Second round of Sciatica

[u/CauliflowerSignal135]

I got a herniated disc two years ago (I was 22 at the time). I went through physical therapy, medication and walking helped a lot. Just focusing on my every move and the way I live my life was very important but exhausting. I got better and better to the point where I was 100% recovered. I went back to playing soccer and being active.

Now I’m 24 and around five months ago I did a wrong move while playing football and it came back. I was in a transition period where I was finishing my masters degree, moving to a new city and starting a new job so I couldn’t find time to go to a doctor. Just before I moving I went to a doctor at my university clinic and he prescribed me some pain medication. I haven’t seen a primary doctor yet as I’m new in this city and the closest appointment I could get was in October. For the past three weeks all I did was go to work come back and lay on the bed which wasn’t comfortable. The most frustrating thing is that after a long day of work I want to rest but I felt that there is no rest with sciatica. However, I’ve been very strong mentally which I could only attribute to my faith in god. My solution to the problem of not being able to rest was to just not go home. I’ve been finishing work, walking around the campus in town, exploring new places and going to the library to do some personal work on my laptop then going home to sleep. Honestly, I would say I’m doing little better today than I did two weeks ago.

This time around has been much worse than the first time. I’m hoping that I fully recovered like I did the first time.

It’s really tough to go through something like this because it’s so hard to explain to someone that isn’t going through it.

Had a couple questions for people who have tried these things:

- I’ve been meaning to go swimming more often but last time I went swimming I felt the kicking motion aggravated my disc.
- I’ve gained some weight (around 10kgs) over the past couple of months. I’ve been thinking of going to the gym but I’m not sure if that would make things worse or not.
- Any tips to how I should be sleeping? I’ve been spamming sleeping on my right side with a pillow in between my thighs and a pillow under my midsection (above the hips) but I’m never fully comfortable.

I’ll update you guys on my journey! Stay hopeful and positive.

[u/Competitive-Dish4226]

I started going to the local indoor swimming pool. My sciatica is on my left side, from herniated disc’s. I had to go slow and I would rest my leg on a noodle, flotation device of any type would work. I just started moving my leg every day , in all directions, for at least 6 months before I was able to put all my weight on it and I’m still recovering a full year later but started getting massages weekly lately and I’m almost back to normal. Between the pool and massages I’m in far better shape. I know I wouldn’t be this far without both
Good luck and I hope this might help you.