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A couple of weeks ago i was reaching to pick up some 2x4's and twisted hurting my back. Pain in lower back, hip, buttocks leg. Horrible pain. Lasted a couple of days.

This past weekend i moved the wrong way and pain is back with a vengeance. I cannot sleep. Laying down hurts. Sitting hurts. Standing is tolerable.

All on left side.

Warmth feels good. Ice makes it hurt more.

I am trying to stay moving but man i cannot take the pain.

Is there any specific stretches i can do to help ease this before i see a doctor?

Dragn, I cannot express enough how pain management has helped me. I have a friend with the same issues you have and she just went to my pain management doctor and got ONE injection and feels like a new person.

I've learned nerve pain isn't new to people with arthritis and other back ailments and I wish more people could receive the same treatment I've had.

Do you have pain management doctors in your area?

I dealt with this for a long time. Make sure you sit with your leg up and foot crossing the other knee so your knee is bent out. It stretches right where it needs to stretch. Then rotate to hit the other one for good measure.

Next, child’s pose if you can. Look up pictures.

Next, sit or lay with a tennis ball right in the rear and spot where the inflammation starts. Do this one as long as you can. It massages that mean piriformis muscle.

Massage helped me, too. Get one. Enjoy it. Go back again. Tell them your sciatic is bugging you and let them massage it out. It might hurt at first, but I haven’t had trouble in two years after having chronic trouble for three years prior to that. I get a massage every 2-3 weeks now. Plus I do these other things if it’s feeling tight. When I first was having problems, these exercises helped alleviate the pain. The massage is what really started to make it better, but they all helped in the moment.

Oh thank you, deena, for that ball advice and about getting a massage! Because the same butt pain is going on with me...must be the "overworked farm woman syndrome," eh Dragon? My chiropractor actually told me last month "you have been very hard on your body, for a very long time...."

I found tears rolling down my cheeks as I tried to explain to her "If I decided to take it easy on myself, the MAN'S work I do around this farm just wouldn't get DONE! I have tried to hire help, and not even landscape contractor-type guys want to do this kind of heavy labor, all day!" Last guy who came here, teased that I was "killing him!" (He was joking while letting me know it was getting to him, too...at $20.00 an hour!) What's a girl to do?

I always heard that hard ohysical work can help keep the body going...but maybe we have this concept a little wrong, DragonHeart? Not sure how long it will take you to feel better, but after a barn floor board gave way under my foot August 4th, dropping me down a couple feet, my leg suffered a huge hematoma, scraped the skin and possibly muscle fibers, and I've been having thigh and butt stiffness/pain ever since! Riding my John Deere mower seems to be the aggravating exercise, and I need to use it!

Massage might help to release the "trauma" spasms, is that the idea?

I am sorry. I didnt check the notification box.

If there are pain management doctors they would need a referral from My GP.

I dont think i over do it. I think i twisted when i went to pick up the boards and pulled something. I was in pain for a few days then it got better.

This time i had washed my hair, bent over in the sink. That totally did me in.

Thank you for the stretches. I will do them. Sleeping is so hard. The pain is so much worse laying down.

DH, I have something similar happen occasionally. I have arthritis and slight scoliosis and can make one wrong move and end up on the floor, unable to move and in tears for hours. My family physician wrote me an RX for Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, and that is the only thing that can stop the spasms and the pain with moving. I lose a day to the drugs and wrenched back and am sore for a few days but functional. Otherwise I lose a week or more to pain.

Maybe you can call your dr and explain and get the meds to relax the muscles that are guarding the injury. I'm supposed to be doing a lot of strengthening exercises to help recurrence, but I have just as many exercises I'm not doing enough for my neck, hip and shoulder problems. I'm a hot mess. You have a lot more to cope with than I do right now family and life wise, so a day on your back is the last thing you need. But for me, the only way out of the pain loop is to reboot with the muscle relaxers and let it rest.

Also, I recommend a foam roll or a rolled up towel in a pinch. Lay it down on the floor and lay on it long ways, and just relax into it. It hurts like hell if you have a knot or are in spasm, but after you spend five minutes laying on it and then slide off and just lay on the floor, it feels like floating.

I also just saw a video online that recommends a stretch done on all fours up against a wall, with one foot pressing against the wall then released. I haven't tried it yet, but like I told my physical therapist when she suggested dry needling for my upper back muscle spasms, I'd try an exorcism at this point. Nothing is off the table. Surprisingly, the dry needling acupuncture helped by rebooting the muscle spasms. Made it hurt worse to make it hurt less.

I think the most important thing I have learned through all my structural problems is that posture is crucial. Be mindful of how you sit, stand and move. And be careful out there. Hope you heal quickly.

I have been dealing with this for a couple years, since a fall jacked up my back. I tried a chiropractor for a LONG time— some improvement but then got worse. Then went to a phy therapist and that has helped a lot. It’s all core and back exercises — a strong stablized core helps a lot.
There are tons of YouTube videos on exercises - find the ones that work for you. And inflammation is part of the problem- so let the area heal, don’t power through it. You’ll just aggravate the area more.

