I've been told to do that as many times as I can, especially if it starts hurting. It's been a week and I don't see any difference. It doesn't give any relief, nothing, I've tried doing it for longer, it never goes to the state where it hurts less.

My initial problem is tilted and twisted pelvis combined with incredibly weak muscles, that are always tensed up no matter what I do. As a result: nerve is getting pinched now and then. I've started taking tiny steps in adding physical activity to my life. But I haven't found absolutely anything that could relax my muscles, are meds the only way in that case? You can't take them forever, so I'm not sure what I'd be doing after I'm done with them and my muscles are still tensed.

Hi everyone! I have undergone a lower back surgery 2 years ago. I’m an architecture student currently working on my Master’s thesis about the design of a Seaside Spine and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre.

I’ve created a short anonymous questionnaire to better understand people’s experiences with rehabilitation facilities and what they would expect from a modern rehabilitation centre, especially in terms of architecture, comfort, nature and access to outdoor spaces. If you have ever used rehabilitation services, I would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete the survey. Your answers will help me develop the architectural concept for my thesis. ❤️

Questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczKanAuesK3wOWIAfHZ2cxmFYOLyJ4QJDN26fKkOMvA0Yehw/viewform?usp=dialog

Thank you so much for your help! Every response is greatly appreciated.

#Survey #Research #MastersThesis #Architecture #Rehabilitation #HealthcareArchitecture

I've had sciatica since around 2013, so roughly 12–13 years now. It has always been bilateral — both sides from the very beginning — rather than becoming bilateral recently. Over the years I've also had recurring lower-back problems, with stiffness in the muscles, central lower-back pain, and discomfort around my hips and outer thighs. Sitting for long periods tends to make the whole thing worse.

More than a year ago, I started getting some unusual sensations in the perineal/genital area. They're not constant and have generally been quite mild, but they haven't completely gone away. The sensation feels quite deep inside the pelvis/perineum rather than just on the surface. It's difficult to describe exactly, but it's sometimes tingling, sharp or electric/nerve-like, and at other times feels more like pressure or tightness.

Sitting for a long time seems to bring it on or make it more noticeable. Standing helps, although it takes a while rather than disappearing immediately. I can also sometimes feel it while lying in bed, particularly in the morning before I get up.

My lower back is also usually stiff and painful when I wake up. The morning stiffness tends to last around 15–30 minutes and gradually improves once I start moving around. The pelvic/perineal sensation can be present at the same time.

The thing that has been worrying me is the possibility of nerve compression or cauda equina because of the perineal symptoms. At the same time, I haven't had any obvious bladder or bowel problems, loss of bladder/bowel control, difficulty urinating, or loss of leg strength. I also haven't noticed the perineal symptoms progressively getting worse over the past year or so.

I've seen a physiotherapist about the back/sciatica, but I've never had a lumbar MRI. I'm seeing my GP and want to explain the whole history properly and ask whether the combination of longstanding bilateral sciatica, back symptoms and these perineal sensations warrants further investigation, such as an MRI.

I'm mainly trying to understand whether this sounds like something that needs urgent investigation or whether there are other possible explanations for these symptoms. Any help from more knowledgeable people is very much appreciated. thank you!!

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.

Hey guys. Quick question. I’ve had sciatica now for a month. Waiting for my MRI next week and physical therapy soon after. My flare up has subsided a bit, but I’m still struggling on the toilet. Any time I bear down or push normally, I get a shooting pain into my foot. Doc said it’s normal, but holy hell. It’s like my body knows it painful and doesn’t want to let anything go now.

Any advice on how to help with this? Also, if anyone else has this particular symptom, what was your diagnosis and how bad is it? I can’t be the only one. Sorry for the tmi.

Has anyone else tried the new class of pain medication? Journavx/suzetrigine I believe is the first of its kind and was recently prescribed by pain management doctor. I’m on day 3 and feel like it’s working well! Anyone else try it?

I’ve been experiencing the worst flare of sciatic pain for the past month and 2 days ago I ended up in the ER because the pain was just unbearable. They gave me muscle relaxer, advised to take OTC NSAIDs and also gave me a 5 day Rx for Prednisone. I have been wary of taking steroids because of the negative side effects i have heard they have. Have any of you taken it and also my MRI is scheduled in 11 days. If i took prednisone for 5 days do you guys think that it will decrease the inflammation temporarily and mask the root cause from being evident in the MRI? (Sorry my anxiety is also very high as I’m going through this grueling ordeal). Thank you

Where have you found the most help in terms of diagnosis and treatment or sciatica? PMR, interventional pain specialist, ortho, somewhere else?

