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Best bed for bad sciatica?

Can anyone share some successful sciatica recovery stories with me?

  • Did you ever have acute sciatica which stopped you from standing, sitting, sleeping, walking, basically, doing anything? Do you not have that anymore? If so, please TELL ME YOUR STORY. Desperate and enquiring minds want to know how to cut through the BS of a million conflicting opinions. You are not my doctor. I am not a lawyer. This is not my beautiful house. And I never thought I would be the one to write an overly long askme post, but here we are... I'm in the middle of an agonising bout of sciatica brought about by two herniated discs (L4 to S1) and pretty much stuck in an Eternal Pit of Despair™, waiting days and weeks between specialist appointments who are all giving me conflicting advice. My usual superhero, the internet, isn't helping much either. All I'm hearing is one horror story after another, and in my darkest hour, I could really use a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. (tl;dr) If you want the long story... (Sorry, I don't know how to make this bit smaller) I'm a 34 y/o male who up to now has been very healthy and active, if not slightly overweight. I have a pretty sedentary job, but played ice hockey around 3-4 times as week. Since a squatting injury around a decade ago, I've had maybe 1 back spasm every couple of years, until this year, where I got two spasms each worse than the other, requiring around 2-3 days in bed with valium before I could leave the house again. After this most recent spasm around four weeks ago, I decided to get an Xray and MRI which showed the two bulging discs. I went to my GP, then to an osteopath, then to a physio and a myotherapist, then a specialist spinal physio. Sometime during this attempted rehab process, the sciatica pain started on my left side, almost as soon as the spasm settled. At first I thought it was just a tight muscle from the spasm, but it soon got worse to the point I couldn't stand up for more than a few minutes without having to lean on something and shake out my leg. Then I started getting some numbness and went back to the GP and demanded an CT Guided Epidural Sterorid Injection (Pro tip - if they use a 22ga needle, it's pretty much painless) Which has pretty much not done anything (this was around ten days ago). If anything, the pain has gotten more intense and moved from its original location to the side of my knee, all down to the side and front of my calf. Not sure if thats good or bad, but it still is pain unlike I have ever had to endure. At this point I have already missed three weeks of work because I cannot sit in the car let alone drive, and the only positions that are relatively pain-free for me are kneeling over the bed, or laying down with two pillows under my knees. Sleep is hard to come by as every movement to shift position is excruciating, and simple things like walking to the kitchen or trying to sit on the toilet are also quite a challenge. My GP told me to stay away from Prednisone and Lyrica because of the potential psychiatric side-effects, which to be honest I don't think I could deal with right now. And the more hard-core opiates just knock me out cold, and make me feel really uncomfortable and not 'in control'. Everything else like NSAIDS pretty much just doesn't work, and I simply am in too much pain for any Physios to do anything with. I finally got to see a highly-regarded neurosurgeon referred to me from my GP this week who spent around 15 minutes with me and then said I needed double spinal fusion which pretty much put me in mild shock, as that's the last thing I want to even be considering right now. I thought maybe a microdiscectomy and laminectomy, but not something that would require taking my windpipe out and being in the hospital for the week. He then went on to say that I should lay flat on my back for 2-3 weeks and think about it, that it could get better, and that if all Physiotherapists went out of business overnight the world would be a better place for back pain. I should not stand because it will compress the discs further, and I should wait until I get better and then just walk 40 minutes a day, and never have it touched by anyone else. I sort of thought this was crazy, so I then went back to my specialist spinal physio and asked for another neurosurgeon referral who I am waiting to see for a second opinion next week. I told them about my experience with the neurosurgeon and they told me that I should be moving more and taking Prednisone. The opposite of what my GP and the previous Neuro said. The normal physio before that said I should do everything I can to avoid surgery because even a microdiscectomy and laminectomy might leave you with more pain or start a cascading series of surgeries down the line, and with the spinal fusions, they are finding that the discs above degenerate after around 10 years. (/tl;dr) Basically, each person I see has been telling me something different and I HAVE NO IDEA WHO TO LISTEN TO IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY. I've already spent thousands of dollars in less than a fortnight and pretty much at my wits end. The pain at the moment I can live with - I can find positions where it doesn't hurt and use my laptop, but I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do between now and my next appointment(s) as nothing here seems to be clear. I thought medicine was supposed to be straightforward, but this is a whole other level of dysfunction it makes my local council look efficient. All I want to do is get to a point where I can start some long term rehab. If that means surgery, fine. If I should lay down for the next month, fine. If I should walk every hour for two minutes, fine. If I have to sacrifice my second child to the dark lord, fine. All I want at this moment is to hear from some fellow smart people on the green who might have been through a similar ordeal and come through the other end. Did you sit or stand? What did you sit or stand on? What advice was good? What was bad? The more detail you can give me, the better! I'm welcoming all comers from one liner to life stories. I just need a few more reference points from normal people so I can try to find my own way. Thank you for listening. (I am now going to post a long success story on another medical support forum for another issue that I lurked on for months years ago but never bothered to contribute my story to because I was too lazy. That changes now - there needs to be more success stories out there!)

