Joint Pain

How to get pain relief from sciatica and herniated L4-L5 disc?

Herniated L4-L5 disc with sciatic pain down left leg and foot, moderate to severe at times. Have tried 2 shots and oral meds, no real pain relief, physical therapy with traction provides temporary relief. What options are left and how to avoid surgery? Am a busy self employed contractor and am unable to take the time off work for surgery. Not to mention fear of the surgery and complications. Any advice will help at this point...Thanks

Public Comments

1. go to a good pharmacy and buy a TENS machine, it works like so. threre are usually 2 little suckers which you stick on the surrounding area where you are getting the pain, these are attached to a small device with batteries and have volume controls, you can adjust these to suit the pain you are experiencing,the machine emits small electric pulses, there are usually three settings and you can choose which one you like best.i personally would,nt be without mine, its been a godsend, mine cost about 100 pounds, but well worth it.oh i nearly forgot, dont stick the pads on old scar tissue. good luck to you.
2. Why do you want to avoid the surgery?? What complications are you talking about? It looks to me that you have tried everything else and nothing has been effective. I too waited a on surgery and I can't tell you how i regret it. I now have a permanetly damaged Sciatic Nerve and drag my leg because of it. You don't have to afraid of this type of surgery. For 1 thing, complications during back surgery are alot more rare than they were 10 years ago, methods have been perfected and the complications came with much more complicated surgeries than the one you need. I'll tell you about mine and you be the judge....I entered the hospital the night before my surgery, had the disc removed from between L4 and L5, I woke up in the recovery room feeling the relief, although by the time I went into surgery I was almost completely paralyized from the disc pressing the nerve for so long. I was up and walking the same night I had surgery and went home the next morning. My recovery was mainly rehabing the Sciatic nerve, but I was walking without help after about 5 days, a little slow sitting and standing but that was better within 2 weeks. After a month I was back to my old self as far as my back is concerned, but was left with this nerve damage to deal with. Believe me, you don't want yours to go as far as mine did. I recently traveled to Arizona to be with my son while he had the exact same surgery. He was injured doing some work on an Airplane over in Afghanastan. I was scheduled to stay for 2 weeks and because he caught his early after seeing what I went through he was walking and taking care of himself with in 3 days. He was sore, but could get around okay. Keep in mind though he is only 23, lol. Anyway, as you can tell, I am all for the surgery or my son would have never been aloud to have it. I'm so glad that he didn't have to go through all of the shots and PT. So I hope you will reconsider checking into surgery because it isn't as bad as you think or have heard. Do me a favor if someone is telling you a back surgery "war story" ask to see their scar!! Also, I'm sure someone will recommend a Chiropractor, they will definetly be giving you a bad recommendation, I can't tell you how many people I sat in PT with that had their back made worse by seeing a chiroprator that only cared about the return visits and the $$ he was making. They don't really have the equipment or the knowledge to treat your type of back injury. This injury should only be treated by a Neurosurgeon or Orthopedic Specialist. Good Luck, I hope you get relief soon, however you choose.
3. The best way to avoid the surgey is to exercise...you don't really think that the pain will dissapear on it's own, do you? By exercising you will see results in about 2-3 weeks, it's only will take a few minuts a day!
4. i have the same problem to,my l4 and l5 are bulging with sciatic nerve pain.my doctor put me on neurontin,its a nerve pain blocker and is used for epilepsy mainly.but doctors are also using it to treat nerve pain,with no side effects.now that i've been on this drug,i have been pain free for two weeks now.ask your doctor!! edit:200mg twice a day is what i take,have your doctor try you out on that atleast,it can be increased to 900mg per day if needed.please ask him/her
5. If you had at least a temporary response with traction, you are probably a very good candidate for another approach in physical therapy called "mechanical diagnosis and therapy." Treatment is brief, simple and of those who can have an identifiable directional prefrence, 90% are pain free or significantly better in two weeks. Unfortunately, this approach, even though it is the most researched method, is not taught at the entry level physical therapy education. It's a post graduate program. I would recommend you find a credentialed provider at: http://www.mckenziemdt.org At the very least, if your disc is deemed "irriducible," it will be known within a few visits and it is THOSE people who do tend to do well with surgery.
6. I take neurontin, and another poster explained some of the uses, but sciatica is why I take it. However, I was placed on 200mg., in the beginning, and I was put up to 800mg., 3 times a day. I chose to take myself off of that dosage, and do an alternative medication and one dose of 800mg. a day. Depending on how I sleep, what type of floor that I am standing, or what type of chair I am sitting in determines bad I am going to hurt in a day. I had my worse pain over the Christmas holiday; I thought that my leg was going to implode inside of Best Buy. The was the worse experience that I have had since being diagnosed. Let me say this, my mom has sciatica too, but she cannot take anything for it, because she has an aversion to all of the CNS meds; they give her tremors. So, basically she can't take anything for. Just to let you know, Neurontin works for me, but not for my mom.
7. There are many things you can do. Physical Therapy is great because you can go to a few sessions. 3 or 4 ought to do it and they will show you how to exercise properly to help alleviate discomfort and to prevent further damage. You should also request an MRI with your doctor to see exactly what is going on. I did not realize that the base of my spinal cord was being crushed. I did have the surgery and I have to tell you it was amazing. I was up and walking the next day. (I had lost all movement in my lower left leg not to mention pain) I was back to work in 2 weeks although I did physical therapy 3 times a week for a few months. I have been mostly pain free for a year and half now and am glad I had the surgery. I have a few aches in that area of my back once in a while but nothing really bad. Take care of your back now. build up your abdominal muscles and learn how to lift and bend in ways that protect your disks.