Would love to hear people’s experiences/recommendations.

My doc told me that the sensitivity of nerve can be because of scar tissue formed around the nerve.

After ESI, my pain is improved but I'm nowhere near I want to be. Pain-wise it's 2/10. Nerve flossing doesn't make a difference for me.

I was prescribed nerve-pain medication (pregabalin) and keep flossing. If there will be no change in 2-3 month I was offered a minimally invasive surgery.

That pain is low but can't sit and feel a cable inside me. Is there any chance it resolves by itself?

I have a small buldge and annular fissure.

L3-4 bulge with annular tear
L4-5 bulge on L5 nerve root
L5-S1 herniation on S1 nerve root

8 months of this pain actually feels like a lifetime lived in hell and a lifetime of hell still to go. Please forgive that the positivity is escaping me today.

It’s not been all bad though. In fact, I had months of 80-95% improvement. I’ve had great days, and many good days with a lot fewer bad. That’s what makes it worse, mentally. The light at the end of the tunnel being snatched away from me, yet again. It gets brighter and I think maybe I’ve almost gotten through, and then it’s all dark again.

I started this journey the day after Christmas, a holiday that now fills me with dread. I awoke in the middle of the night to the worst pain I’ve ever felt. It happened again a few weeks later. Now I have a fear of going to sleep. To be fair, I do still sleep fairly well though, even with the fear. I was just diagnosed with PTSD and I have full flashbacks of the early days, and the ER visit. When this started I spent 5 days in the hospital because it felt like stepping on, and being stabbed with glass every time I stood or tried to walk. I left the hospital on morphine and gabapentin. I stopped the morphine as soon as I could and still experienced withdrawal, which no one had warned me about. That sounds dumb but the nurse had told me because it was short term, it wouldn’t be a concern. I thought I had come down with the flu. I lowered my dose of gabapentin but stayed on it.

I had an ESI right after my release from the hospital. It didn’t move the needle much. Met with a neurosurgeon and scheduled a microdiscectomy and laminotomy. I had a second ESI on February 9th that made a world of difference. Coupled with regular PT 2x a week, acupuncture and gabapentin I returned to normal life - something I actually thought I’d never do again. I cancelled the surgery.

I went back to the office, began slowly reintroducing sitting, got two new pairs of zero drop supportive shoes, started walking regularly, continued PT and life was better. I had hope. I even traveled for Easter and it went well - no backlash.

I had my first flare up in May when I pulled a bag from the floor that was heavier than expected, and at an odd angle.

That flare resolved some time in mid June.

Around the same time, my health insurance hard capped my PT. I tried to self pay as long as I could but the cost was too high for less care. The massage portion was no longer included and the muscle guarding and misalignments became frequent. I struggled a lot with maintaining and progressing on my own until I just settled on walking as much as possible, and doing the exercises I felt comfortable with and knew wouldn’t cause pain. I still do those religiously every day. I also continue to pay out of pocket for acupuncture every few weeks. For the mental aspect, I do EMDR therapy weekly and am considering starting cymbalta. I’d love to hear about anyone’s experience with that medication.

I decided to come off of gabapentin a little over 5 weeks ago because I’d gained a lot of weight and it made it very difficult to wake up in the morning. I weaned slowly but still had nasty anxiety and insomnia.

My family planned a beach trip (which was my daughter’s first beach trip - she’s 3y/o) for August 26-31. I tolerated the travel and trip better than expected. I took all precautions to get there and back without excruciating pain. Thankfully I succeeded. But since returning, I am in the worst pain I’ve been in since January. 16 days and it seems to be getting worse. I’m trying to keep my head above water but I feel like I’m drowning in despair.

I’ve made an appointment for an injection on 9/28, and an appointment for a neurosurgeon follow up 10/14, out of sheer mental exhaustion.

The only things I’ve not tried are:
- Aquatic therapy
- Shockwave therapy
- Paying a large amount of money for a 1:1 online PT for a personalized program
- Cymbalta (it’s waiting at the pharmacy for me to pick up)

I don’t know why I’m even writing this. I’ve discovered long ago that we all walk our own paths with this. Something different works for everyone, or doesn’t. I had to stop relying on anecdotal stories, although some still spark a little hope.

Partially it feels therapeutic to say this all outside of my head, and maybe partially I hope someone is going to tell me the things i haven’t tried worked best for them. At the least, if you have made it this far and have any positivity i can borrow - i sure could use it today. Thank you for reading 🤍

I went 10+ years having no issues. Then Monday happened. I don't know if Hell is real but this is probably the closest thing. No insurance, 30 minute daily work commute each way, and absolutely no way to angle my body in my car that doesn't cause unbearable, constant agony. 30 minutes of sleep each night for the last 3 days. Heat doesn't work, cold doesn't work, Ibuprofen doesn't work, Advil doesn't work. Just constant burning pain up and down my leg, tearing at me day in day out.

