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Original poster

Sciatica relief--on here for traffic

72 replies

ScreamLikeYouMeanIt · 01/08/2018 02:12

Just this really. Does anyone have any tips amon hiw to subside sciatic pain. My lower back has been twinging all afternoon and now I'm unable to sleep with a dull ache pain over the front of my hip and down the back of my thigh. I'm wriggling around in bed trying the stretch it out (much to annoyance of DH) but nothing relieves it. Any tips?

OP posts:
helloooomeee · 01/08/2018 02:25

Sciatic pain is just horrific and unrelenting. I find co-codamol takes the edge off and a heatpack on my lower back helps with twinge.
I hope you feel better soon. Flowers

frogface69 · 01/08/2018 02:35

I put a frozen hot water bottle, wrapped in a towel on my back. Some people prefer heat, but didn't help me. I had acupuncture, which was amazing. I had some blessed relief, albeit only for an hour, but as a temporary relief from agony I couldn't describe when it was very bad it was so worth it. I didn't pay, my GP referred me. I keep cocodomol in for twinges.

Original poster
ScreamLikeYouMeanIt · 01/08/2018 02:49

Thanks hello and frog. I don't have any co-codamol in but gave taken ibruprofen and paracetamol. Doubt it'll do much with it being nerve pain but better than nothing. Movement/exercise generally helps so have lunged and squatted my way around the living room for a bit... Much to the late night dog walkers amusements when I realised the curtains were open 😂. Dull ache is back now that I'm in bed age in do guess ill just have to grin and bear it till tiredness takes over. Thanks again though. Mumsnet can be such a lovely place at times.

OP posts:
Ezzie29 · 01/08/2018 02:53

When my sciatica was at its worst, the only way to be pain free was to lie on my sofa - it’s one of those corner ones so if I lay on it in an L shape so my legs were on side of the corner and the rest of me was the other side - that kind of makes me sound like I was cut in half but hopefully you get what I mean! If I lay in that L position I would be relatively painfree so I slept on the sofa for like a week in the end, which I suppose in the long run wasn’t amazing for my back but I just could not sleep any other way. Also used hot water bottles.

Zandra123 · 01/08/2018 03:20

I started with this nearly two weeks ago, it's honestly worse than labour pains. Heat does feel good, been taking co codamol, had neproxan but hurt my stomach. I wish I could give you an answer, doctor recommended physio when I went today, but 4-6 week wait here. I hope it settles down for you

Gallagher4 · 01/08/2018 03:26

Try getting on all fours, like a dog, it takes the pressure off your sciatic nerve and eases the pain. Sounds odd but it worked for me, but tricky to sleep like that though.

frogface69 · 01/08/2018 03:41

Gallagher yes, I used to do that. In between sleeps. Only slept due to exhaustion , an hour at a time. Just hell.

lborgia · 01/08/2018 03:47

Not sure if you're awake, but a variation on the L shaped sofa, lie in bed with a box to put your calves on. You can cover it in a blanket/ add a thin pillow to make it more comfy, you need your knees at right angles so bum right up close to the box...I have been able to sleep like that!

Be careful with the Nurofen, especially lying down too soon after taking it, if naproxen hurts.

Physio would be great. "Proper " Pilates taught by a physio or similar has saved me from steroids and possibly surgery. Good luck!

OrangeCarpet · 01/08/2018 04:29

Sciatica is a symptom rather than a cause. If you’ve gone to your doctor and they’ve told you have sciatica and to go away and take pain relief then you’ve been fobbed off. The NHS does not have the resources to help you. You need to pay to see an Osteopath or remedial massage therapist who can assess you and find the root cause of the sciatica. It is caused by something putting pressure on the sciatic nerve either at the root of the nerve (spine) or anywhere around the nerve throughout the back, hip to knee. This usually means inflamed tight muscles. For example, a short tight psoas muscle which flexes the leg at the hip is a common cause. When this is tight you will find it painful and difficult to go from a sitting to standing position. Above someone mentioned sleeping with the hip flexed in an L shape. So the relief here is that you are slackening a tight muscle so you get temporary relief but doesn’t solve the issue. An osteopath or massage therapist would be hands on massaging the area, putting pressure into the muscle and performing muscle energy techniques. This is where they would ask you to flex the muscle against some resistance and then stretch the muscle.
Yes, exercises advised by an NHS physio would help too. But unfortunately NHS physios are under a lot of time pressure and often do not get hands on with the patients who need it.
Anti-inflammatory drugs can help with sciatic pain because they can help reduce the inflammation in the muscles that are putting pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Also it’s important to keep moving. Lying immobile is not going to help. You need to keep moving to warm up the muscles and keep the blood circulation going to aid the body’s natural healing process. If an injury is longer than 3-5 days old then heat rather than cold is more likely to help.
It is possible to treat sciatica you just have to be willing to see the right kind of therapist.

