Sciatic Nerve Pain

[maxx58]

Has anyone tried acupuncture for this problem?

I visited the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic at a hospital around the Surasak area in the hope of relieving my sciatic pain. After 18 acupuncture treatments and many herbal concoctions I felt absolutely NO relief from my pain. In fact, on my last visit I walked to the train station in such pain that I made it my last visit. Between the treatments and the herbals I spent around 22,000 baht. What a waste!

I have lost my faith in the powers of acupuncture!!

[Jessi]

You need to get the cause properly evaluated. If you have had it for years it is possible there is compression on the nerve root leaving the spine due to degenerative changes. If so, and surgery may be necessary to create enough space for the nerve.

I recommend you consult Dr. Wicharn at the BNH Hospital spine center.

Thank you for your advice Sheryl, the last Doctor I saw about 1 month ago, did the x ray and just gave me some pills called GABAPENTIN GPO 300mg. They do seem to ease the pain a bit but make me very sleepy.

What is BNH hospital?

I was miserable with degenerative disc pain. In the last few days I am pain free for the first time in months taking Gabapentin.

You have to get the dosage right. I am currently taking 1800mg. That's two 300mg pills three times a day. Yes you're going to feel spacy and weird for the first couple of weeks, but believe me it's worth it to be pain free. I can't recommend Gaba highly enough. It's narcotic free and available over the counter. I just bought a box of 10 x 10 for 1100 baht but I will probably get it cheaper at the wholesale place.

When you do some research on this you'll find some people dosed at 3600mg per day. Increase your dosage gradually over a week.

By the way when I went to a Thai Dr. He dosed me at one a day at bedtime, a completely wrong dosage.

Gaba works.

The Dr gave me 1 @ day, this does help. I just bought another strip of 10 cost was 80B, if they help with the pain well the price is OK....................But to take 1800mg a day I would never attempt that without guidance from a fully qualified Doctor. it would make me feel like a space jockey, its bad enough on 300mg @ day.

[Jessi]

Has anyone tried acupuncture for this problem?

I visited the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic at a hospital around the Surasak area in the hope of relieving my sciatic pain. After 18 acupuncture treatments and many herbal concoctions I felt absolutely NO relief from my pain. In fact, on my last visit I walked to the train station in such pain that I made it my last visit. Between the treatments and the herbals I spent around 22,000 baht. What a waste!

I have lost my faith in the powers of acupuncture!!

Thank you for that I wont be wasting my time or money on acupuncture.

[Jessi]

Thank you Sheryl I will try & get to see him at BKK Christian hospital.

[BAYBOY]

re Acupuncture.

Years ago woke one morning and could not move from the bed. Terrible pain in my back and legs. Later that day felt better and saw my GP. Gave me some pills and said I had sciatica, which comes in various types/forms. Felt better but it was several days before I resumed work, but still had some pain.

My GP had learnt and studied acupuncture in China for a year and started me on a course of acpuncture for 7 days. Never had the pain again. This was in New Zealand 1989.

Worked for me.

BAYBOY.

[Sheryl]

Again, not all pain of this type is the same. Causes vary. Which explains why acupuncture, physical therapy and the like work for some people and not at all for others. It depends on the underlying cause.

Get that properly evaluated. If the pain is due to pressure from a herniated disk or to strain of muscles/ligaments, such conservative measures will indeed work. Though in the case of a herniated disk it is worth seeing a good spinal specialist as there are combinations of drugs that are particularly helpful in speeding release.

[thaipod]

There is also cases of pronation of the feet and leg length discripencies that put stress on the L4-L5 discs and bring on siatica due to misalignment causing wear and tear on the joints also degeneration . Maybe look onto custom made orthotics

[PHP87]

I'm a long time sufferer of sciatica and have tried everything over the past 30 years.

Inversion therapy and strong pain meds are the only things that help me.

YMMV

Good Luck.

[seedy]

If I may ask - for how long and how often do you find inversion therapy to be required ??

Twice weekly, more often ? Or does it change over time ??

Thanks

[PHP87]

2x a day. About 5-8 minutes per session.

[seedy]

Thanks for that. Will buy or make an inversion table for use in LOS

[dddave]

Thank you Sheryl I will try & get to see him at BKK Christian hospital.

