If you suffer from it, I need not say further...

Picking up a kettle ball wrong at the gym totally flared it up on me. Can barely think straight since last Thursday when it happened. Went to the Chiropractor to assess my condition and make sure any alignment issues were not contributing. Been icing it several times day and put my laptop on top of my floor speaker so I can type standing. My dog has never been walked so much since.

Was able to do some weights at the gym, just very selective exercises and have been stretching my legs as much as possible. Funny how much leg muscles sinch up when Sciatica flares. I hope to be over soon. Respect the back... I herniated a disk about 8 years ago and goes to show that you never get over it completely...
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20 years ago for me.
Never been the same.
Eventually evolved to two herniations (L4-L5 and L5-S1)
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I agree that not treated correctly, this can become a chronic issue (either continuous or reoccurring). For what it is worth, stretching an irritated nerve witll not help, but may hinder your recovery.
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I have been very fortunate in that at every outbreak, lying flat on my back with knees bent or legs raised for several days has put all back where it should be. I'd hate like hell for it to become chronic. Healing karma sent your way, bro.
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As a Physical Therapist I can say that it is important to know what is causing the sciatica. "sciatica" is a description of the symptoms and doesn't say what is causing it. Also once you have a herniated disc, it's always there. there symptoms may decrease because the inflammation around the area will decrease and not irritate the nerve.
Just my 2 cents, but I feel it's important to understand where the problem is coming from and fix the problem.
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Oh man, I haven't had a flare up in years but my hip/leg are hurting just reading this. Hope you feel better soon. I'd get relief from muscle relaxants, but when I was out of those I'd lay on my back and cross the bad leg/hip over the good one and let it stretch out. It would ease it some times.
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Agree on the inflammation.
Once a chronic condition, while relief may come at times, so does the inflammation and pain.

Help me out.
I always thought when the term Sciatica is used, that is done by most common folks that don't understand it is actually an impinged nerve as result of a disc flared, bulged or more likely herniated, that is causing that radiating pain down the legs if lumbar related or down the arms if cervical.
Every symptom I am aware of regarding Sciatica is that of Radiculopathy. The burning, shooting pain that is practically crippling at times, or a mere nuisance similar to an injection at other times.
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Sciatica literally means "irritation of the sciatic nerve". This can occur from a herniated disc (aka bulge), tight piriformis muscle, lumbar strain (of any of the muscles around the lumbar spine), or SI joint displacement, as well as a few other but these are the most common. It is true that Sciatica results in radicular pain, but it can be caused any where from the spinal cord (very uncommon but TONS of pain) to pinching of the nerve near the hip and the IT band.
Hope that helps a little.
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my back literally is tingling just reading this

sorry to hear about the bad fortune
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Ouch! Yup, ruined my back prob 30 odd years ago doing leg lifts with those "iron" boots they used to sell.(I'm guessing they don't make these anymore?) Next day I could not get up. Slowly, with rehab, was able to function again, but my back has been a disaster since. So, unlike Bill Clinton, I do feel your pain, brother! Get better soon!
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Inflammation. That is my issue. Once the swelling goes down I will be good. The stetching done is for hip, legs, and butt. Lot's of walking, stretching and standing. Lots of icing. Ibuprufen.

As bad as it is, I am going to try riding tomorrow. If the posture is fine, I see no reason I couldn't go for at 15-20 miles. I'll know within a mile if I should turn around or not.

Booze is good for the pain, but not for reducing inflammation. It's a toss up.
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Not to be contrary, but as far as the herniated disc goes, stating that it will always be there really is not completely true. One could argue that it never returns to its original state, but to say that the herniation is always there is incorrect, imo. The bulge does recede over time, if allowed. Once this occurs, the annulus fibrosis will scar over. Granted, it will not be as strong or as efficient as it was prior to the injury. You hit the nail on the head when you say the pain generator needs to be identified. Just a release of chemicals in the area of injury can cause nerve pain without any physical pressure placed on the nerve by the nucleus palposis. A lot of cases show this pattern backed up by imaging. Just like a lot of imaging backs up that a lot of people are symptom free even with quite large bulges.

