sciatic pain

[blazehok68]

well i have had this annoying sciatic pain that has been persistent for about a month and a half. it is not a pain that is debillitating, but it is there, it is constant, and annoying as hell. most of the pain is on the outside of my left knee down to my calf. i feel it shooting down from my butt all the way down my leg. i can deal with it if i dont sit for too long, but i dont want to deal with it for ever. anybody have any suggestions? i would prefer not to go to the doctor or take any meds if possible.

 

[ford81502]

i had the samething about 4 years ago i let it go for about 3 months and one day it was so bad i couldnt walk.. Had to have back surgery at the age of 23.. as of today the back is better then before...Good Luck

 

[rudedog40]

I've seen ads for meds to fix it. But you said you didn't want to go to a doctor. Chiroprator may be able to fix it. If you just want something to ease the pain, a hit of Acapulco Gold has shown to relieve a variety of pains for people with cancer and chronic illnesses. Obtaining it is the hard part. Government still doesn't approve using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

 

[redinator]

Ibuprofen has helped me. Rubs like BenGay might help. Since you have had it a long time you should see a MD.

 

[dragonzim]

You should definitely see a doctor. Sciatic pain is always a symptom of something else, never an actual cause. Usually sciatica is caused by either a pinched nerve or a herniation or bulging of a disc in your spine. I had to have surgery for 3 ruptured discs 3 years ago (at age 30) so I know exactly what you are dealing with... I tried chiropractors, acupuncture and a self medication with lots of ibuprofen before I finally went to see a real doctor. He sent me for an MRI and I was able to see immediately on the MRI that the problem was way bigger than anything a chiropractor could handle.

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by redinator
Ibuprofen has helped me. Rubs like BenGay might help. Since you have had it a long time you should see a MD.

Bengay will most likely do nothing because that is meant to help with muscle pain and sciatica generally has nothing at all to do with muscles. It's the nerves that are the problem.

 

[earlybird]

Instead of ben gay or icy hot look into Bio Freeze. My wife is a massage therapist and has a gallon of the stuff. It's sooooo much better and it is water soluable. Easy off with cold water and soap. Although not muscular it will help.
Also, you should ice it every opportunity you get. 30 minutes ice on 30 minutes ice off and repeat.

 

[shrimpi]

get an MRI to determine the cause.
you cannot effectively treat something if you dont know what exactly is causing it.
I worked for 3 anesthesiologists as head of thier clinical department- sometimes things are more complicated than just 'sciatica'
Good Luck

 

[jovial]

Maybe Geridoc will chime in on this one?

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by rudedog40
I've seen ads for meds to fix it. But you said you didn't want to go to a doctor. Chiroprator may be able to fix it. If you just want something to ease the pain, a hit of Acapulco Gold has shown to relieve a variety of pains for people with cancer and chronic illnesses. Obtaining it is the hard part. Government still doesn't approve using marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Chiropractors don't "fix" anything, they may make it feel better for a while and say "See you next week"....under their breath you may hear "bring money"....I agree with Dragon, but will word it differently, real problems need real doctors.

 

[blazehok68]

yeah, i am going to make an appointment with the md on monday. i can deal with the pain for now, but i dont want it getting worse, and from reading everybody elses experiences, it seems like it could be worse than it seems. thanks for all the input everybody.