nerve pain question. I will answer you by email and post your questions here. Please be sure to provide me with a valid email or you will never receive an answer. This is YOUR sciatica questions and answers forum. Please enjoy it and I look forward to receiving your questions and comments soon!  A: Hi Matty, I always advise getting an MRI of the lumbar spine if possible to discover if any structural issues may be responsible for your pain. This is my advice for you. Without this knowledge any attempt at treatment is a pure guess... Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: in the past I suffered with intermittent bouts of sciatica and during such bouts would be off work for a couple of weeks because of the pain. However I now have this under control with regular maintenance visits to a chiropractor and have not missed a day's work due to the condition since (over 3 years now). However I do like to swim, I have been through the blogs, Q&A on yours as well as other websites and there is no clear direction on the type of swimming stroke to use when swimming. Currently I only use front or back stroke as several people (inc my chiropractor) have mentioned to me that breast stroke should not be employed by people suffering or likely to get a bout of sciatica. Would appreciate your view on this. many thanks, Tony A: Hi Tony, I say swim whatever stroke is comfortable to you. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: For me is a question about the topic on sciatic. I started lower back pain at the age of 25 (last year).this pain continued for along time until i decided to go to the hospital. i was send for an x ray and the doctor informed me that i should be attending a physical exercise twice a week and have some massage. He used to massage me with an electric machine.Part of this problem is that once i start experiencing this pain my legs especially the toes gets numb...my hands fingers especially the right hand's also get numb. What worries much is that i am in a position to run but bending sometimes is hell.Please help me to identify if i may be suffering from this condition. thank you, Boniface A: Hi Boniface, I suggest you see your doctor about getting a lumbar and cervical MRI. This will help diagnose the reason for your symptoms. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: I am Shrawan. its been 1 year that I am suffering from sciatica. I have been suffer when I was 19 years old now I am 20 years and still suffering. I have tried physio therapy, acupuncture but its not helping me. Its really hard to sit on a chair for me. In my MRI its says "L5-S1 Central and Rt. paramedian disc protrusion causing B/L lateral recess stenosis (R>L) with Rt. S1 traversing nerve root compression at the RT Lateral recess & L4 - l5 disc bulge. Please can help me to get reed of these problem. I really hampering my daily life. Please help me... A: Hi Shrawan, Please detail the exact locations of your symptoms in the legs and anywhere else. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Dear Sensei Adam, Wanted to drop a line of thanks. I have been suffering for 7 years and gave up on doctors after spending all my money and eventually having 2 surgeries which made things worse. I found your site, read your book and have been the healthiest I have been in those 7 years for the past few months. I am confident I am finally back on course thanks to you. Want you to know I will never forget! Dalton A: Hi Dalton, That's great, I am happy to hear this good news. Thanks for the kind words and keep up the good work. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: can u get disability living allowance for sciatica? Shantell A: Hi Shantell, You may be able to. I advise speaking to a disability attorney for this information. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Hello, I had a severely extruded disk in 2008 and underwent a microdiscectomy. My recovery went well until about 5 weeks ago when pain returned. At the moment I have moderate buttocks pain nearly constantly. I underwent an MRI which showed according to the radiologist scar tissue, however my ortho believes it is a small re-herniation and scar tissue causing my symptoms which although up and down at times did not respond to NSAID's. What makes matters worse is I have a job that requires prolonged sitting. A couple of PT visits seem to have aggravated my symptoms. He is referring me to pain management next week. I'm at my wits end; what should I do? Thank you, David A: Hi David, I do not have your MRI, so it is difficult to provide a specific opinion in your case. I can tell you that re-herniation after discectomy is so incredibly common, which is one of the reasons this surgery often proves useless in the long run. Doctors say operations are supposed to provide a cure, but in most cases, patients are lucky not to be made worse immediately or eventually! Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Comment: I have been having aching pain on most of the right side of my body from my shoulder to my lower back and hip.My right hip joint severely aches from my lower part of my back to my groin and so does my shoulder. They do not always hurt at the same time it is usually one then the other. I get a tingling feeling from my right shoulder blade down my right side of my back and down to my right thigh. That usually starts when I am sitting mostly. Sometimes the tingling will be in my upper out side of my right arm while sitting mostly. I have tried to take percocet that was prescribed for me, but does not work. I still feel entire right side pain when I take them. When I take Ultram 50mg I usually only get the shoulder blade and hip joint pain and slight ache on my right side and still tingling on the right side while mostly sitting when I take it every four hours. This started a week after my gallbladder surgery. The doctors have only did blood work to test my kidneys and liver and a few xrays but have no idea what is wrong with me. I have always have had trouble with my lower back off and on. I would bend or turn the wrong way and would not be able to move due to a sharp pain down the right side of my butt and down the back of my right leg like a shooting pain. This is a little different. They did a xray of my pelvic bone which they said should a narrowing of something I do not remember but said it could be sciatica. I have been dealing with this for three months with do diagnosis or any relief. Sandi A: Hi Sandi, Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you find out the problem soon! Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: I have been dealing with sciatica on the right side for about 3 months. I do have 2 bulging disc at L5 and S1 confirmed by MRI. The pain is terrible, but the mental toll is the worst. I have always been very active and in good shape. My doctor has given me an endless supply of pain meds and muscle relaxers, however, dealing with the side-effects is an issue. Where do I begin the healing process? What do you do to get back to normal activities? Will I be able to resume horseback riding again - competitively? I do have an appt. with the spine clinic at the end of the month, but I certainly have hesitations about surgery. Any advice or direction you can offer would be much appreciated. Thank You. Allison A: Hi Alison, L5/S1 is a single disc level, not 2, must be another level also. I would like the chance to help you with an opinion, but I require the MRI report to better understand the nature of your condition. Please send it along and I will be back to you soon. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: My girlfriend is only 25 years old and has recently spent a week in the ER for severe back pain. They diagnosed her with Sciatica from Arthritis. She has been on steroids and two different pain medications (one for sciatica, the other for arthritis) for almost a week now but she is still in severe pain. She can barely walk and she can't even pick up her two year old daughter. I am very concerned for her and given that she's only 25 years old, and the apparent unsuccessful treatment, I have grown suspicious that the Dr.s may have overlooked something. I did some research and found this website where it talks about the common misdiagnosis' involved with sciatica and I came across the section on Oxygen Deprivation Sciatica. Now, on top of all this, my girlfriend is due to have surgery to correct her Sinus disease and her Deviated Septum. She has had breathing trouble for a long time and it is getting worse leading to her surgery in September. Now, my question is, is it possible my girlfriends Sinus disease could be the real reason for her sciatica symptoms (Oxygen Deprivation Sciatica), rather than her diagnosed sciatica from arthritis? And if so will her upcoming surgery essentially cure her back pain? Tim A: Hi Tim, I do not think so. The chances of the 2 conditions being related is extremely low. Oxygen deprivation has nothing to do with one's ability to breathe through the nose ideally. It is a malfunction of the circulatory system enacted by the autonomic system. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Hi, I am a 24 year old and i slipped a disk in my back doing weightlifting as my posture was wrong this happened 7 months ago and have responded well to physio, as my job is a painter decorator it doesn't help things and I ache most nights. I had just a pain in my lower back but the physio keeps telling me to go swimming, when i do this just 10 lengths breast stroke it causes sciatica i get a tingling in the bottom of my back at first then a numbness to both my legs. I am doing 4 different stretches 3 times a day but it doesn't seem to be helping, is this normal for people with slipped discs or do you think there could be a different problem? I would be extremely grateful for any feedback. James A: Hi James, Unfortunately there is no "normal" when it comes to herniated discs. I do not know enough about your particular condition to offer specific advice, but I can tell you that exercise therapy is unlikely to provide any means of resolving a problematic disc herniation. To learn all about herniated discs, I advise you to read my site dedicated to the topic: Q: Hello! I am a healthy, 37 year old runner (mother of 5) who battled "shin splints" last summer, but can't seem to cure myself of this ailment. I am now having "pins and needles" on various parts of my right foot (including bottom of toes) and lower leg (shins interior and exterior). Sometimes the discomfort runs down my hamstring. The sensations are transient, and seem to "move around". However, I have NO back pain. Could this still be sciatica, despite no back involvement? Let's just say I'm a worrier and the psychosomatic symptoms seem to fit me! Many thanks for your website! Chris A: Hi Chris, True sciatica denotes a spinal causation, which seems very unlikely in your case. To me it sounds more like any of the typical runners pain conditions I see often associated with TMS and other ischemic pain conditions. I have lots of articles on foot concerns and runners issues on my main back pain site. Start here to find more info on mindbody foot and leg pain syndromes: Q: I have sciatica both sides of my body, could this be caused by spinal stenosis please. Brian A: Hi Brian, Sure, it could be caused by spinal stenosis. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Hi there! Thank you for your website! I am a 40 year old female and this past August I had surgery for a ruptured L-4 L-5 disc. Post surgically, some pain persisted (manageable though),due to scar tissue growth. Beginning of May, this year I suddenly felt intense pain in my lower back. It was worse than the pain I had prior to the Aug surgery. After about a week of this intense lower back pain, suddenly, it was gone, although a new pain began, in my right buttock area and down right leg. It was absolutely intolerable pain. A few days into this pain (that shot down to my foot) I began to get debilitating spasms in that leg, upon getting up from a seated position. It would grip me and 'hold on' for about 5-7 seconds. I would collapse due to the pain! I'm not sure if they were nerve spasms? At night I would lay in bed and feel a 'tapping' sensation in right buttock... really creepy. I also needed help out of bed in the mornings. Also got muscle spasms that, to this day have left my calf stiff. In addition, i developed drop foot. MRI indicated rupture at L-4 L-5, again (other side). Its been over a month since surgery for rupture, and the pain down my right leg has NOT improved AT ALL. The surgeon says he's not sure why it still hurts. The pain is at a 9-10 level every day, all day! Could it be because the nerve is still irritated? And do you think the spasms were a result of, or resulted in oxygen deprivation in my right leg. Honestly, that's what it felt like, when I would get up and try to walk. Doctors don't bother to talk about that stuff. The constant pain (24/7)is really wearing me down! Lately, I've been brought to tears daily, due to frustration and no pain relief in sight!. Now I have to sell my horses (don't know when or if I'll ride again. Its my passion and 'therapy'). Driving a car causes more pain, so I'm also stuck at home. Have an appt. with a psychiatrist this week. Read your site today and am going to buy your book. The section on psychosomatic symptoms really struck a chord with me...(at the age of three, I had major trauma and upheaval, with the gruesome (witnessed) murder of my parents. And then having to live with other family across the globe). It was never really worked out for me. Just manifested itself in panic attacks in mid teens (learned to manage them). I guess my question is; do your think cranial-sacral therapy could be useful in my case? Thanks a lot for all the wonderful information you are providing! We need it! Regards, Eva A: Hi Eva, Regardless of whether the pain is structural or not (this is a whole different question and answer, for sure!), I do not think CS therapy is ideal for you. If the pain is from ruptured discs, you will likely get no relief, as the treatment will not address this structural issue. If it is ischemia, any relief provided will be probably be temporary, if any. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Hi, I am a pro soccer player battling sciatica. I am pretty much considering retirement from the game. I have had sciatic symptoms for about 1.5 years. I am quite informed about my condition and sports medicine in general. Mri's to my spine show minor bulges at l4/l5 and l5/s1 disc levels. I also have pain in my hip. Not too sure if its as SI issue or possible cartilage degeneration. As far as my sciatica. I've been to many doctors who seem to be clueless. I am quite certain I have discogenic sciatica. There is definitely a mechanical problem going on. I have done numerous treatments. 1. ozone injections- Reduces the size of the disc through O3 gas. 2. Cortisone- around the nerve root 3. ART massage - More harm than good 4. Acupuncture 5. Ice baths 6. Various Stretching routine 7. Decompression - In progress 8. methylcobalimin B- Nerve recovery supp. I have noticed that stretching my hamstring, adductor magnus, increases symptoms. I am currently am doing my own form of decompression. It seems to be helping quite well. But nowhere near to where I can play ball again. I struggle going up stairs, due to hip pain. I definitely load on my right leg in a different manner than my left. I just want to work on being able to walk again pain free. Anyways, appreciate your time. And if we can talk more in depth I would appreciate it. Khaled A: Hi Khaled, Sure, feel free to ask me anything you like. If you want an opinion on your particular case, you will have to supply more detailed info by sending your MRI report and describing exact locations for your symptoms. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: I was pushing a heavy cart in my store with supplies and got this pain in my right butt cheek and now the pain runs down my leg. what can this be and what can i do to help with this pain? i took some pain medicine but its not working. what can i use to help me with this problem and what could i have done? strain a muscle? what can i use for to help? maybe ice and heat or some kind of cream? Ray A: Hi Ray, I advise that if the pain continues, you visit a qualified physician for a check up. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: Just a simple thanks for some great information. Most grateful, since my doc never helps! Timothy A: Hi Timothy, You are very welcome. Best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Q: (1) L5-S1 Disc Degeneration. (2) Posterior L4-L5 Disc Bulge.(3) Right Poster-Lateral H.N.P at L5-S1 with upward and downward migration. i am surviving from since last 2years but now any medicine is not work like pain relief and i have my right foot numbness and Doctor told me its sciatica. and my doctor said must have surgery. Moreover i am working in Saudi Arabia in a company and now i am coming in Pakistan for surgery. i find u on net and now i want to now about micro surgery how much it will take time for improvement after surgery.and how much cast for micro surgery in Pakistan. my age is 34 years.and i am working as an auto mechanic Pls reply me ASAP. Zaman A: Hi Zaman, There are many different type of procedures possible. Recovery time is greatly dependent upon the approach and technique used, as well as the methods and extent of rehabilitation employed post operatively. I am based in America, so I have absolutely no idea of the cost in Pakistan. I suggest you contact some surgeons to discuss all these details in person. I send my best, Sensei Adam Rostocki Sciatica Questions and Answers Archive Section
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