sciatica

[greentreeseverywhere]

I am hoping someone will have an amazing cure for my poor dh
he has sciatica since early this year (possibly from a fall over xmas)
he has a physical job in the building trade and has a small team that work for him but he is also working everyday.
it's got to the point now where he can't physically work which is straining our finances (I'm currently on maternity)
he has been to the gp a few times and been given different pain relief. he was refered to a and e who agreed it was sciatica and want him to have an mri-we are hoping this will happen soon
but in the meantime what else can we do to try and help him. the pain is in his lower back, thigh, calf and bum
so far he has been to a physio. osteopath. started Pilates and swimming. ices the area. takes ibuprofen and rubs on pain relief cream. he does all the stretches from physio and osteopath and also from Pilates. he rolls the area with a tennis ball and has had acupuncture
he is now only working half days to try and take some of the strain off but can't not work (self emplyed)
is there anything anyone has found that helps it's been 6 months now and it's seriously getting him down...

He's been doing all the right things. Sadly most back pain is left to see if it resolves (which it mostly does) but after 6 months its not going to. I'd push for the mri as you've been waiting long enough now. I had surgery but its not for everyone and I still suffer (but not as much). I usually find bursting into tears get you moved further up but being a bloke that's not going to happen ... try phoning yourself and exaggerate the hell out of your situation to get them on side (I'm sure your hormones will help you cry!). Good luck!

Thank you il chase the mri on Monday! I thought he was doing everything but wasn't sure if anyone had found a wonder cure but sadly doesn't seem so

MRI and steroid injection work for some people but not for others. I found prednisolone 5mg daily worked wonders for me but there are some people who experience serious side effects and GPs are not willing to prescribe them for lower back pain. Also supposed to be a temporary treatment which should have the doses reduced to a minimum before coming off them. Sometimes it returns.
Some sciatica is chronic but long term steroid use is not considered safe.
An elderly acquaintance of mine is waiting for the operation as the steroid injection failed to have any effect. She has a narrowed spine not slipped discs like I have.

The MRI scan does not always show anything , even with a contrast dye, but hope you and DH get some answers and a cure for his back problems.
.

thankyou the hospital said it looks like injections or surgery are his only options. I'm also trying to get him to speak to the Dr about how its making him feel as he's getting in to a depression and it's just not like him!
he s seeing his mother tomorrow and I'm hoping he opens up to her (she would also pay for private health care!) so that would speed everything up if she helped out

Steroid injections are amazing
Diazepam for acute attacks
Tapentadol , methnocarbamol

Could you go private? If so I really can't recommend the London pain clinic more they saved my life

thankyou I'm going to look at the clinic now.
I may also send mil a txt and see if she can bring it up with him. I know she will help if he just ask' s her. but hopefully with them spending the whole day together she will see how bad it is
thankyou for all it help and suggestions

The only thing that brought me any relief was a TENs machine. I had it on literally 24 hours a day. Look on amazon for hand held ones, mine was Healthmate Forever I think. My sciatica was due to a slipped disc and resolved itself in about 3 months.

thank you I'l have a look at that as well!!

My parents paid for me to go
I am now drug free for the first time in over 2.5 years
It's been about 3 weeks off medications
I have quit more then 10 meds since I got ill.
It was very quickly fixed
I can give more info if you send me a message on here happy to let you know about my consultant

It was just about 3 k each time I had the injections ( I had to be sedated and at hosp for them but if he had Botox for example he may not need to be sedated it would be cheaper )
They use the weymouth st hospital to do their procedures

I had two rounds of injections and it's the first time they worked

Baring in mind I was screaming for years hysterically to cut the nerves out

Also the point that the medications are prescribed if they are suitable not if they are in budget of the NHS so I got to take much better medication when I saw Dr Singh

Finally all in with the pain clinic was prob 7 k maybe a bit less or a bit more in 5 or six months with them

Meds were expensive but worth it

Good luck x

I also spent more then 15k on other private specialists before it was promptly resolved

Now I would use harley street for everything

I had 3 caudal epidurals for back pain / sciatica. The third one was 3.5 years ago and I just get it on the odd occasion now

I had to have surgery for mine as I stopped being able to flex my ankle, also I literally couldn’t move for the awful pain, I couldn’t even go to the loo, It was just awful. I awoke from surgery pain free. It was amazing. I now do Pilates and abdominal exercises twice a day every day to try to keep it from coming back.

thank you everyone. he had a chat with his mum and she is going to pay for him to go private! thank god! so will we be sorting that out tomorrow x

London pain clinic is the very best I have used so many "pain consultants"

I have to stay over night when I go there but I am fixed!!