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#1
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
Greetings! Long, semi-sad story is next, question at bottom.
I had been experiencing one of my infrequent flare-ups of a mild to moderate sciatic condition when I took a header off my bike at somewhere between 25 and 30 mph. I was on a group ride coming down a hill. We had had a large amount of rainfall recently and there were occasional sand washes running out into the road. Sadly for me, a deep sand wash (4 - 6") became visible as we entered a shaded region from an area of bright sunlight at the bottom of a hill. Cyclists to my left, can't go that way. Deeper sand to the right, not a good choice either. I tried to make it through but being a roadie only, I wasn't aware that I should get my weight back on the bike to get through it. Got launched onto my left hip (the side with the sciatica) and hit there first, luckily in the sand rather than on the pavement. So the road rash was minimal, although I did slide for a distance on my elbow before I rolled into a nice older couple's lawn. Got bandaged up, straightened out my handlebars and shifters, and finished the ride (27 more miles). I finished fairly well, averaging about 17 mph. As I felt fairly sore I didn't ride until the following Sunday. Got out about 4 miles that day and felt terrible. My sciatica hadn't gotten too bad and I was SORE with a giant bruise on my hip but all in all, I felt as if I could ride. Not. Struggled back up the hill to our house but was able to walk, move and bend reasonably well. Monday morning (Memorial Day), however, was another story. Woke at 5 a.m. due to a level of pain in my left leg that had tears dripping from my eyes. Trip to ER, shot of dilaudid and muscle relaxer and script for vicodin. Ever since, I have been struggling with the managed care system to get the treatment I need and the docs all agree I need in a bad way. Oooops, sorry, we forgot to submit for your pre-authorization for a spinal cortisone shot. Ooooops, we're so sorry, we didn't read the insurance company's info, you need an MRI for the pre-auth submission. Ooops, sorry, we can't get you an MRI until the first week of July. Ooooops, sorry, we can't get you in for your spinal til mid July. The *******s are more than happy to throw opiates at me but give me actual treatment? They think not. I have received significant relief from a chiropracter but I believe in the spinal (my father has sciatica too and he has been pain free for five years after just one shot) and am hopeful that the chiropractic care I have received won't cause my MRI to show that the shot is unnecessary (in their estimation). On to my real question: what do you do to manage your chronic pain and keep on the bike? TIA App, who kinda likes the opiate pain relief but understands the inherent problems therewith. |
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#2
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
"Appkiller" wrote
snip On to my real question: what do you do to manage your chronic pain and keep on the bike? My most recent bout of sciatica was caused by riding, early in this training season. I stayed off the bike for 10 weeks, and am just now getting back into training. I tried to ride some, but found it just made things worse. My leg pain is usually caused by a bulging lumbar disc, but this time I suspect it was related to the piriformis muscle. (Unfortunately, I did not get a confirmatory diagnosis prior to pain cessation.) For weeks I was able to manage my pain with ibuprphen. Then I started taking synthetic morphine in addition. I finally ended up getting an epidural shot of corticosteriods, which took more than a week to kick in. I'm sure my pain doctor would credit the epidural, but for 36 hours prior to complete release of the sciatica, I was in great pain. At any rate, my treatment was based on the long-standing diagnosis of bulging disc. If it happens again, I'm going to ask for a new MRI and PT. FWIW, my advice to you is try to get a definite diagnosis! I would have felt better knowing whether my recent problems were due to a muscle injury or progressive disc degeneration. Now that I'm pain-free, the doctors don't seemt to care. Horace |
#3
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
"Appkiller" wrote in message
om... On to my real question: what do you do to manage your chronic pain and keep on the bike? After two years of steadily worsening sciatica and visits to just about every kind of health care practitioner that deals with such, I finally underwent disc surgery. That was over two decades ago and I have been fine ever since except when I do types of lifting that I shouldn't - then I have a couple of days of mild sciatica which I guess is my body's way of reminding me of what I should and should not do. It actually wasn't until after my surgery that I became more a more serious recreational rider and still do the occasional century. I doubt your managed care will opt for surgery unless you become totally incapacitated. It may be that your sciatica will subside to a point where you can begin a daily regimen of lower back and abdominal exercises to alleviate recurrences. However, it is also possible that your accident caused an actual disc rupture in which case you may eventually have to undergo the knife. If so, a word of advice: go with a surgeon who does nothing else but disc surgery of the lower back. Mine was a neurosurgeon who did nothing else. Orthopedic surgeons also do the surgery. BTW, the worst part of the surgery was the preliminary myelogram - where dye is injected into the spinal column to identify on an Xray precisely where the disc rupture is - done 6 weeks before the surgery. I suspect that less invasive diagnostics are used today. Good luck! |
#4
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
: (snip)
