Stovebolt.com Forums The Front Office The Greasy Spoon Sciatic!

We b OLD, I can always depend on you to make me laugh or just be happy. I have been ordered down ( didn't take much, can't stand or sit ), All kinds of tests over a 21 day period. See a specialist Monday. it is very, very painful in my left calf, #10, I have only had a # 10 pain three times in my life and it was for brief periods of time. Former D.O.D. Police, shot once, kidney stone and jumping out of a perfectly good plane. Is there anyone out there that can advise me. Please, Doc.

Doc what I have found that helped me when my sciatic nerve pain kicks in was to do deep hard long stretches. Either sit in the edge of a chair with your legs spread apart a bit and bend towards & down to the leg that is hurting. OR have the wife or who ever pick the leg up as if you were doing straight leg raises & stretch it hard. I would hold mine & do them so hard & deep that I would almost cry. What this does is cause your own body to release its own endorphins (chemicals produced by the body to relieve stress and pain. They work similarly to a class of drugs called opioids) No type of drugs or injections helped me more then doing these stretches. I use to live with really bad sciatic & leg cramps all the time, they'd hurt like h*ll & at times would cause muscle cramps to the point I'd get bruises. I started researching what type of therapies there were & tried a few. NONE worked as well as doing the above. I "MIGHT" have one or two episodes a year now & when they hit I just do the stretches for a few days && I'm good for a long while.. Hope this helps you....joe

I know when you having #10 pain the last thing you think of doing is exercise. I've been dealing with sciatic for years and decided that I wouldn't go the pain meds, and found that just a few simple stretches can do wonders. I walk 2-3 miles every day and do some warm up stretches before I go out. Hang in there, hope it improves for you.

You sure it is sciatica? I thought sciatica affected the hip/thigh region. Have you been tested for blood clots?

Mine normally will run down through my butt, down the inside of the back of my thighs & into back of my calf's....joe

52 Carl I had a Ultra sound to rule out a deep vein thromboses. Thank you for your question. Thanks TooMany 2count and Yakamabowtie I'm doing your suggestions now. I will let you know, as bad as it is it couldn't hurt more. Almost passed out from the pain yesterday. With all the crazy things I did over the years I shouldn't complain, if only I would have known. Bless your hearts. Doc.

Got back from Neurologist yesterday afternoon. I was T-boned by a drunk with no license or insurance 3 years ago and splitting wood a month ago caused severe damage in L7. Ordered to stay down for 10 to 12 weeks then back surgery. Your above mentioned therapy's help a great deal. But as we all know there are people we know that have worse health problems. Just have to figure out how to stay busy on my back. Doc.

Stretching is excellent. If you are standing for a while (doing dishes?) put a 2x4 under the toes of both feet. It helps.
I had what I thought was sciatica but it turned out to be spinal stenosis. I discovered acupuncture. It is not an overnight cure. It took me six months of weekly visits and I have been pan free for over 6 years. But as I said do not expect an overnight cure.

Doc,
There is no L7. If your neurologist really told you that I would check his credentials, LOL! So what you are telling us it isn't sciatica but rather a nerve root problem, either protruding disc or spinal stenosis?
Kent