  • Answer:

    First, I think they are both right or both wrong. For some, rest and rehab works fine. For others, heal with steel. I have spent literally two months in bed with pillows under my knees. I did not get up except to use the bathroom. The pain down my right leg was unbearable. I took the narcotic pain killers. Being loopy in bed was better than just being in bed after a while. Mind you this was long long ago. I was 15. After a year's worth of pain and two straight months of bed rest (lost the summer between 8th and 9th grade) I had a laminectomy. Back then, it was a much more invasive surgery, but I was without pain immediately and up and around (back to school) within a few weeks. That lasted about 20 years. I too played ice hockey, I played softball, basketball, whatever. There really were no limitations. Fast forward 20 years and the pain returns. I had epidurals, tried rehab and bed rest but to no real or lasting satisfaction. So, I opted for a discectomy. Again, immediate relief. But, that one only lasted 5 years. After about 25 years and two surgeries, only at that point did I agree to a fusion. (L4-L5 btw). The fusion was about 8 or 9 years ago. I have had no issues whatsoever with my lower back since. To me, it is a miracle. However, withing the last year, the pain returned to my leg but in a different pathway. Turns out that the fusion did put pressure on the space below, L5-S1. So yeah, that risk your consult told you about is real. Turns out I also have had a fusion in my neck area. That was easy and had immediate results. I have been you. I have been on my hands and knees next to my bed begging for relief. I have been on my back hoping for relief. (I got a standing fatigue mat for next to my bed so my knees would not hurt when I was on them leaning over the bed.) I have gone from specialist to specialist. Oh, I even tried acupuncture. (That was cool in a I can't believe they are sticking those things in me and it doesn't hurt kind of way. I did not see much if any pain relief with it though.) Some people believe surgery should be the last option. They do everything they can to avoid including enduring lots of pain. I fall into the category that while it is not the first option, it is not the last either. Reading your post and having my experience, while I am not a doctor, my concern would be less about the acute pain than with the numbness. Numbness and loss of strength are material problems. If you let that go on long enough, they can be hard to reverse even with surgery. I had my neck done because I was losing a lot of strength in my right and dominant hand. (I did learn to write and throw lefty which is a neat thing, but not being able to even hold a beer in my right hand was not an option) I am sort of jumping around here, but as is, my right shin lost all feeling for about the last 25 years. I get bumps and bruises and even cuts on it and don't even know it. While that sounds like it could be a positive, it is not. To me, the first 20 years after the laminectomy and the past 9 years after the fusion are an ad for surgery. I have lived the life 100% of what I want to do. That includes full check hockey, volunteer firefighting and any other physical activity I choose. If it were me, I would take the narcotic pain killers, would adhere to a strict regimen of bed rest, would then try rehab and building up my core strength, but after a period of time that was less than 6 months, I would have surgery. I am not so sure I would jump right to a double fusion, but I would have a laminectomy for sure. For some, bed rest and rehab work. For others, surgery is the correct path. The risk of trying the rest/rehab is simply time. Having had my first surgery at a very young age (for back pain) and knowing how long it lasted and again the relief from the fusion, I am not afraid of surgery. These days, with microsurgery techniques, the recovery time is much compressed. I guess my point is find your own path as you said you would, but fear not surgery as one option.

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I didn't have it as bad as you - I was barely able to move from bed for maybe a week, and then after that the pain was persistent but bearable with normal painkillers. It did however eventually clear up entirely when I was able to be moderately active again and maintain that. That along with a better mattress were about the only things I did that I think helped. I can't tell you you'll be fine eventually, and it's going to be a slow process if it does happen, but I can say that it does at least sometimes heal up without any major intervention.

edd

I have a similar history of back spasms every couple of years that put me out of commission for a few days each time. And then a few years ago, it started hurting, badly, every day, without relenting. That pain lasted a year. It ran the gamut from stiff and sore to shooting sciatica pains. I had an MRI and my doctor told me "all your discs are thin, really," and that the bottom four were sort of "crumbly" and he couldn't even tell which one was causing the acute problem because they were all in such bad shape. He said there was nothing he could do for me, and that if any physician ever told me he could fix my back, I should get up and walk out of the office. He also told me I probably wouldn't be in pain forever, and that whatever part of whichever disc was causing the immediate issue would probably settle down eventually and give me some relief. Today I am fine. I have had no pain for almost two years. The things I did were gentle yoga every day - starting very slow, because in the beginning I couldn't even bend at the waist some days - and I got a new very firm tempur-pedic mattress. But I have no idea if these things actually made a difference or if, as my doctor suggested, things just got "worked out" in there. There is hope, though. You probably won't feel like this forever. In my 15 years of seeing physicians for back issues I've come to believe that surgery really is a nuclear option that helps very few people long-term. Back problems suck and I'm sorry you're going through this right now.

