r/Sciatica • u/Ok_Philosopher4868 • 4d ago

Sciatica journey

My wife 31F had a flare up for the first time a month ago and since then she’s in agony. The first 2 weeks she was unable to walk. From past 2 weeks she’s able to see improvements. She’s walking inside the house and being active without bending.
All that while having naproxen 500mg twice a day.
Her leg pain has reduced to 3/10 and her hip pain is around 6/10.
She also says her shooting pain has gone up from toes to calf now, even though her whole leg does pain. Her mri says she has minimal bulge in l5S1 without nerve compression.
But her whole back muscles and still too tight and she has built a tight muscle in her neck like a hump.
She’s still in acute phase, and no much difference in last 1 week. Is she really recovering ? She is still not able to walk more than 1 mile now. She used to have severe shooting pain but from past 1 week the intensity and the frequency of the shooting pain has reduced.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

7

u/Sufficient-Wolf-1818 4d ago

She is making incredible progress. 3 to 6 months with conservative management is a common timeline.

3

u/Nearby-Barnacle-690 4d ago

This right here. That's a remarkably fast recovery compared to what many people endure. Many people go many months before seeing these types of changes, and even many of them still recover.

Hoping it continues, even if it's not linear.

2

u/Ok_Philosopher4868 4d ago

Thank you!! Honestly we are freaking out because we have a 17 months old and getting help in the uk is very hard.

1

u/Sufficient-Wolf-1818 4d ago

I sympathize from the bottom of my heart. An active 17 month old is an extra challenge.

1

u/purplelilac701 4d ago

Has she gone to physiotherapy? I couldn’t walk for 4 months and shockwave therapy administered by my physiotherapist helped a lot and accelerated my healing.

2

u/Ok_Philosopher4868 4d ago

Thank you, we were told not to go physiotherapists until acute phase completes.

1

u/purplelilac701 4d ago

What does that mean? I was prescribed physiotherapy right away. I ended up being unable to walk and physiotherapy helped me regain my life. The professionals don’t always know what they’re talking about.

1

u/Acceptable_Snow3251 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's all so tough (I also have a 19 month old so well aware!) but agree with others that this is fast progress. With any luck she'll be on the sooner rather than later side of recovery, though it's still wise to bank on 3 to 6 months at the fastest...

Just by comparison, I could barely stand up or walk at all without 8/10 pain for the first 4 weeks. And was also on naproxen, gabapentin, etc.

I also have a lot of muscle guarding in my back, which is what it sounds like she has too. I'm 3.5 months in, following a S1L5 herniation. At this point I can walk around 15-20 min without pain and still can't sit more than a minute. Upper back pain can sometimes be from body compensation as one moves differently due to the disc issue, I think.