Just be aware that Bangkok Christian does not have some of the higher tech diagnostic and imaging devices so you still might end up having to go to BNH or another mainline hospital for those services.

Dr Wicharn only sees patients at Bangkok Christian on Saturday afternoon, very small 2 hour window.

[Linna001]

The most common cure for sciatic nerve pain is to ease the pressure on the nerve root through surgery, drugs, or natural methods. If you want to avoid surgery there are many natural sciatic nerve pain cures.

[Sheryl]

Thank you Sheryl I will try & get to see him at BKK Christian hospital.

Just be aware that Bangkok Christian does not have some of the higher tech diagnostic and imaging devices so you still might end up having to go to BNH or another mainline hospital for those services.

Dr Wicharn only sees patients at Bangkok Christian on Saturday afternoon, very small 2 hour window.

second para true, first less so. Bkk Christian has CT and MRI.

[Sheryl]

The most common cure for sciatic nerve pain is to ease the pressure on the nerve root through surgery, drugs, or natural methods. If you want to avoid surgery there are many natural sciatic nerve pain cures.

There is no "natural" cure that will reduce pressure on nerve root from spinal stenosis.

However this is not the cause in all cases of sciatic pain.

[tifino]

putting steroid injections to use needs to be done when the initial injury is 'young'. Even a few weeks delay reduced the effectiveness, in my case.

Three years leter it was getting worse, when Drs started cutting me up. Of course that didn't help, just ntroduced more nerve injury elsewhere.

Ended up classed as having neuro-pathic pain, and a palsied sciatic nerve.

Oxycontin helped - for a while...

8 years later, ended up classed as Totally & Permanently Incapacitated.

11 years later - still alive, but at least not on oxycontin now...

Edited September 3, 2014 by tifino

[Codesh]

First step - listen to Sheryl. There can be various causes, so you need to know what the cause is for you. See a specialist and get a diagnosis that is based on the best knowledge and equipment around (MRI or whatever is needed). One body in one life, it deserves the best! Then you can decide on alternatives to deal with the problem from a basis of knowledge, not guesswork or superstition.

And if the OP is still exercising, I would suggest lots of hamstring stretching to be added in to the exercise regime. My brother had constant back pain until he loosened up his hammies by stretching them for about 10 mins per day for a few months. Not a total cure for him, but got rid of so much pain he is back rock n roll dancing. There are many sites on the web that offer exercises for hamstring stretches for people with low back pain. Find some exercises that seem ok for you and do not exacerbate the problem, then make them part of your day. Hamstrings need constant work to stretch. It won't cure you, but can help a lot with maintaining mobility and reducing pain.

[Pikiss]

Years ago my father had that problem, he tried everything and nothing worked, he finally decided on surgery, but he was over 80, and we didn't want him to have major surgery. He went to an osteopath and he stretched my father's spine, after one treatment my father felt great and was walking upright again, after three he didn't need anymore and never had the problem again.

Thank you George, I have never tried that so I will put in on my list, I dont really want surgery.

Any Osteopaths in Thailand?

Osteopaths seem to be scarce in Thailand but I just saw in a health related blog a recommendation of one in Bangkok, http://osteopathcentre.com

[seedy]

Sheryl - if you are still following this thread ...

After my recent bout - my first - I laid flat on my back for 4 days. Only got up to go to the toilet and grab a bite to eat, which I ate in bed, but upper body at a 45 degree angle. Taking anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxants 3 times a day.

Went back to work after 9 days rest, lower back was still tender, but just put in a 14 hour day, sitting for 95 precent of it, and no pain issues at all.

In your opinion - was this sciatic nerve pain, or some other cause ?

And - what are the chances it will recur ? Have I weakened my back so it will be easier to re-injure ??

Many thanks. Your contributions to this forum are muchly appreciated.

[Pinot]

I posted 8/31 above about Gapapentum. I was miserable with a stabbing pain in my back. I've now been pain free for a month. I can't recommend this non-narcotic treatment highly enough.

Most doctors don't know about this and don't prescribe it correctly. You can PM me if you want some suggestions. Thank Buddha I found it.

[Sheryl]

Sheryl - if you are still following this thread ...

