Sciatic Nerve Treatment

My mother was complaining of sciatica. She ended up going to a sports medicine doc, got 2 epidural shots in her back and is now pain free.

Pain isn't always originating from where you think it might be.

if it is sciatic, chiropractor will not fix it.

my wife struggles with this every few years and it's miserable. she had always gone to the chiro for everything back related and they never seemed to help on this one.

what she did was see a general practitioner and had muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory pills prescribed, combined with stretches. she had a shot in the rear once.

i would start there, see what they say and save the money from going straight to a specialist if they can diagnose that.

I think mine is muscular as well. At least that is what I'm hoping for. I have tried some stretches I saw online and it gives me temporary relief, but always comes back. My FIL has an inversion table, will that be of benefit?

PM&R then dry needling

Go see a sports medicine dr. I went untreated for two years and it was literally the most god awful thing I have ever experienced. ASK for him to get an MRI done, if he says its not a buldging disc or diagnoses with "Chronic Hamstring" (a Dr's made up term for idk wtf is going on) take your MRI to get a second opinion at a pain management specialist, preferably someone that does not like to give out narcotic prescriptions.They will either refer back to a specialist or recommend certain shots (which are miracles in a syringe) along with some PT.

Definitely be proactive in this, attack it face on, it only gets worse over time. If you think your doc believes you're just looking for meds, frick him, find a new one.

In the mean time, take naproxin or ibuprofin. Naproxin works better for me.

I ignored the Teeter Hang-up infomercials for years. Then my mom bought me one for a gift because I was always complaining about back problems that I couldn't fix for more than a few hours. I was skeptical, but damn, that thing has changed my life.

I don't know anything technical about back issues. I don't know when you should or shouldn't do things. I just know that this device cleared up all of my issues. I hang for about a minute 1 or 2 times a day, and I am good to go.

Redbull- I'm a senior med student and someone who has dealt with neck issues and worked with sciatica patients. You may need an MRI, although sciatica is sometimes a clinical diagnosis (meaning no tests are necessary). You should probably go see your primary care physician about this to make sure that it is actually sciatica, but if you are sure that it is you can skip that step and just go see a neurosurgeon or an orthopedist. They may prescribe you NSAIDs or gabapentin, or possibly some physical therapy. But really neurosurg or orthopedist specializing in the spine are your two best options.

ETA: PM&R is also a good choice

I have been driving a lot more for work everyday. I drive to BR from Lafayette and back. This may be the cause of the Piriformis syndrome?

the interesting part of the history you gave is that the symptoms go down both legs, that makes your case different than most posting here, go to your PCP