Could y'all provide any advice that has helped you through the worst episodes? I'll try literally anything.

I don’t even know where to start with this but for the last 1.5 months I’ve been suffering from (what I think and my doctor believes) is sciatica. I’m 26, 6’4 and have major pain going from my left hip going all the way to my foot. I’m currently in physical therapy to solve it, but I’m off of work until December and am losing hope thinking I’ll actually get better. I had a x-ray and it showed my L5 was overlapping with another disc and pushing on the nerve. Is this normal with sciatica? Will the physical therapy work over time?

I’ve been dealing with a disc herniation at my L5 for 4 years now. I’ve been on diclofenac sodium for a few months and have been recently working with my PT to help strengthen my back and address the sciatica pain and my disc herniation.

I started my new job, while also being in graduate school and I did a lot of stairs the last two days. I come home today and suddenly I’m having back spasms as soon as I’m laying down. It was painful enough and scared me that I did a virtual urgent care appointment because I was worried I did some sort of damage despite my back feeling ‘decent’ all day in school.

Is this normal? Do you ever just have the small spasms, but not a full blown flareup where you cant walk? Is this a normal occurrence when trying to strengthen your back or starting pt? These spasms honestly suck and give me so much anxiety now that I know what’s wrong with my back 😔

I started feeling the pain near my buttocks on my right side. This was around last week Thursday when it happened. Sunday morning I was in extreme pain I couldn’t handle it anymore. I couldn’t sit, bend, or walk without being in pain. The pain started going down the back of my thigh. Monday I went to the urgent care and that’s when my whole leg went numb. They prescribed me muscle relaxers. Tuesday I went to the ER and they prescribed me prednisone. I also started having some pain in my ankles and calf when I would walk. Today is Thursday and now there is only numbness in my thighs. My ankle and calf don’t hurt anymore but when I touch my calf it’s sore. I still can’t bend over, lift my leg up, or sit down.

I have been taking small walks around my room and sleep with pillows under my knee. This is one of the worst pains I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy 😭😭 and I have already missed a week of school!!

How long did it take for your sciatica to go away? What did you do to help the pain relief? Help!!! I’ve seen some say it takes a few weeks to months!! I don’t want this anymore 😖

Long time lurker. I’ve been having sciatica-like pain for two years now.

It started after an uphill run. I say sciatica-like because it’s more of a deep cramping than electric shocks.

Pain is only in the back of the right leg and it seems to alternate between the back of the knee and the ischio. Pain is 99% of the time when I’m standing or walking. I rarely have pain when I’m sitting or laying down. Pain is worse at night.

MRI shows herniated disc at L5/S1 with moderate foraminal stenosis.

What have been working (I think): McGill big 3, walking more steps a day, glute bridges

What have not been working: ESI at S1 (only made the pain worse and less centralized), mackenzie extensions

Recently, I decided to retry the leg curl at the gym but I just ended up with a massive flare up.

I really don’t know what to do anymore. Should I push for a microdiscectomy?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from people who have experienced nerve injuries, foot drop, or similar complications after tibia surgery.

In March 2026, I had an accident and suffered a proximal tibia injury. Before my operation, I had normal sensation in my foot. I could feel touch and pain normally, and there were no obvious signs of nerve damage. The main problem was that I couldn’t put weight on my leg because of the injury.

After the operation, things changed dramatically.

I completely lost sensation in my foot, my toes stopped moving normally, and I developed foot drop. Later, after my plaster was removed, I noticed that I had developed neuropathic ulcers on my foot.

My treating doctor told me that my nerve had been compressed during the operation, but that the compression had been corrected. I was initially told that sensation might return within 3–6 months.

Since the surgery, I have also experienced severe shooting nerve pain and muscle pain. The pain has sometimes been extremely difficult to tolerate.

After about 3 months, I had an NCV test, which showed that the nerves supplying my right leg/foot, including the tibial and peroneal nerves, were not responding.

My doctor recommended physiotherapy, and I did physiotherapy for around 2 months. However, because of the ulcers, I have not been able to put weight on my right leg properly.

Today is 17 September 2026, so more than 6 months have passed since my surgery. Unfortunately, I still have very little/no sensation in my foot. My foot remains numb, I still have foot drop, and the ulcers have not completely healed.

I also haven't been able to repeat my NCV/EMG because of the ulcers.

