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Old 08-29-2013, 10:29 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,967 times
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Can someone please suggest me a good Doctor for the Sciatica nerve pain,I am having numbing and tingling sensation in my toes,please help.
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Old 08-29-2013, 10:30 PM
 
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btw I am in Hartford area.
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Old 08-30-2013, 07:59 AM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,634 posts, read 56,360,262 times
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Have you seen your General Practicioner? Maybe they can give a recommendation. Jay
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Old 08-30-2013, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Middlesex
1,350 posts, read 2,670,783 times
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chiropractors are usually a good starting point. they can clarify whether or not it is sciatica - usually there's an accompanying pain down the leg that's like an ache in addition to any numbness/tingling.
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Old 08-30-2013, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Near the Coast SWCT
83,274 posts, read 74,477,134 times
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Had this 2 yrs ago. Scariest feeling when your walking normally and all of a sudden you freeze in position from excruciating nerve pain and tingling sensation from toe to lower back. Leg would fall asleep a lot too. I don't have any recommendations since it went away after 4 weeks. I knocked on all my firewood. Didn't even take any pills for it. Just suffered through it and let the body heal naturally. I don't recommend that though.

I know the pain from it so I truly hope you find your solution and get it healed.
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Old 08-31-2013, 07:20 PM
 
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Sciatica, like most back pain, usually goes away on its own over a period of several months. It is therefore the perfect malady to be treated by quacks, because it gets better by itself over a relatively long period of time.

After having ruptured a couple of discs in my lower back about a year and a half ago, leading to sciatica and severe pain, I have these recommendations:

If you have motor deficiencies (foot drop, significant numbness, weakness) see your MD immediately and get a neurological exam and an MRI. If there is a ruptured disc that is exerting significant pressure on a nerve, causing weakness, severe numbness, paralysis, you need immediate surgical decompression to relieve the pressure on the nerve.

If all you have is pain, tingling, but still have sensation, can flex your ankle upward, can wiggle toes well, then try this:

Do not go for physical therapy. It hurts, doesn't help. The idea is to let the inflammation in the area calm down, don't irritate it in any way by stretching, flexing, etc. Eventually the ruptured disc will scar down on its own.

DO keep moving. Best exercise is walking, without bending over. Walk as far as you can tolerate, daily.

Ice your lower back whenever possible. Do not use any heat. Ice decreases inflammation and decreases swelling, which relieves the bulging disc's pressure on the nerve. I used a flexible multicompartment ice pack. I would put it on my bare lower back, either lying on it or wedged in behind me in the car seat as I commuted, twice a day.

Sleep on the floor!!! I don't care how hard and firm you think your mattress is - it's not hard enough. You need to sleep on the floor so that overnight your spine will stretch out, thus relieving the pressure on the bulging disc. The harder, the better. Sleeping on carpeted floor or a rug, with a few quilts on the floor so that you can stand it, really helps. When lying on your back, put a pillow under your thighs so that your knees stay slightly flexed. When lying on your side, the floor is firm enough so that your hip will not sink down, thus keeping your spine straight, and relieving any pressure on the disc. If for some reason you cannot sleep on your floor, get a platform bed and don't use a mattress, just a few quilts for padding. This will help immensely. It can take only a few days to see some improvement, but might take a month. You get used to it pretty quickly. I'm still sleeping on the floor 18 months later.

Try different antiinflammatory NSAIDS. Diclofenac 75 mg worked well for me.

I never tried it, but friends say that marijuana works well for pain relief.

Remember, surgery only if you have neurological deficits.
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Old 08-31-2013, 07:51 PM
 
Location: Near the Coast SWCT
83,274 posts, read 74,477,134 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist View Post

Sleep on the floor!!! I don't care how hard and firm you think your mattress is - it's not hard enough. You need to sleep on the floor so that overnight your spine will stretch out, thus relieving the pressure on the bulging disc. The harder, the better. .
Wow, awesome info! I wish I read this when I was in pain. And BINGO.. you just struck a memory nerve. The floor! I remember sleeping on the floor for a week and going around telling everyone I felt better and thought it was the floor. I also walked as much as I could but it was awkward when I froze in time in public because of the sharp stinging pain.

I swear its a toss up between that pain and tooth pain. Imagine not being able to put socks on, or a 1/2" move (yes, 1/2") causes excruciating pain.
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Old 08-31-2013, 08:56 PM
 
Location: Down the rabbit hole
863 posts, read 1,189,027 times
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When I finally had to have a destroyed disc removed after exhausting almost every imaginable option, I used Dr Jeffery Sumner out of Hamden. It's a bit of a haul from Hartford (especially with a bad back) but the guy's great......and I'm not a fan of doctors Even though my surgery was a terrific success, you should only consider it as a last option. parentologist has some great advice - try it.
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Old 08-31-2013, 09:19 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic east coast
7,055 posts, read 12,560,065 times
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When my husband had a really bad sciatica attack, he went to a doctor who taught him the McKenzie method exercises. Those exercises fixed his pain...now husband does them faithfully every night for a few minutes...his pain went away quickly, and has never come back. Seems too simple, but they work!


McKenzie Sciatica Pain Relief Exercise - YouTube
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Old 08-31-2013, 10:33 PM
 
Location: Middlesex
1,350 posts, read 2,670,783 times
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me thinks you guys opinion on chiropractors leaves a bit to be desired. to me they're the first course of treatment i would follow if i had sciatica. first, they are just as capable of taking x-rays and diagnosing the root cause of the problem as a Dr (maybe moreso) and second, they may be able to give you some relief via an adjustment which is a lot less expensive than surgery. if he thinks the problem is serious enough that an adjustment wouldn't help/would make it worse then he could recommend an MD if asked. you just have to find a good one.
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