How to stay motivated with chronic pain

[Netball01]

I’ve had a prolapsed disc & sciatica since October. Prior to this I exercised every day, worked in the office 4 times a week & socialised a lot at the weekend.

Since my injury, I’ve not been able to exercise & I’ve been wfh & I just feel like I have lost all motivation to do anything. I wake up in the morning & stay in bed until I have to start work & then in the evenings I just watch tv. I’m also struggling to keep on top of chores as it just hurts too much !!

I do try & get out for a few walks every day but it can be quite painful walking so some days I’ll only leave the house once.

So does anyone have any tips on how to start getting motivated again ? I feel like I’m never going to get better if I just sit on the sofa all day.

Thanks Netball01! I'll try those. I'm really glad you got some improvement.

It's very contradictory when you hear HCPs saying 'don't stop moving, move through the pain and mobilise' and then hear from other people that you need to rest and un-inflame your sciatic nerve. To be fair, I think my GP is working on the assumption that it's a muscle thing and muscles need to be stretched. Or something.

@GlomOfNit yes agreed! Especially when they did used to say complete bed rest for a bad back. Tbf I do feel like resting helped more than the exercise !

Hope you get some improvement soon x

Sorry to hear you’re suffering too. What exactly do you have? Me? Herniated disc at L4/L5. Pressing on nerves so have had burning pain from left knee down to foot. It’s been since Christmas. I was moving heavy boxes in our garage. I think I turned a mild bulge into a herniation. So have been suffering since last October, but it was nowhere near as bad before Christmas.

I feel you. It is awful. Some days are worse than others. It is so heartbreaking seeing people crack on with their lives, being pain-free and taking everything for granted, as we once did. But to stay motivated, I’ve found understanding my injury and how to help it heal has kept me going.

Have you read Back Mechanic by Dr Stuart McGill? Do it, and follow the spine hygiene and walking advice for now. There’s also a chapter on pain triggers. What are yours? I’m flexion intolerant and also have to be careful extending.

Also, check out Colin on YouTube for Bash Back Pain. Some handy tips there, too. But I only follow the same advice as before as I’m not ready for strength work.

Can you sit? Stand? I can’t sit for long, and certainly not on anything soft, so I have three go-to lying positions for respite. The best is lying on my front with a pillow under my hips and my chin resting on two stacked fists. I can make the sciatica go away doing this. And then I get up, do some more work at my standing desk for half an hour before resting again.

Have you tried just a week or two of rest yet? I did and it really helped with the healing. Only now I have to build my walking up again. So swings and roundabouts.

Are you using ice? Heat? I’ve come off all meds except for paracetamol when I really need it. Can you take baths? I can’t. And miss them greatly.

Has anything changed for you? The pain shifted? Sensations changed? Moved out of different parts of your leg? They say the more it moves away from the foot and into the spine the better. It’s a sign it’s healing.

Are you taking any supplements? I’m on Omega 3, vitamin D and B12, magnesium, turmeric. The magnesium helps with my sore tense glutes.

How do you sleep at night? Side with pillow between knees? Back with pillow below knees? How are you sleeping overall? Sleep should be a priority. It took me months before I could get a decent sleep. Had to get a new mattress and I’m still not perfect but getting seven hours of sleep now, with a wake up after three hours, and then it’s on the hour brief as I can only sleep on one side.

How are you eating? Bananas are good. Blueberries. Avoid sugar and booze. I find the bad stuff makes me sore and flairs up the sciatica.

I hope I am helping you. Because I know what it’s like. The desperation, the loneliness, the when will it end?!

For further reassurance, most people get over this without surgery. It’s just that time is the biggest healer. And no one can tell us when exactly that will be.

if this was like breaking a leg, “Oh you’ll be fixed in three months”, then we’d be able to cope with that wouldn’t we! My brother had this. It took him two years to recover. One day, he woke up and the pain was gone! He’s been fine ever since. I have a friend who had the same experience but after six months, another - eight!

I am not putting a time limit on it. Because I am fast approaching six months and realise if I’m still not better, that will be quite the depressing moment. All I keep doing is making my peace with it (some days I succeed, others I struggle). I control what I can control. The important thing is to keep going. Stay strong.

