Back injury/sciatica

[Russ Greaves]

This appears far too common an issue not to impact multiple people on here. I’ve got a herniated disc in my lower back and it’s pressing against my sciatic nerve. It’s about as fun as it sounds. Turns out getting this diagnosis and then choosing to run a marathon was not my greatest idea. Second only perhaps to the decision to play dodgeball on a stag do at the start of my taper for said marathon, which is when the injury occurred.

I’ve been Googling for info on the topic of pain management, rehab, strengthening exercises, reducing inflammation, the best painkillers… surgical interventions! I wondered who had any stories to share with their back issues and if anyone has a particular thing they’d vouch for or champion. It’s still relatively early days for me and I could very well recover to be pain-free within weeks, although I will be managing my posture and how I move very carefully for probably the rest of my life.

[lesj]

Have you tried going to an Osteopath ?

Had a trapped nerve many years ago & went to an Osteopath . Expensive , but never had any trouble since .

[captainsnort]

Russ, as someone who has had a few spells of sciatica, you have my utmost sympathy. As Lesj suggests, may well be worth going to see an Osteopath. A colleague of mine did so and I'm pretty sure left the first appointment 'cured'. I also saw an Osteo and he was pretty confident beforehand that he would get me sorted straight away. That didn't happen unfortunately - but suggests that for some people it can do. In my case, after a few sessions with little improvement the Osteo concluded that something else was going on and lent his support to getting my GP to arrange a scan, at which it was shown that I also have some issue with a disc (slight degradation if I recall correctly, rather than herniated). I suppose that suggests that an Osteo won't necessarily be able to assist if the underlying cause is a disc problem, but I'd have thought worth discussing with one.

In the end mine seemed to sort itself out, thankfully. I still feel it sort of pulling under the buttock at times but without the pain (apart, oddly, from after one run within the last year, when it came back and then left again almost as soon as it had arrived). With increasingly dodgy knees and occasional other back pain I do fear it may return at some point!

In terms of medication, at its worst I was put onto Codeine, which was great, but I was only allowed to take that for a short spell. I think you can also throw in Ibuprofen and Paracetamol when on Codeine, so it was possible to take something different every few hours. That's clearly not a long-term strategy mind.

I believe I was given some exercises to do by a Physio after the disc issue had been identified. I could probably dig out the sheet, but I'd have thought they might need to be tailored for the individual, depending on the nature and position of the disc problem. Have you been offered any physio following your herniated disc diagnosis?

All the very best with it.

[duffpaddy]

You have my sympathy Russ. I had exactly the same a number of years ago. Strong painkillers and intensive physio along with numerous hospital scans/visits. I was reluctant to have surgery or injections. Chiropractor or osteopath didn't help.
In desperation I tried reflexology and I have no idea why, but it really helped.
Eventually it started to improve and now mainly pain free. However, 15 years later I still do my exercises and sit properly and respect my back. A friend of mine swears by acupuncture but I didn't try that,
Good luck.

[saltyvinegar]

I had it after a bad landing on Astroturf when my mate took me out many years ago. I tried all the therapies mentioned above & tbh they didn't really help it eventually improved with time. I was never a decent runner like Russ but played amateur football for many years but other than time & pain medication, I didn't find any real cure. Driving was awful for any journeys more than 60 mins

[malotru]

A bit of info for the surgery option.
Addenbrookes does a lot of spinal operations, especially for spinal decompressions and discectomies which is what they would do if you went down the surgery route.
They have recently opened a brand new building opposite the Rosie called the Mobility Hub (or ward P2) which solely does elective ops for joints and the spine.
Because it’s not physically attached to the main buildings, it can’t be used as a normal ward when the hospital is at bursting point (which it currently is) so if you were booked into their for an op, it’s much less likely to be cancelled due to no available beds post op.
Ops there are usually day case so no overnight stays and they are doing a lot of these surgeries now using a an endoscope or minimally invasive surgery to improve recovery times.

I suffer from occasional back spasms which can put me out of action for several days so I can relate to what you’re going through. Hope you can get a speedy resolution.

[Russ Greaves]

Thanks all. I figured there would be quite a few people who could relate! I have huge sympathy for anyone who has dealt with this issue or similar for any length of time, as four weeks has been enough to demonstrate how life-changing it would be. Thankfully the very worst pain has been confined to a handful of isolated episodes, and the pain in general - though unrelenting - has been manageable for the most part.

I saw a physio today who just urged patience really, while stressing the need to avoid the movements that caused the problem. While the pain is here it’s actually quite easy to avoid moving in the wrong ways, because it’ll send me a nice firm reminder in the form of a sudden jolting shock down my right leg. Once the pain has gone (soon I hope) I’ll need to remember I still need to move carefully and not place undue stress on my lower back, because the pain won’t be there to remind me… unless I aggravate the problem again!

Re: various other treatment forms (up to and including surgery), I’m hoping I don’t need them but was looking at a chiropractor/osteopath (what’s the difference?) as a potential next step if current home rehab methods don’t yield results. My other problem (perhaps among many!) is that I’m quite queasy around spinal stuff and have passed out a few times since the injury, not so much because the pain was too much, but the thought of where the pain was originating from. I also usually pass out after vaccinations, so spinal injections would be quite the experience for me!

I just can’t wait to start running again. I swear I’ll never take being pain-free for granted ever again. Just let me experience it again!

[lesj]

Just looked this up :-

"The major difference between an Osteopath and a Chiropractor is that while the Chiropractor is primarily focused on the spine, joints and the muscles, an Osteopath is also concerned with the rest of the body."