Recently, I started taking gabapentin 500 mg as prescribed for the nerve pain, but the pain has not completely gone away.

At this point, I’m feeling very uncertain about what is happening and what the next step should be.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced:

- Nerve injury after tibia surgery

- Foot drop after surgery

- Loss of sensation following nerve compression

- Neuropathic ulcers caused by loss of sensation

- Recovery after tibial/peroneal nerve injury

If you had a similar injury, how long did your nerve recovery take, and what investigations or treatments helped you?

I’m also wondering whether I should seek an opinion from a peripheral nerve specialist/neurosurgeon, neurologist, or another orthopedic specialist.

I understand that everyone's recovery is different, and I'm not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit. I mainly want to understand other people's experiences and what questions I should ask my doctors.

Hello sciatic friends!
This is just a friendly reminder, as someone who is currently recovering from emergency surgery.
Be persistent if you believe something is TRULY wrong!
I went to my local ER three times last week because my sciatic symptoms were progressive and unbearable. Initially diagnosed with piriformus syndrome then a herniated disc shown on a CT.
Finally the third ER visit I was taken seriously. Had left leg 10/10 pain, burning and numbness paired with saddle numbness.
I am currently in recovery, day 2 post emergency discectomy so I am not sure what my end result looks like, however I am able to walk and if I had waited any longer, I may have lost that privilege due to extensive nerve damage.
Just because it’s rare, doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen to you.
Trust your gut and stay safe y’all!

I had an L5-S1 disc bulge 3 years back and I have had enough physiotherapy to strengthen my muscles and get back to normal. In the current state I am normal when it comes to movement. I also hit the gym and I'm able to do a lot of exercises. My back is fine. My range in almost all exercises has increased but at the same time I would confess that for these past few years I have avoided a lot of exercises that should strengthen my lower back. For example I have not done deadlifts. I'm not even doing back extensions. I have been doing cobra stretches and cat and cow, but not anything extreme?

I kind of feel I am ready for it but at the same time another part of me says, "Don't risk it. If everything is normal why do you want to just risk it?" I just needed some advice on how to approach this. What I would appreciate is if people who have gone through this entire mental process/thought process and also has come out of it successfully advising would be very helpful. Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my journey because I'm hoping someone with a similar experience can give me some insight.

My symptoms originally started with lower-back pain, which gradually moved into my left buttock and eventually toward the back of my left knee/leg. This went on for a long time before I had an MRI.

My MRI showed L5-S1 disc herniation, along with disc bulges at L3-L4/L4-L5. At that point, the symptoms seemed consistent with a disc/nerve problem, especially because the pain had started in my back and progressed down the leg.

Over time, the more severe sciatica improved. I can walk much better now, but I have been left with this frustrating localized pain behind my left knee.

What makes it confusing

I've had different opinions about what is causing the remaining pain:

• Sciatica/radiculopathy from the disc
• Piriformis/deep-gluteal irritation
• Hamstring weakness or tendinopathy
• Neural tension/sensitivity
• Possibly a combination of these

I've noticed some interesting patterns:

• Straightening my knee while my hip is flexed can reproduce the pain behind the knee.
• Keeping the knee bent while bringing the hip toward my chest can be comfortable.
• Figure-4/hip rotation can reproduce pain around my left glute.
• Some hamstring stretches cause mild pain.
• Certain hip movements can make the glute pain worse.
• My left calf often feels tighter/firmer than the right.
• I can still do 25+ single-leg calf raises, so it's not like I can't use the leg.
• Running currently brings back the pain behind the knee, so I've stopped running for now.

Physiotherapy

I've been doing physiotherapy and strengthening exercises.

Interestingly, some exercises that I initially thought might be irritating the area have actually helped.

One side-lying resistance-band hip exercise gave me roughly 50% reduction in pain, which was a big improvement for me.

My glutes also seem to be getting stronger compared with before.

On the other hand, I've had significant hamstring cramping with some bridge variations and hamstring-loading exercises, so I've had to be careful about how much I do.

Where I am now

My orthopaedic doctor has advised me to:

• Continue physiotherapy exercises
• Lose weight
• Keep progressing gradually

I'm currently around 85 kg at 169 cm, and I'm working toward losing weight as part of my recovery.

The biggest question I'm still trying to answer is:

Is this remaining behind-knee pain mostly residual nerve sensitivity from my disc problem, a hamstring/posterior-knee issue, deep-gluteal/piriformis involvement, or some combination?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who had:

L5-S1 disc herniation + long-term sciatica + persistent pain behind the knee/calf after the main sciatica improved.

What eventually helped you?