After my recent bout - my first - I laid flat on my back for 4 days. Only got up to go to the toilet and grab a bite to eat, which I ate in bed, but upper body at a 45 degree angle. Taking anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxants 3 times a day.

Went back to work after 9 days rest, lower back was still tender, but just put in a 14 hour day, sitting for 95 precent of it, and no pain issues at all.

In your opinion - was this sciatic nerve pain, or some other cause ?

And - what are the chances it will recur ? Have I weakened my back so it will be easier to re-injure ??

Many thanks. Your contributions to this forum are muchly appreciated.

[Sheryl]

Sciatic nerve pain is not a diagnosis, just a description of where exactly it hurt. Not enough info in your post to say and anyhow doesn't matter since your pain resolved with conservative measures.

causes of temporary lower bavk pain include muscle strain and bulging disks. How likely to recur depends on the underlying cause. Some attention to ergonomics when working (inc. Lumbar support) and stretches, exercises may help.

[seedy]

Many thanks Lovely Lady !!

As always - a pleasure to read your posts.

Be Well

[skashoon]

I got immediate relief from acupuncture

[balo]

Thank you for this thread, I have had sciatica pain in my leg for 3 months and despite doing the daily exercises its not getting any better, hopefully BNH can give me a diagnosis .

I have no pain in the back , only the nerve pain in the leg . I try to avoid painkillers.

But it's hard to sleep , I used to sleep on my back , now I can only sleep rolling over to my right side. 3 hours , then I wake up , then another 3 hours if I'm lucky .

Edited May 7, 2016 by balo

[cooked]

Thank you for this thread, I have had sciatica pain in my leg for 3 months and despite doing the daily exercises its not getting any better, hopefully BNH can give me a diagnosis .

I have no pain in the back , only the nerve pain in the leg . I try to avoid painkillers.

But it's hard to sleep , I used to sleep on my back , now I can only sleep rolling over to my right side. 3 hours , then I wake up , then another 3 hours if I'm lucky .

There's nothing noble about avoiding pain killers, pain will make you tense up and without being able to relax things just won't go away by themselves. One cortisone injection took away a problem that had been developing for weeks in my case. Voltaren might help with the pain if not then you really need to get yourself to a good doctor, at the age of 40 I felt like I was 80 and could hardly drive my truck.

[bkk6060]

Thank you for this thread, I have had sciatica pain in my leg for 3 months and despite doing the daily exercises its not getting any better, hopefully BNH can give me a diagnosis .

I have no pain in the back , only the nerve pain in the leg . I try to avoid painkillers.

But it's hard to sleep , I used to sleep on my back , now I can only sleep rolling over to my right side. 3 hours , then I wake up , then another 3 hours if I'm lucky .

I have had Sciatica for 30 years. Not fun.

Have you tried a different mattress?

I had a soft mattress and now it is firm and I am sleeping much better.

A soft mattress can make your back move more when trying to sleep.

There won't be as much flex in your back with a harder mattress.

Just a suggestion.

Also, they pretty much stopped giving pain meds. to people in the US unless it is post major surgery or you are about to die.

Glad I can still buy Tramadol and some others in LOS.

Edited May 7, 2016 by bkk6060

[johnatong]

Thank you for this thread, I have had sciatica pain in my leg for 3 months and despite doing the daily exercises its not getting any better, hopefully BNH can give me a diagnosis .

I have no pain in the back , only the nerve pain in the leg . I try to avoid painkillers.

But it's hard to sleep , I used to sleep on my back , now I can only sleep rolling over to my right side. 3 hours , then I wake up , then another 3 hours if I'm lucky .

I have had Sciatica for 30 years. Not fun.

Have you tried a different mattress?

I had a soft mattress and now it is firm and I am sleeping much better.

A soft mattress can make your back move more when trying to sleep.

There won't be as much flex in your back with a harder mattress.

Just a suggestion.

Also, they pretty much stopped giving pain meds. to people in the US unless it is post major surgery or you are about to die.

Glad I can still buy Tramadol and some others in LOS.

It is true that the US has a major problem with prescribed opiates. There is indeed a move to secure greater control but that does not exclude those who need pain relief.

Those with chronic pain problems should consult with a doctor who specialises in Pain Management. There are many options which do not include powerful narcotic medication.