Sciatic nerve compression

[PragmaticWench]

I have had a severe bad back for the last week, unable to sit, stand or walk until today and on morphine/diazepam/naproxen for the excruciating pain. The GP and osteopath say it's compression to the sciatic nerve and I'm being referred for an MRI to determine the cause.

Now that I'm starting to stand today and walk a little I've found that my leg and foot have reduced sensation, presumably from the nerve being compressed. Has anyone else had this and had the sensation return to normal fairly quickly, or is it likely to be something that takes a long time to recover?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Anyone?

Yes. And it was bloody painful. Probably the worst pain I've ever had. Mine was caused by a large prolapse of L5/S1 which compressed the sciatic nerve. I had shooting pains down my right leg for months. I tried four different physios, a chiropractor, an osteopath and did two back rehabilitation courses. I could barely weightbear, was unable to straighten my right leg when sitting and developed pins & needles in my foot which radiated up my lower leg. At my worst point I was on Paracetamol, Codeine, Naproxen and Diazepam and could still barely move at times. The most comfortable position for me to be in was lay on the floor on a foam mat, with my legs at 90 degrees on top of a gym ball. The same effect can be achieved lay on the floor with your legs up on the sofa or a chair. I was told that this creates traction in the spine and takes the pressure off the discs.

I returned to work after a significant amount of time off as I was under pressure from my employers to return, but it was too early and three months later I had a massive flare up and had another episode of long-term sickness. It was almost career-ending for me which is ironic as it was a lifting injury sustained at work that caused it.

Three years on from the initial injury I still get pins & needles in my foot if I do too much. I'm now 38 weeks pregnant and funnily enough my back is the best it's been for three years. It's by no means 100% though. Before becoming pregnant I was still having issues especially after a busy shift at work. I was extra cautious with everything I did, really paranoid it would happen again (it probably will given the nature of my job and I now have a weak spot).

The best thing to do with back pain is to keep mobile. Don't sit/lie around thinking rest is the best thing. As much as it hurts you must keep moving. I found swimming helped, and was the only exercise I could do as everything else caused me too much pain. I bought an inflatable hot tub as well which helped after a hard shift at work.

I''ve had this for the last couple of months. Some days I could hardly walk at all. It seems particularly bad in the morning and after I've been sitting for a long time (I have a desk job where I'm unable to move for long periods of time because of work targets). I had it for a few weeks, then it got better but then it came back, which was terribly depressing. Right now I seem to have good days and bad days. I've taken a lot of painkillers lately.

Some things that have helped me are - walking as much as possible. Exercises I've seen on YouTube have been very helpful - massaging each leg on the back of the leg from the bottom to the ankle, working downwards (you have to get someone to do this for you). Also lying on your back on the ground and putting a hard tennis ball where the pain is and rolling around on it - when the pain is really bad you might be able to do this. There are other exercises you can find on YouTube which might be helpful. Epsom salts in a hot bath is also helpful. And sleeping with a pillow between your legs can make the morning pain a little bit less. I think having a diet which reduces inflammation is good too - lots of veg and fish. I also think that stress makes it worse, I might be wrong about this.