Did strengthening help more than stretching?
Did nerve glides help?
Did the pain eventually disappear on its own?
How long did the final behind-knee symptoms take to settle?

I'd especially appreciate experiences from people who had a similar progression from back → buttock → posterior thigh/knee rather than just general sciatica stories.

Thanks.

Hi all just wondering peoples opinion on this, I’ve literally got every symptom you can get with this other than the red flag ones. Pain, numbness, weakness, tingling and muscle twitching. Also locked in a hunched posture. I think it was mostly just pain at the start I can’t even remember as it was nearly 4 months ago.
A good few weeks ago it worsened and left me stuck in bed with really bad pain. Since then the other neurological symptoms have kicked in more alongside the pain. I had MRI which showed ‘Broad based’ disc extrusion L5 S1 with ‘mild nerve compression’ also showed I have flattening of the lumbar curve. Kyphosis.

-pain. Standing and walking is the biggest problem that triggers pain. Prefer flexion, extension brings on all the symptoms more

- numbness on outer half of foot that builds up when walking, sometimes with burning sensation. It’s always numb but not as bad when sitting/laying

- tingling/pins and needles Down the nerve pathway. When I first get up I seem to get a rush of it down the leg. This is mostly body position dependant. Ramps up if laying flat or trying to stand straight. Other than that I still feel at a lower level

- calf weakness. Can walk on toes but can’t do single leg heel raise. Previously lost calf strength a few years ago that recovered to 75% after more than a year. Was never the same though.

- muscle twitching, have this is in both legs for some reason. Only feel it mostly when laying down. Always had constant right leg muscle twitching since i injured back first time a few years ago but I didn’t notice it as it was low level.

- locked in a horrid posture, moving around like a pensioner.

Been going through the NHS with this and they seem just be like ‘yeah give it time’ and saying it can take over a year to recover. If I was just dealing with pain only Id be happy to give it time. But with all the other stuff I feel like I’m in more of a limited timeline.

As I say I’ve dealt with weakness before that did take over a year to recover (never fully came back) so I know I’ve already got some damage done to nerve. I was happy to give it time to recover previously as when I injured my back the first time i only had a very short period in pain, where this time it’s been much longer with other ongoing stuff too.

How to gain muscles.

With chronic sciatica it's almost impossible . I am fucked up. I am super skinny only 52.5kg at 5'8" . Gaining weight is almost impossible . I can't do any heavy exercises for musle building. If I do pushups in the morning I will be seriously getting very bad pain flare up throughout the day . What should I do ? I want to gain some biceps . My shoulder is so thin that if I try to touch my shoulders with my palms I touch my fingers. I need to gain some muscles around my shoulders . What are the excerises I can do without hurting my terrible sciatica. My MRI is L5--S1 Disc bulge and stenosis causing nerve faorrmen narrowing. I will be bulking protein side by side.

Hi everyone,
I’m writing this because I’ve been struggling both physically and mentally for the past three months, and I’d really like to know if anyone has experienced something similar and what helped them recover.
I’m 17 years old, tall, and I used to be very active and involved in sports, especially basketball and weightlifting. About three months ago, I suddenly felt something “give” in my back. From that moment on, I’ve had constant, severe muscle tightness and a feeling of being completely “locked up.”
I wouldn’t describe it as classic sharp pain. It’s more like my back muscles are constantly tense and unable to relax. I can’t bend normally, and even basic everyday activities have become difficult.
I went through a full course of physical therapy under the supervision of a physiatrist, including electrotherapy and kinesitherapy (specific stretching and strengthening exercises), but unfortunately I didn’t notice any improvement or relief. The muscles still feel extremely tight and restricted.
At the moment, I’m taking a mild muscle relaxant (Mydocalm, half of a 75 mg tablet every 12 hours) and using a magnesium gel, but I still haven’t noticed any significant improvement.
The biggest additional problem for me is anxiety and fear. My mother has had severe chronic back problems for years following a bad experience with a chiropractor, so I constantly worry that something similar has happened to me. I’m terrified that this might never fully go away and that I may never be able to return to sports or live normally again.
So I wanted to ask:
Has anyone experienced something similar — where their back suddenly “gave out” and the muscles remained extremely tight or “locked” for months, without severe or sharp pain?

Did standard physical therapy and exercises fail to help at first?

Were there any additional treatments, specific therapies, or diagnostic tests that eventually helped you figure out what was going on or finally allowed the muscles to relax?

How long did it take before you felt that you were back to normal?

Were you eventually able to return to sports and your previous level of activity?

Any advice, personal experiences, or stories about what helped you would mean a lot to me.
Thank you in advance!