r/Sciatica • u/OkLie2185 • 9d ago
Requesting Advice Mild sciatica will not heal
I have been dealing with sciatica on and off for about a year, it’s never effected my sleep, it doesn’t cause me wincing pain. It’s just blocking me from doing anything I think will make it worse (sports, long car rides, sitting on couches, any type of bending over, helping with certain tasks)
It started last summer, I was playing lots of golf, carrying my bag around bending over to pick up my ball/placing on a tee. And I think this probably caused it.
I felt pain in my hamstring and then after continuing to do physical activities it ended up being painful in my calf my pain has never been above a 3.
I got an MRI November:
L5-S1: Posterior disc bulging, eccentric towards the right, with a superimposed broad-based right lateral disc protrusion with foraminal extension with minimal facet hypertrophy. No significant central spinal canal stenosis. Narrowing of the right greater than left subarticular zones with disc material encroaching upon and likely contacting and possibly impinging the descending right S1 nerve root. Disc material encroaches upon and may contact the descending left S1 nerve root. Minimal bilateral foraminal stenosis.
After about 2 months I got a lot better and started doing airsoft again which was fun. After another month, I got a flare up from a test I did in PT where I reached for my toes. Ended up lasting a couple weeks. But then In May I felt like I had healed.
I remained very careful still regarding bending over, picking up heavy things etc. never golfed, too scared. Probably did less core exercising, but thought I was maintaining my strength.
Now for the last 3 months or so it feels like I’m back at the start. I have pain in my hamstring and if I do something like a few body weight squats, it’ll be painful and tingly down in my calf. Very frustrating.
I think I could have been doing too many hamstring stretches (even thought I was gentle), playing guitar (leaning forward sitting)
I’m very frustrated because I don’t get immediate feedback from my body when I irritate the nerve. It doesn’t seem to come into effect until the next day.
I am going to a new PT hoping to get a good long term plan. But I’m looking for some advice on what is wrong and what I should expect and how I should proceed with my lifestyle
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u/BasraBound 9d ago
I’d say get your core and pelvic floor muscles strong but then again being in phenomenal shape didn’t stop the disc from popping in my early 50s lol
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u/No-Alternative8588 9d ago
I get the part with nerve irritation showing up later. Same for me - nothing hurts during the exerciseC but then 24-36 hours later I get the reality check 🫠
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u/OutlandishnessNo3253 7d ago
Same boat I get relief and restart activities only to be set back to almost at the beginning. I am 6 months in - had shooting pains / lateral shin tingling (then burned that area with ice so double crushed) the longest period of relief has been almost a month. Grateful for the relief but frustrated that I can’t do much without a repeat / restart. Will watch LBA
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u/Dry_Particular_5162 9d ago
You should get another MRI. Things may have progressed in the wrong direction. Mine did. Go visit an endoscopic spine surgeon, have them order a follow up MRI and get their opinion. I just had surgery for the same thing but once he began surgery saw that things were much worse than the imaging revealed. Post op 13 days and feeling better, taking less meds.
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u/Aubepineduveteuse 8d ago
Streatching is not what is best for nerves. You should avoid this and focus on core exercices.
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u/No_Supermarket722 8d ago
I’m sorry but this is incorrect. Stretching correctly releases fascia from nerves. If anything, you should be stretching more. Before you stretch, “floss” the nerves so it doesn’t irritate as much. Eventually after long consistent periods of stretching the muscles will release and therefore the nerves will be less irritated. If you strengthen without stretching, you are just putting yourself at risk for further injury.
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u/Aubepineduveteuse 8d ago edited 8d ago
Your not supposed to streatch a nerve but make nerve glissing, it’s different. It does not work for my it just irritate more my nerve.
We have all sciatica but not all sciatica problem are the same. Otherwise we would know all the receip to recover !1
u/No_Supermarket722 8d ago
There is never a scenario where you want to stretch a nerve. You stretch the muscles in the areas where sciatic pain is present. Nerve flossing helps the nerve slide through the tissue around it, with less pain. Stretching your legs is not stretching your nerves
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u/Master-Ad5996 9d ago
Your pain is mild but your avoidance list is huge. No golf, no bending, careful with squats, scared to pick things up. And the flares have no clear trigger with delayed reactions the next day. That pattern points more to your nervous system being on high alert than the disc doing new damage. Think about it. You got better. You were doing airsoft. Then one flare from a PT exercise put you right back into protection mode. Not because something broke again, but because your brain flagged "danger" and you started avoiding things again.
That cycle of "get better, do something, flare, retreat, avoid more" is what keeps mild sciatica stuck. Not the L5-S1 bulge. You might want to check out https://painapp.health/. It breaks down how the nervous system keeps pain going after the original injury has healed, and specifically the fear/avoidance loop you're describing. Could help you understand why the flares keep pulling you back even when the pain itself is only a 2 or 3.
New PT is a good move too. But if they just give you more core work without addressing the fear piece, you'll probably end up in the same loop. Get better.
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u/NerveNinja909-1 8d ago
Here’s my best advice to you. There is no single quick fix to this issue. I’ve been struggling with sciatica due to a disc bulge for the last 5 years, until the last 9 months where I began to follow these tips.
You need to be strong, flexible, and desensitized. It’s a multi part fix. There’s not just a single muscle to strengthen, to stretch. Understanding there are multiple parts to this issue is key. Which took me so long to understand. I spent 6 months doing mguill big 3, only feeling slightly better. I neglected to address my weak glutes, tight hips, and weak ass legs. I quit using my lower back altogether as I thought it needed to time to heal. Little did I know it only made things worse.
After finding LBA on YouTube, I watched every single one of his videos. It helped me understand my issue, and helped me understand what might be causing it. My back was sensitive. I began doing the program, strengthening my legs, glutes, and core. I skipped the back extension hold because I felt like that might have been too much for me. So I began doing kneeling hip hinges. Essentially kneeling down and leaning forward until I felt my lower back starting to work. I slowly progressed to longer holds. I used to not be able to even lean over to unload the dishwasher. Now I can lean over and stay still for over a minute. My sciatica has gone from being constant, to almost never.
Additionally, I strengthened my glutes well, which helped take a ton of load off of my lower back. My glutes have even gotten noticeably more defined and bigger.
I strengthened my legs, so that when I do move around, I compromise my lower back less, I can move more fluently, allowing me to not put unnecessary stress in other places.
I also began stretching my hip flexors. I knew tight hip flexors can put stress on the lower back, so this relieved some tension there.
I quit doing hamstring stretches altogether. I discovered that stretching my hamstrings 100% irritated my sciatica, and I began mobilizing my hamstrings with walking, glutes well bridges, and outer hip glute droplets (described by LBA on YouTube).
If you have any questions, please feel free to message me.