BTW, sciatca is a junk term in my opinion. Do you agree? I can count on one hand how many true sciatic nerve impingements I have seen at the piriformis. Most people report a pain that is really referred from somewhere else.
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I should have qualified that if a bulge is too large, then it probably would not recede.
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I've been going through this for the last 6 years. I was good for about 2 and then last September I really hurt myself doing the Plyometrics workout that is part of P90X. i finally broke down in February and went to see a doctor. He gave me muscle relaxers and schedule and MRI I had bulging disks between L4&L5 and L5&S1 the Orthopedic doc gave me a prescription for Prednisone and that made a huge difference with the swelling, and now I am just stretching everyday. I am also happy to report that it doesn't take me 5 minutes to put on a pair of socks.
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I'm heading to the doctor this morning for the back pain I've had lately. If I break down and go to the doctor, it's bad.
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GAH!!! I hurt just reading this!!! I had a herniation about 17 years ago, just before I turned 20 (L5-S1 level). No surgery, but it did end my college football career. Every once in a while, I get the flareups, too, though it's not too bad, for the most part. No axial loading when I've lifted weights, and I'm careful with any heavy lifting I do. It's improved enough for me that I started running triathlons last year. :-)

If you've dealt with it before, there's no need for me to tell you what to do. Ice and an anti-inflammatory to help the swelling and inflammation go down to give you some relief. Chiros can help (I go to a great one, myself), but maybe a stronger prescription from a MD will help you find relief sooner.

And one more thing that I remember the doc told me when I was doing my rehab and thinking about playing football again (I played in the spring after I had hurt it, but walked away that summer). How your x-rays and MRIs look are not an indicator of the level of pain a person is feeling. It's about tolerance and how your body is built. He said he seen people who look horrendously bad in the images feel very little pain, and people who seem to have very small issues in the images be in excruciating pain.

Best of luck to you...I truly feel your pain!
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Today is a first day of real improvement. I did not sleep with a pillow under my knees and suprised at how I got out of bed this morning. Pain for sure is less. Still typing while standing as much as possible.

Will evaluate whether riding will work around 2:00 PM. It's all about perceived pain. In previous years I decided it was better to live with the pain than taking so many perscriptions per doctors orders. They just want to medicate it away. I figured less or no drugs, and just drink some alcohol in the evening. Once my spine was aligned which hurt like a bastard, the pain went away and everything is good.

Like others have mentioned. I avoid any heavy lifting, no dead lifts, squats, or military press.
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I've been dealing with three herniations in my neck, c3-c6, for the last two+ months. Been going for physical therapy now for just over 3 weeks. This is my last week until I see the spine specialist. Things are getting better, but it's not all the way healed.

Then yesterday, my 2nd day back at work, I was sitting in a chair, bent down to get the optical mouse out of my laptop backpack and felt something give in my lower back. Now I've got pain across the lower back with occassional radiation in the right hip/butt area which I'm assuming is the sciatic. I feel helpless right now like any movement will cause something else to start hurting. Hopefully at tonights therapy session we can work on this new pain.
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I will agree with the last aspect as well. As I stated, Sciatica is a generalized term that just means irritation of the nerve. I can honestly say that I have seen a few piriformis syndromes, but when it comes down to it,the piriformis was tight because of other issues.
I also agree that there are people that have no syptoms with large herniations and there are some people that have lots of symptoms with small herniations. There was a study taken that took 100 people off the street without any back pain reported ever, and it came back with about 60% of the people had some kind of herniation.
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Like others, reading this has made me feel your pain. C6/C7 herniated and 2 discs in the lumbar area. I <3 my prednisone and percocets, heating pads, electro stim, traction for the neck,..... damn getting old sucks but the other option is worse.
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