mellongoose · 01/08/2018 04:35

Do you know what the cause of your sciatica is? A tennis ball 🎾 in the acute area, usually bum cheek helps. Lie on the floor with it wedged in the right place then gently move around. Hard to describe, sorry!

OrangeCarpet · 01/08/2018 04:40

Mellongoose I’ve used the sitting on a ball wriggling about to help my lower back pain too. Gets to the glutes and the piriformis.

AlliKaneErikson · 01/08/2018 04:53

I’ve been up literally all night with mine. No real help, sorry, but just sending my sympathy and empathy!

SnowyAlps · 01/08/2018 04:57

Most comfortable position I find is to lie in the recovery position with the leg that the nerve pain runs down being the leg on top bent and propping a pillow under that knee to keep it raised. Take care x

longwayoff · 01/08/2018 05:04

what snowyalp said plus try a TENS machine.I think you can rent from pharmaciesto try

prettygreywalls · 01/08/2018 05:50

I had terrible problems with sciatica for a number of years , I found changing my car to an automatic helped relieve the problem and also the different position the new car seat put me in- much more upright solved my issues

prettygreywalls · 01/08/2018 05:52

Oh and I lost lots of weight at the same time , so a combo of car and diet was the solution for me

fantasmasgoria1 · 01/08/2018 05:57

Co codamol 30/500 from gp is the only thing that works! Before my operation I was taking zomorph tablets am and pm and oromorph prn! Perhaps worth getting something from the gp?

cricketmum84 · 01/08/2018 06:04

Naproxen was a life saver for me but then it started to hurt my stomach so I'm not allowed to take it anymore.

Voltarol gel is very good and it almost got me through walking round London for 2 days although I still felt twinges of pain.

There are some good physio exercises you can do at home here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercises-for-sciatica/

Really hope it eases for you, it's an awful pain Thanks

fantasmasgoria1 · 01/08/2018 06:14

Co codamol 30/500 from gp is the only thing that works! Before my operation I was taking zomorph tablets am and pm and oromorph prn! Perhaps worth getting something from the gp?

helloooomeee · 01/08/2018 06:17

I would second the 30/500 co-codamol they are the only thing that brings full relief when my sciatica flares up. I've also been prescribed naproxen with something possibly esomeprazole?! to protect my stomach. I've been taking it without issue. I you haven't spoken to your gp about it maybe see if this or a gel like voltarol could be used if the standard naproxen is adding to your pain?

heartyrebel · 01/08/2018 06:22

I used to have terrible sciatica. In the end it was deep tissue massage that fixed it and pilates that keeps it away.

Biologifemini · 01/08/2018 06:31

Stretching exercises - like yoga.
The nhs has a leaflet on it.
It really hurts but stretching helps so much. Don’t rest it too much as it becomes worse.
Also get a cushion for your lower back.

Ollivander84 · 01/08/2018 07:04

Thermacare lower back and hip wraps. They heat up, stay hot for ages and wrap around your whole back. Saved my sanity when I had a herniated disc

immortalmarble · 01/08/2018 07:13

The best thing I personally found was an exercise where you lie flat on the floor and bring your knee as far up to your chin as you can then hold for five, then swap to the other leg.

It is awful isn’t it - so de-habilitating.

Roomba · 01/08/2018 07:44

Sciatica is a symptom rather than a cause

Agreed. I've suffered for years on and off but I know what the cause is (PGP/sacroiliac joint problem). My Dad started suffering with it before Christmas and his GP kept sending him away with painkillers, physio etc which made no difference. He paid for an MRI and he has a prolapsed disc(?) where bone is pressing on his spinal cord, necessitating spinal surgery. Physio and exercise aint gonna fix that!

Make sure you know what the cause is or you could make it even worse. Much sympathy - sciatica is horrible!