something something

I'd go with the surgeon (sorta), especially if he's as good as his reputation. Good surgeons avoid surgery for as long as possible, and if his first reaction is surgery, then surgery it is. And sometimes laminectomies/diskectomies aren't the right answer. I'm not sure I agree with the rest of his statements, though. If the disks are bulging so badly that the spinal steroid didn't help, it's highly unlikely that laying down for a couple of weeks will solve that problem. Nor will oral steroids (prednisone). Have you had hydro, or tried just "hanging" in the pool? If that helps, then maybe resting supine will, but you can't stay on bedrest forever, and I don't think that herniated discs will heal on their own (although it depends on how badly the shell is compromised). And yeah, it's entirely possible that getting fusion now will result in more surgery later, but it's probably worth it -- if you can't move now..... Bed rest works for some, but if you don't see improvement in a couple of months, then surgery might be the answer. As AW says, the major complication from rest is time, but there are so many things that can go wrong with surgery that docs try to avoid it. OTOH, sometimes, it's just a relief to open the hood and fix the problem. I had L4-S1 fusion 10 years ago, and it was wonderful (well, as wonderful as surgery ever is -- hurt like hell for a couple of months, took about a year to stabilise afterwards). The surgeon told me at the time that I might need to have the joints above done eventually, because the fusion would put more stress on them, but it seemed a fair trade -- 10 years down the road, I'm so glad I had it done. I probably should have had it done earlier, but I wasn't in pain -- I lost muscle control and sensation down my right leg, and what took me to the doc was (essentially) fatigue from walking on half a leg. The thing is that there is far less to be said about a successful surgery than an unsuccessful one. Also, medicine isn't straightforward because the human body isn't straightforward, and every body reacts differently. There are so many ways for disks to degrade -- if it's just general degradation, then surgery may not help (or only help for a little while), but if it's due to an incident, then surgery may be the answer. My surgeon was very straightforward with me, and we discussed the pros and cons of having surgery extensively.

jlkr

About two years ago I ruptured a disc in my back--L5-S1. It got progressively worse while I tried PT, massage, chiropractic, prednisone, until I couldn't stand or sit or sleep. I ended up having a laminectomy/discectomy about 6 months later. The improvement was immediate and I haven't had that kind of debilitating pain since. I continue to have some pain and aching in my leg even two years after but it is relatively mild. I find that when I go to the gym to stretch/work out I don't have any pain at all. I jogged a 5k this year but am still hesitant to lift anything more than 40 lbs or so. Good luck!

unreasonable

My situation is almost exactly unreasonable's. Discectomy two years ago with immediate improvement. I still have some very minor pain and recently decided that running is probably not something I should keep doing but other than that I have a functional life back.

octothorpe

If you can get through a few bad days with opiates you might be better off. On a level dose, the buzz and the nodding and the nausea should go away (for me it took 7-10 days) while you still get the pain relief and the constipation. Opiates allowed me to sleep at night and get back to a more normal range of motion. Time and physical therapy did the rest. I did not need surgery and it's been 10+ years since my two episodes with sciatica. From talking to friends and co-workers about their back surgeries I haven't heard a lot of great outcomes, but the choices you get are the ones you get and sometimes that means surgery. Good luck.

in278s

I've had two situations with sciatica: one resolved with a laminectomy and the other resolved with stretching, rest, PT, and chiropractic care. The first sounds a bit more like yours: the situation persisted for months, I could not sit, stand, or walk for more than a few minutes at a time without pain, and a number of interventions (steroid injection, chiro care, active release massage, stretching, painkillers, rest) failed to alleviate the pain. I had surgery, and the relief was immediate. I was thoughtful and patient in my recovery and never had pain from that disk again. Since then I've run distances of more than 15 miles, lifted weights, hiked, and done anything I've wanted to do. This was more than 7 years ago. Two years ago, though, I had a catastrophic episode with a different disk that manifested itself with me lying prone on the floor of my gym, unable to sit up or roll over without pain so great it blurred my vision. I was carried out of the gym on a stretcher and taken to the ER where I was given morphine and prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxers. After a few days the pain was still too great for me to walk or do anything without great effort. I started seeing a chiropractor and getting adjustments and consulted a recommended neurosurgeon. The relief from chiropractic adjustments was swift. The surgeon told me that surgery may or may not leave me pain free, and suggested that I continue with physical therapy and see if things improved. Because things improved over the course of a few weeks I opted not to have surgery. Since then I returned to running and lifting weights, although I stretch a lot more and I modified some of my weightlifting. I have not had pain for about two years.

MoonOrb

A family member had awful sciatica, had surgery twenty years ago, and has had no recurrence. (Unfortunately, that's all I know.)

salvia

When I had an L4/L5 situation that, like you, left me unable to sit, stand, sleep, etc the thing that brought it down to a managable level of pain so I could then get help of various sorts (physical therapy and the like) was the prednisone. It is a bit hyper-making, but I just cut out all caffeine for that period. It saved my life. No joke -- at the time I was in so much pain that the way I would urinate (I'm female) would be to take off my clothes and stand in the bathtub and just let the pee run down my legs. That's how much sitting on the toilet hurt. So yeah, I'm a prednisone believer in this sort of situation.

BlahLaLa

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