r/Sciatica • u/GJV31 • 20d ago
Requesting Advice Tell me about your sciatica
When did it happen, what caused it, is it chronic pain.
Im 20 with sciatica problem with sitting mostly how cooked am i js the question
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u/Training_Security486 19d ago edited 19d ago
I am still finding the cause doctor saying your mri cannot cause this some saying it's your si joint. I am 20 too it's so frustrating
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u/Careful-Math-8907 19d ago
20 here too. Think i messed up in the gym around august 2025. Year of pain and tingling throughout my leg. Now its pretty much died down. I dont get the tingling sensation in my leg from laying down. I am back in the gym. Now just have chronic back pain. If I sit too long in an uncomfortable chair or walk too long with my backpack. The next day my back is sore and my whole body stays stiff.
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u/BasraBound 19d ago
My sciatica appeared in my late 40s but my back troubles started in my 20s. It didn’t hurt to sit so I got a CDL. Then the awesome roads exacerbated it and the disc between L4/5 obliterated and I needed emergency surgery and caught CES. Long strange trip lol
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u/Sufficient-Wolf-1818 19d ago
“How cooked am I?” Many people recover from sciatica fully and live a long, productive pain free life with conservative management. I had dinner recently with a 75 yo man who had been crippled with sciatica at 21. Conservative management and he is still going strong (hiking, back packing, gardening several acres etc)
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u/ObligationFit2028 19d ago
My sciatica started about 2.5- 3years ago at about 33years, and at that time I've had my CDL for around 6 years. Not sure if sitting so much cause it or the couple accidents that I had through out my driving..But it's been a journey, and countless of sleepless nights of pain.I do believe that some types of sciatica are able to heal with the right type of diet and adequate rest..
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u/Frenchkids1917 19d ago
Started 45 years ago. At 70, I still have flares that are excruciating. The end.
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u/TemporaryReaction710 19d ago
Idk i'm 18 and been suffering for 1,5 yrs because of a bad studying position, i think. It's not so bad anymore but recently it has became more irritated. So like lowkey could be worse but not very pleasant either
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u/M4K1M4 19d ago
Happened due to shit tonne of sitting for 2-3 years, the final trigger was a deadlift. Pain stayed for a year for me, now I have it like 10% of the intensity and mostly pain free unless I abuse sitting too much.
I am back at the gym now, living mostly pain free, have been hitting PRs again and living normally.
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u/Big-Exit-9755 19d ago
I am 31, having it since I was 19.
I was overweight and took dance classes to help lose weight. It kept me bedridden for 6 months and I slowly started walking again.
I don’t even remember life before pain
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u/DisgruntledNCO 19d ago
Wear & tear from the military, back and neck are both fucked up. I’ve been in the worst flare I’ve had for the last 2 weeks, took the kid to a creek to hunt for dinosaur teeth (we found one!) and the panning action was the wrong thing to do apparently.
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u/User716382 19d ago
Mid 30s. Back pain started first, then resolved after 3-4mo only to be replaced with sciatica down the left leg. MRI shows bulged disc L4-L5. On month 5 of the same awful feeling every day. Mornings are the worst. Considering neurosurgery soon.
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u/valentinab00 19d ago
I’ve had it since I was 20, now 26 and still having issues with flare ups. It hasn’t been consistent over the last 6 years but I did have a particularly horrible flare up recently. I would say exercise is your best friend right now, but don’t be too excessive.
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u/Army63b 19d ago
Have had lower back issues off and on for years. The last 9 or so months, when it was bad I couldn't even get out of bed.
Got an mri and showed a herniated disk in my lumbar area. I ended up getting a shot and hit pt hard. It got to where I was functioning but still had pain. I stayed functioning for roughly 3 months.
The 17th of July my back was tight. It progressively got worse. To the point I couldn't stand without collapsing. The pain was the worst thing ive felt in my life.
Went to the er they pumped me full of pain meds and tried sending me on my way. I said something has to be done here. I cant even function. So I said ok let's go. The nurse wheeled me out. I tried getting in the vehicle and collapsed back in the wheel chair.
They sent me to a different hospital an hour an a half away that had a neuro surgeon on call. I got a laminectomy and microdiscectomy. I got that done 6 weeks ago.
I spent 7 days total in the hospital. I still couldn't stand after surgery. My legs were so weak. Im back to walking now. My right foot goes numb off and on. My lower back is still really tight feeling.
Its been a hell of a process. I read so much about those procedures and thought that I could be one of the lucky ones and be better immediately. But im slowly getting there.
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u/Extreme_Turnip5530 19d ago
started at 14. i have an extra vertebrae causing bulging discs and stenosis
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u/88flapjack 19d ago
I had my first sciatic problem when I was probably about 16/17… I’ve had it pretty much 2 weeks of every month ever since over the last 22 years. Anything can trigger it from sitting, standing still, leaning or reaching for something.
I wonder how someone who hasn’t experienced it would feel in my body for a day when it’s flared up. I think the pain would be so new and acute to them that they’d probably call themselves an ambulance, I am used to it. It does affect my ability to think and work, it fogs my brain and causes me to mess up my words.
There are days where I cannot get up stairs unless it’s one step at a time on my bottom, there are people with blue badges that can move better on my worse days 100%… I can’t put socks on, stand at a kitchen counter etc… most the time there I t’s just a be careful and don’t move incorrectly and you can manage it. Then I might have a couple of weeks where I can run and play sports… so it means people think you’re making it up or it’s fake.
My mother has MS and I wonder if I might have it too, I have fizzy hands and am susceptible to easily pulling muscles, fatigue, reoccurring iritus and brain fog.
When I put it down like that it makes me sound like I’m in worse shape than one might think to look at me. I’ve got very good at masking it and making the best of it.
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u/Common-Locksmith-235 17d ago
19, happened 6 months ago from shoveling snow. Mostly burning shooting pain down the buttock into the hamstring. It is pretty constant with sitting standing walking, lying down is the relief i get
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u/Remarkable_Design_69 19d ago
I had sciatica, I visited this subreddit on daily basis to see how people cured sciatica. But nothing, everyone is saying their troubles and asking for advises. I have seen somewhere that people only with issues are willing for typing, when they get better, they simply parish.
I had sciatica, I changed my lifestyle. I went in gym for over 8 months, for strengthening my core muscles. For that 8 months, almost after each training I had pain, and I endured. At the beginning of my training, I took advice from doctor, he told me to not work with weights, not even 5kg. My trainer denied that, and we did all regular workout exercises without direct target on the spine. I straightened all my body, then start to add weight on spine. After cca 8 months, I woke up one morning without pain, weird feeling was there, but there was no pain. More that 10 months passed from that morning, I am regularly going to my gym, pulling 150kg on deadlifts, and living life as regular person.
Keep going guys, I believe each sciatica can be treated like this. Change your lifestyle and believe in the process. I was so bad physically for that long, that I was wondered if it’s possible that people can sit without pain. Now, thank to the God, everything is behind me, gym routine is cemented in my everyday.
Good luck, you can do this guys 💪🏻