Does this sound like sciatica?

[Littleegglet]

I had this a few years ago when I was running a lot but last week I suddenly got lower back pain, around my haunches that feels like it needs to be massaged vigorously.
I’ve gone on to develop a kind of really tense sometimes painful knot in my left butt check and a kind of tension feeling on the outside of my hip, down side of bum and leg that sometimes really aches
Gets worse with walking, hurts to straighten up and bend over and feels like my bum cheek is really clenched on that side

Massage ball relieves it a bit but lifting DS and bending over to do things makes it worse.

GP just said to take ibuprofen and keep an eye on it and call back if I get a fever/bloating/abdominal pain etc. I do have a bit of bloating but my period is due and that’s very normal for me so they’ve said to give it a week and call back if the bloating persists passed the usual time.

I wondered if it could be sciatica as I had it before when exercising a lot and also when I was pregnant, on the same side (the same pain, never officially diagnosed as sciatica) and if so if anyone has any magic tips on how to treat it?

Sciatica is caused by a nerve bulging between vertebrae and pressing on the sciatic nerve.

The best way to treat it is rest and strengthening your inner core muscles.

You have to take care with this though, as it’s likely you have been compensating with alternative muscles for a long time and you could continue to do harm. You need a back specialist, not a run of the mill general personal trainer.

Sorry, that should read ‘by a disc bulging between vertebrae, pressing on the sciatic nerve.’

@Soboredofcorona yes the last time I had it was two years ago while pregnant after getting SPD as well, and before that was a couple of years prior when I was training for a marathon

I do have a very weak core since having DS and have gone back to cycling lately so have been doing more exercise as well as lifting DS a lot and I KNOW I have terrible lifting technique so it’s probably all created the perfect storm

I had a very similar issue, previous runner and SPD in pregnancy. Have a look at piriformis syndrome and exercises to relieve it, those are the exercises the physio gave me and they helped so much.

I had a partial discectomy a few years ago. Long recovery etc.
Disc is bulging again, so I can’t run, lift heavy stuff etc. It’s crap ☹️

@Soboredofcorona I’m so sorry that sounds utterly rubbish

@MrTumbleTumble that’s exactly it! That’s exactly where the pain is (just googled) I’ll try some of the exercises tonight thank you

You're welcome! Hope they work.

The "supine piriformis stretch" was the one that gave me the most relief, although it can hurt quite a lot at first.