We will get through this! Oh, and having a positive attitude also massively helps.

After my big long reply, I realised you’re getting better! That’s awesome! So the timeline for you has been similar to friends who’ve had this!

For anyone reading this in search of answers, though, every injury is different. What might work for one person, stretch wise, might not work for another. So always see a professional for advice!

I am so encouraged though, that I’m going to bring back in gentle pelvic tilts, bridges, half bird dogs, and standing planks from today. And with my walking? It’s not been excruciating. But it hasn’t been comfortable either.

I rested for a month, and before that was doing loads of walking. And was fine. However, I was also trying loads of other stuff and pushing through.

The rest really helped stop the sciatica from being so bad and I noticed huge improvements once I just relaxed. And let it go. And lay down most of the time, and kept moving around the house only.

Now I’m walking outdoors again because it’s so important to keep moving. Otherwise I’ve got new problems.

Can I ask?

With the walking… did you find sometimes your sciatica would flair up a bit? But you could continue with some discomfort? I’m trying to determine how much level of discomfort is ok to keep walking.

Are you sleeping better now? I’m getting seven hours at least, but do wake up briefly and frequently - mostly because I am only sleeping on one side. Still can’t lie on my “bad” side.

How has the pain changed? Mine began with burning in my foot, and calf. But over the last month, that has changed to prickling, itchiness, sometimes it disappears entirely.
A new thing in recent weeks is sharp jolts of pain in the knee and hip. I heard this is blood flow returning to the nerves. And is a good sign.

I’ve never suffered back pain throughout all of this, but started to get some moments. Again, I’ve heard this is a good thing.

How are you now compared to October? Are you able to sit on a sofa? Sleep through and in any position? Sorry for all the questions!

I've been reading up on neuroplastic pain and mindfulness. I've been reading and out the 4 different types of breathing exercises. This still hasn't helped. I dint know what I'm doing wrong or why it isn't helping, but it just isn't.

@Oblomov24 You're not doing anything wrong, you're trying to deal with it consciously when it's a subconscious issue.

Try this. Sit somewhere comfortable where you won't be disturbed and breath evenly but without concentrating.

Make a mental picture of your pain in your imagination (why? because your imagination is all subconscious). Give it a colour and a shape, make it as detailed and vivid as you can. Now imagine that colour slowly fading, the shape getting smaller and less solid or lighter.

Keep going until the colour has become clear with no pigment left and the shape has completely vanished. The pain will have also disappeared.

(I deliberately haven't suggested a colour or shape - your own mind will decide what to use).

Reading with interest….I have been struggling for 18 months. Started with sciatica, scan showed slight bulge at L5/S1 Had loads of physio for about 7 months, would improve a bit but then became really bad just before Christmas. Stopped the physio and saw pain consultant who did nerve block in December.

Im sure it kick started something but it’s been very slow and gradual. At the same time I read Healing back pain by John Sarno and then got the Curable ap. I’m sure my pain is neuroplastic/mind body. I don’t do any specific back exercises, just walk and swim.

The curable ap has got me through I’m sure of it. I’m 50% better than I was.

I have improved a lot but it’s always there, sometimes in the background or full on some days. I get awful pins and needles in my foot or burning sensations down my leg and even horrible pinching feelings in my buttock. It’s so very random I never know what to expect when I get up.

Has anyone tried acupuncture, I’m seriously considering it to maybe reset my nervous system and help my anxiety about the whole thing. Any thoughts….

Hey @Foundation31 Acupuncture was great actually. But find someone like a qualified physio who can do it. I went to an independent practitioner but she conned me to go every day and I spent a fortune. It
dealt with the symptoms and gave some relief for an hour or two afterwards, but now I am working on the cause.

Are you using ice?

Hello @NotOutWoods I think I might give it a go. I’ve thrown everything else at this so mayaswell go the whole hog with acupuncture.
Currently not doing anything other than muddling through best I can. Never used ice, I got alot of comfort from a heat pad.
Ditched all the specific exercises as they weren’t helping. I walk every day and swim a couple of times a week. Use curable when I can.

I've come back to this thread. I still haven't got any better and can't bare to think that it's my mind blocking the benefits. But I just can't manage to make it work for me. I will re-read the thread and try again.