I do find lying on my back hurts at first but then as things relax, it feels better. Also really watching my posture - I have a tendency to slouch a bit.

It sucks- sorry you are dealing with this.

Oh my what a day. Two hour drive down to DS doc appointment and then the same back. Sitting to drive is so painful.

I have Cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant. Took it Monday and i dont know if i was exhausted from not sleeping all sunday night or if it was the med but i slept most of the day.

The main pain is in my buttocks groin and leg now. Lower back hurts but isnt that sharp OMG i am going to vomit pain like the other areas.

Posture is definitely better since slouching hurts. I have no choice but to sit up straight.

Its really difficult to stay positive when in constant pain. Finally get over that whole sinus thing (which i admit is worse than the back issues) only to have this happen. Am i destined to be in pain forever... it sure feels like it.

Oh DragnHeart, I have the same area of pain, although yours sounds more acute. Maddening, isn't it, not being sure where its really coming from? As they say, pain could be from the lumbar discs, referred down to the sacro-iliac joint or the groin....Somewhere in there!

Has anybody had any luck with gentle traction? I found if I can lay down on my bed facing up and get someone to gently pull my ankles, and then hold my two legs and walk/carry them towards the side of my body that doesn't hurt, everything up to my bra-band rib cage gets uncomfortably stretched, but I swear it seems to help - or at least it doesn't hurt so much afterwards.

Hmmm gentle traction. No but i could ask wh to try it. Anything to get one night sleep.

I am so tired!

Another idea besides what I listed above is to do the lazy man’s stretch. You get a pool noodle and if you have to cut it, you do so. Lay down with it vertically under your spine running from your neck to your thighs. With that under your spine, it forces you to improve your posture because your shoulders will still naturally fall back to the bed. Lay on it for 10 minutes or all night long if you can or any combination. Some people put a light blanket over it and then lay on it just to soften it a hair. Posture gets better, it stretches out muscles that get messed up. This one might not help with sciatica as much, but it can help if other posture issues were leading to it.

This one helps with low back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, you name it.

[This message edited by deena04 at 3:56 AM, Wednesday, October 6th]

I slept with a pillow under my back which helped a ton last night. I am also catching up on the sleep i have missed. Was having a coffee with wh before he went to work doing head bobs at the table. Told him i had to go back to bed. Slept until time to get kids ready for school then back to bed.

Dragn, since that pillow under your back helped you sleep, probably your major pain IS coming from a lumbar disc or facet joint, I'm betting...

Today I got lucky and my old chiropractor, who is always booked out 6 weeks in advance, had a cancellation and I got to be seen. He tested my legs and hip area several times, and did the spinal rotation, as best he could. Said he got my lumbar joint to move a bit, but not my pelvic sacro-iliac joint, which was still too torqued and stiff. It felt like it helped a bit, yet right now in bed, that left butt cheek is starting to bark again....time and rest is a big part of this, I suspect.

Hope your family keeps pitching in while you mend.

Deena, I must get a pool noodle, thanks!

Last night was just horrible no matter where i put the pillow.

I have a long drive with Little M for a doctors appointment in the city. I am dreading it.

The best stretch for sciatica I've found is the Piriformis Stretch.

Google it.

In the picture, with the right hand behind your knee, pull your knee toward your chest. With the elbow of the left arm, push your other knee AWAY from you at the same time.

[This message edited by WornDown at 9:16 PM, Thursday, October 7th]

Thank you. I will do that stretch as well as look up others.

Sorry my mind is overwhelmed with kid stuff. I havent focused on myself at all this week.

Keep taking your muscle relaxers. Add in a linement at bedtime like icyhot bengay or biofreeze.
Do the stretches recommended at leat 2-3 times a day.
If not better by end of week you need to be evaluated. I have 2 partially herniated discs and when they aren't just right I'm freaking miserable.
My daily routine of stretches makes all the difference and it only takes a minute or two. And wheni feel it getting tight i do it again.
You can also order a TENS unit on line and these things are awesome to relax tight muscle groups. Almost as good as seeing the chiropractor. I often do my morning work before calling patients with it on and zapping the bad spots.

The stretches are helping. Also not laying around but moving more helps too. If i sit for to ling when i get up everything seems stuck and the pain is so bad.

The muscle relaxer helps too. This one is the med that gave me the shakes really badly. Made me feel like my skin was crawling. None of that now. If anything it makes me want to sleep.

I also have been staying in bed when wh gets up. I can never get back to sleep after he leaves and I'd go back to bed. So now he lets me sleep.

How are you doing now, DragnHeart? Is no news good news? Hoping so....

Im taking a mental health break from the internet but i didnt want to appear rude and not answer.

Back, hip still sore. Better but it's touch and go. Sleeping on sofa not helping... I am managing without meds. Just have to be super careful how i lift things and move.