FWIW, my advice to you is try to get a definite diagnosis! I would have felt better knowing whether my recent problems were due to a muscle injury or progressive disc degeneration. Now that I'm pain-free, the doctors don't seemt to care. Horace Horace: X-rays at the chiropracter (-or?) reveal a fine set of fat and happy discs except for one just above the first sacral vertebrae. Pinchy, pinchy. The crash resulted in a triumvirate of injury: the impact kinda displaced things and, along with the resultant swelling, manifested as a sciatic pain experience that exceeded anything I have ever experienced before, deeply painful bone and flesh bruises, and weird looseness and clicking of joints. Been on a bike only briefly since; I still putz with 'em in the hope of riding again this fall (a planned trip to Glacier in Montana) and ya gotta road test yer putzin'. Good luck with yours. App |
#5
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
I am going to resist entering into a long dissertation about what has helped
me, only because I have become a fanatic over the relief I have obtained, and damn, can I rail on and on....... In an effort to summarize my experience, I will say that I have suffered from periodic sciatica for most of my 57 years. The pain lasts anywhere from 30 days to 120 days before it subsides and I am able to get on with life like normal people. Yes, I have had surgery to correct a "bulging" disc, and it worked......for a while. The next, post surgical bout, afflicted me in October of 2003. A co-worker suggested an Inversion Machine, a device that allowed me to hang partially upside down and expand the spinal column. At that point, the pain was so bad I would have tried a bowl full of snakes and burning feathers to find a cure. So I purchased an inversion machine. Eight days later, I was pain free. Not 30 days later, not 90 days later.......eight. Rock and roll, even Viagra didn't rouse such happiness..... How long has it been......Oct..Nov...Dec....9 friggin' months later am I am pain free. Draw your own conclusion, SweePee. If you have a sciatica problem, a spinal compression problem, try two minutes daily on a Inversion Table set at 45 degree........two minutes a day. Feeeeeel the pull! Then, get up and continue with life. My back is now fine. Where the hell did I put that Viagra...... "Appkiller" wrote in message om... Greetings! Long, semi-sad story is next, question at bottom. I had been experiencing one of my infrequent flare-ups of a mild to moderate sciatic condition when I took a header off my bike at somewhere between 25 and 30 mph. I was on a group ride coming down a hill. We had had a large amount of rainfall recently and there were occasional sand washes running out into the road. Sadly for me, a deep sand wash (4 - 6") became visible as we entered a shaded region from an area of bright sunlight at the bottom of a hill. Cyclists to my left, can't go that way. Deeper sand to the right, not a good choice either. I tried to make it through but being a roadie only, I wasn't aware that I should get my weight back on the bike to get through it. Got launched onto my left hip (the side with the sciatica) and hit there first, luckily in the sand rather than on the pavement. So the road rash was minimal, although I did slide for a distance on my elbow before I rolled into a nice older couple's lawn. Got bandaged up, straightened out my handlebars and shifters, and finished the ride (27 more miles). I finished fairly well, averaging about 17 mph. As I felt fairly sore I didn't ride until the following Sunday. Got out about 4 miles that day and felt terrible. My sciatica hadn't gotten too bad and I was SORE with a giant bruise on my hip but all in all, I felt as if I could ride. Not. Struggled back up the hill to our house but was able to walk, move and bend reasonably well. Monday morning (Memorial Day), however, was another story. Woke at 5 a.m. due to a level of pain in my left leg that had tears dripping from my eyes. Trip to ER, shot of dilaudid and muscle relaxer and script for vicodin. Ever since, I have been struggling with the managed care system to get the treatment I need and the docs all agree I need in a bad way. Oooops, sorry, we forgot to submit for your pre-authorization for a spinal cortisone shot. Ooooops, we're so sorry, we didn't read the insurance company's info, you need an MRI for the pre-auth submission. Ooops, sorry, we can't get you an MRI until the first week of July. Ooooops, sorry, we can't get you in for your spinal til mid July. The *******s are more than happy to throw opiates at me but give me actual treatment? They think not. I have received significant relief from a chiropracter but I believe in the spinal (my father has sciatica too and he has been pain free for five years after just one shot) and am hopeful that the chiropractic care I have received won't cause my MRI to show that the shot is unnecessary (in their estimation). On to my real question: what do you do to manage your chronic pain and keep on the bike? TIA App, who kinda likes the opiate pain relief but understands the inherent problems therewith. |
#6
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
"Appkiller" wrote in message om... : (snip) X-rays at the chiropracter (-or?) reveal a fine set of fat and happy discs except for one just above the first sacral vertebrae. Pinchy, pinchy. The crash resulted in a triumvirate of injury: the impact kinda displaced things and, along with the resultant swelling, manifested as a sciatic pain experience that exceeded anything I have ever experienced before, deeply painful bone and flesh bruises, and weird looseness and clicking of joints. I feel your pain. With my worst ever episode I was laid up in bed, immobile, for three days. Lower back pain/spasms, plus sciatica, and what the neurologists call "drop foot" (where the foot of the affected leg cannot be raised). This recent episode only became that painful at the very end. Been on a bike only briefly since; I still putz with 'em in the hope of riding again this fall (a planned trip to Glacier in Montana) and ya gotta road test yer putzin'. Same with me. I can ride 45 minutes now with no trouble, but I'm still nervous. I want to try a metric century in early fall. Good luck with yours. And yours, too. Horace |
#8
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
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#9
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Sciatica - My story and a question: How do YOU manage it?
