After a lifetime of being unfit, several things have finally caught up to me. However, the most debilitating thing I’ve experienced recently is sciatica. Sciatica occurs when the bones in your spine pinch the sciatic nerve. Since this nerve runs down your spine, there is always a chance that when your back goes out of alignment, the nerve will get caught between the bones, or will get abraded by bones of the spine in their new position. This can produce pain through the lower back, buttocks, thigh and calf. Sciatica Symptoms
Sciatica can cause discomfort when you sit, stand and/or lay down. The discomfort you feel can range from mild stiffness to excruciating pain. And, the pain can range from an ache – mild or severe, or a burning sensation, or pins and needles.
Along with the pain comes a reduction of mobility. Your muscles may feel stiff, limiting your ability to twist and turn. Simple things, like backing out of a parking space can become almost impossible to do.
The kicker to all of this is back spasms. These are contractions of the muscles in your back. These contractions can occur over a period of time, which allows you to take steps to stop them, either by therapy or by muscle relaxants. Unfortunately, they can also occur in a short period of time. I sneezed once and experience a sudden and complete contraction of a back muscle, which landed me in the emergency room of the hospital.
Back Pain Treatment
Medical Doctors
While emergency room visits are expense, they did take several x-rays of my spine, which were forwarded to my general practitioner's office. (They also gave me a strong painkiller, which enabled me to get home.) One of the doctors at my GP’s office specialized in orthopedics and he was able to analyze the x-rays and tell me there was nothing wrong with my spine and there were no growths to be concerned about. What I experienced was “soft tissue damage.”
He recommended that I see a chiropractor.
Chiropractors
For those of you that have had never gone to a chiropractor, I recommend them – with a caveat. Finding a good chiropractor is up there with finding a good hairdresser, or the perfect Chinese restaurant. First you get recommendations, then you go there and make up your mind about how good they are based on how they serve your needs.
My immediate need was for pain relief. Until I experienced that, I wasn’t buying into the “chiropractic lifestyle.” And I didn’t care about “vertebral subluxations,” I just wanted to be pain free and get my range of motion back.
The treatment for back spasms is different from the treatment for sciatica, however the devices used by chiropractors overlap.
Tens Machines
Tens units send electrical impulses to the muscles to reduce pain. If you look up independent reviews of Tens devices, they are almost all positive. The negative reviews don’t deal with pain relief; they deal with the quality of the devices and the service offered by the company selling the equipment. Tens units are used by chiropractors in ten minute intervals in conjunction with other therapies.
I found the efficacy of the Tens machine to be such that I bought one for home use. By trial and error, I found the setting that’s perfect for me and mimics the device used by my chiropractor.
Hot and Cold
Some muscle contractions respond well to heat, while others respond better to cold compresses. The chiropractor has short wave devices, as well as infrared devices to relax contracted muscles.
The Roller Table
I love the roller table, it is my favorite machine in my chiropractor’s arsenal of devices – alas my current chiropractor is not using it for my sciatica. The machine has two large rollers and the table moves them from the buttocks to the neck and then back down your body. I’d rather be on this machine than get a regular massage.
Spinal Alignments
My chiropractor used to turn me on my side, lift one leg and manipulate my spine. Now he uses the Chiropractic Activator, which is a small pointed device that sounds like a stapler when it is being used. My chiropractor swears by it. While I prefer a hands-on adjustment, I can see why my chiropractor would want to use the activator, rather than haul my semi-fetal posed body around for several adjustments. It’s easier on him and there’s no danger of my falling off the adjustment table, or accidentally kicking him. I’ve done both of these things during manual adjustments. He now precision pokes the parts of the spine he wants to realign and does small manual adjustments to the parts of the spine that seem to be resistant to activator.
I stay on my stomach during the entire process and there is less danger to both of us.
The Drop Table
Recently, the last thing that happens during my visits to the chiropractor has been an adjustment on the drop table. I can’t really say that this is sciatica related, as I’ve had the symptom that prompts the use of this table happen to me before I got sciatica.
If you stand firmly on both legs, usually both feet are on the ground. When I try to stand firmly on both feet, my left foot is about an inch off the ground.
The drop table is a segmented table, where parts of the platform fall down several inches. This allows “high velocity” adjustments to be made. For me that’s the pelvic area. The doctor adjusts the middle of the table for my weight and then pushes down on my hips. Three drops and when I stand both feet are firmly on the ground.
Preventing Sciatica and Chronic Back Pain
Sleep Positions
The best positions for sleeping are on your side with a pillow between your knees, or on your back with a pillow under your knees. However, you should spend twenty minutes a day on your stomach, as you are trying to balance out your body and not favor one side over another.
Mattresses
Mattresses shouldn’t be too hard or too soft. There is a popular myth that sleeping on an extra firm mattress can prevent back problems and nothing is farther from the truth. Extra firm mattresses make your body and spine conform to an unnatural position – which is straight. The spine curves and your mattress should encourage a natural body contour.
A mattress that’s too soft encourages your spine to flex outward, again it’s an unnatural position for your spine.
Yoga and Exercise
I’m going to have to haul my old copy of Jess Stern’s “Youth, Yoga and Reincarnation” out of hiding. Not because I agree with the spiritual aspects of yoga, but because my body was in much better shape when I practiced the positions I found in the book. Yoga, more than any other exercise program promotes flexibility. And that’s where my body is falling down on the job.
Walking
You should be walking at least a mile a day, every day. My doctor (regular physician) is pounding this into me. There are days where I’m in front of the computer and don’t take keyboard breaks, much less walk for a mile.
Diet
Gaining weight can change the contours of your body, including your spine. Keeping your weight at a consistent level will help you avoid back pain. My current round of sciatica developed after I had a significant weight gain in a small amount of time.
Home Equipment for Pain Management
Heating Pads
I haven’t used my heating pad for a while, because many of my pain management devices incorporate heat. However, today’s heating pads can be quite sophisticated and incorporate moist heat, as well as have special contours for the neck.
Back Massagers
I have a variety of massage devices from the full back chair pillows to the hand held massagers, some with heat, some without. The hand held massagers range from what we affectionately call ET – with two vibrating balls on the head that you can run up and down the sides of your spine, to the “ginormous” massager I’ve seen in my doctors office that you could use to wax floors.
The most effective back massager I own is the Homedics Shiatsu Pillow. I’ve used it on my back and neck daily.
Ibuprofen
When you get to be my age, you start waking up with minor aches and pains and doctors start handing you prescriptions for pain relievers to be taken daily. I prefer to stay away from prescription pain relievers because of the side effects and take Ibuprofen when the pain gets to be too much for me to handle.
And now you get the “snowflake” speech. We are all like snowflakes – individual and unique. What works for me, may not work for you. Pain management is about finding out what alleviates YOUR pain. If you get a pinched nerve, or back spasms or suffer from chronic back pain – see your doctor. It could be an indicator of a serious condition. A self-diagnosis can be wrong and could prove to be injurious over time.
If your regular medical practitioner can’t find anything wrong with you and a chiropractor isn’t helping, find a doctor who specializes in fibromyalgia or pain management. Sometimes the causes of back pain can be obscure.
I’ve been lucky. My diagnosis was quickly made and the remedy was readily available. I have a friend who’s been complaining for years and seen several different doctors about pain when walking. After being told her pain was imaginary, she finally got a doctor who found severe degradation of the cartilage of her hip joints. After five years of suffering and she had hip replacement surgery.
Doctors are not all knowing and your medical practitioner should not hesitate in recommending a specialist if they can’t figure out what’s wrong with you.
Chronic pain, back pain and sciatica can be treated and managed.
appreciated