I am living with degenerative disc disease brought on by many years of
hard manual work and a motorcycle accident in 1996. My L3, L4, L5, and S1 discs are less than half their original thickness and I have daily pain, ranging from moderate to debilitating. I had to change careers and give up my job as a motorcycle service manager and technician and now have a home based business. After the accident, I went through extensive physical therapy, using weight machines. It helped for a while, then the pain came back and got progressively worse, due to arthritis. I have a hyperextension bench here at home that I use three times a week (when I'm able to) and it helps control the pain. The other thing that really helps is riding my bike. My orthopedist says it's due to the increased blood flow to the damaged areas. Halfway through each ride, I stop and do some stretches for my hamstrings, lower back, calves, and quadriceps. I also stretch at home and do some mild yoga exercises, usually in the evening while watching TV. That and painkillers has made my life bearable again. The other thing that is really important is your position on the bike. For me, having the bars level with the saddle works best. I have read posts in here from other riders who say lowering their bars was the answer, you have to find out what's best for you. Pushing big gears on hills is a bad idea because this increases stress on your lower back (and your knees). The main thing is to remain active, becoming a couch potato is the worst thing you can do. Riding your bike helps control your weight and will also help cheer you up on the bad days. Some of the things that did very little to help my pain long-term were epidural shots, cortisone, and an electronic procedure they use to deaden the nerves (forgot what they call it). Hang in there and keep a good mental outlook, that's another key. Hope things go well for you. Smokey (Appkiller) wrote in message . com... Greetings! Long, semi-sad story is next, question at bottom. I had been experiencing one of my infrequent flare-ups of a mild to moderate sciatic condition when I took a header off my bike at somewhere between 25 and 30 mph. I was on a group ride coming down a hill. We had had a large amount of rainfall recently and there were occasional sand washes running out into the road. Sadly for me, a deep sand wash (4 - 6") became visible as we entered a shaded region from an area of bright sunlight at the bottom of a hill. Cyclists to my left, can't go that way. Deeper sand to the right, not a good choice either. I tried to make it through but being a roadie only, I wasn't aware that I should get my weight back on the bike to get through it. Got launched onto my left hip (the side with the sciatica) and hit there first, luckily in the sand rather than on the pavement. So the road rash was minimal, although I did slide for a distance on my elbow before I rolled into a nice older couple's lawn. Got bandaged up, straightened out my handlebars and shifters, and finished the ride (27 more miles). I finished fairly well, averaging about 17 mph. As I felt fairly sore I didn't ride until the following Sunday. Got out about 4 miles that day and felt terrible. My sciatica hadn't gotten too bad and I was SORE with a giant bruise on my hip but all in all, I felt as if I could ride. Not. Struggled back up the hill to our house but was able to walk, move and bend reasonably well. Monday morning (Memorial Day), however, was another story. Woke at 5 a.m. due to a level of pain in my left leg that had tears dripping from my eyes. Trip to ER, shot of dilaudid and muscle relaxer and script for vicodin. Ever since, I have been struggling with the managed care system to get the treatment I need and the docs all agree I need in a bad way. Oooops, sorry, we forgot to submit for your pre-authorization for a spinal cortisone shot. Ooooops, we're so sorry, we didn't read the insurance company's info, you need an MRI for the pre-auth submission. Ooops, sorry, we can't get you an MRI until the first week of July. Ooooops, sorry, we can't get you in for your spinal til mid July. The *******s are more than happy to throw opiates at me but give me actual treatment? They think not. I have received significant relief from a chiropracter but I believe in the spinal (my father has sciatica too and he has been pain free for five years after just one shot) and am hopeful that the chiropractic care I have received won't cause my MRI to show that the shot is unnecessary (in their estimation). On to my real question: what do you do to manage your chronic pain and keep on the bike? TIA App, who kinda likes the opiate pain relief but understands the inherent problems therewith. |
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