I think I've either snapped my shit up or have chronically tight piriformis (work a desk job).
Does anyone have experience with this bullshit?
It started with lower back pain and after doing recommended yoga by a sports ortho, the pain in the back disappeared, and started to refer down my left leg.
Stretching that leg seemed to cause it to get tighter and seems to only stretch the nerve itself. And my hip/glutes form knots daily.
Things I've tried:
- Yoga
- Glute strengthening exercises
- Abductor strengthening exercises
- Foam rolling
- Lacrosse ball self-massage
- Ice + Rest
- Chiro (seems a crock)
This has lasted for a couple months. Seems like it's not improving. I have more ortho and PT scheduled.
pls respond
SCIATIC
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To be real with you duder, it's not really ever gonna go away. I bulged a disc about a year and a half ago, did the ortho/chiro/PT/yoga circuit and I'm still in semi regular pain. All you can do is foam roll, avoid sitting for longer than 45 mins at a time, take magnesium supps (WORKS, SHIT U NOT) and a tidy intake on NSAIDS until your liver melts. Camphor rubs are GOAT, so get some off brand tiger balm, and a lot of it. Welcome to the sciatica club, you can never leave.
>>35259109
fuck.
When did you start lifting again?
>>35259109
Also...how the fuck are you able to stretch hammys? It hurts like fuck bending at <180 degrees.
Did you ever get any injections to reduce inflamation?
>>35259634
For hammies you just gotta work your way in to it. Take your pick of hamstring stretch, like the short-step standing toe touch (where one foot is staggered a half a foot in front of the other) and just go for it. It will take ages for you to get flexible and reduce pain but you need to do it if you want to be a semi functional person again.
With regard to lifting, I started seriously again after like 7 months.
You are not allowed to deadlift. Ever. Don't fucking do it. Overhead press must be seated and isolated to shoulders only, and you can't momentum push it up. Avoid essentially all olympic lifts. With squats, reduce weight to minimum and focus on getting 100% perfect form, assuming you want to keep squatting. Switching to front squat might help but if you can live without it, just do leg press and goblet squats. Don't do pendlay rows, or really any barbell activity where you have to rely on keeping your low back static. Avoid going ultra heavy on cable rows until you're flexible and you aren't in a lot of pain.
Admittedly, I'm not a great role model because I kept working out with the bad back in order to stay in my sport (rowing). I ended up at nationals but at the expense of another 7 months of regular pain. The key to recovering from this is telling yourself it's going to take ages and the relief won't be permanent. Doing whatever you can to stay flexible and loose is going to help, but you will be in pain for quite a while. Don't forget it.
>>35259883
Christ, and contact sports?
The future seems bleak.
>>35258976
I've had sciatica since I was like 15-16.
I'm 26 now and it's still here.
your unlucky OP stretching and mobility work wonders for my pain but it's never 100%
>>35260130
Sorry bub.
>>35260274
Is that really it?
No long term solutions?
>>35258976
Do you run? It's good for groin and hip flexibility.
>>35260394
Yeah...although I haven't much since I was instructed to rest.
Coulda swore it happened during agility training.
>>35260383
Seriously. There's invasive surgery that some doctors offer where they shave part of your disc off but it's not a real solution. You will be hurting forever. Just not as much if you take care of yourself
I had the same thing starting about a year ago. Started with back pain and evolved into piriformis syndrome and sciatica pain shooting down my right leg. Couldn't even sleep sometimes because the pain was so severe.
For the longest time I did everything you did and was on pain meds the whole time. Today I am totally pain free. What I learned in that time was to stop doing deadlifts or any squats, and focus on planks. You have to strengthen your core, focusing on the endurance of muscle in the core instead of pure strength if that makes any sense. Also foam rolling everyday and easing your way into stretching you piriformis. DO NOT do any excercises that makes you bend over or any high impact activities. Also, go see a masseuse to massage the tightness out of you piriformis muscle. Good luck on your journey to recovery, it's gonna take time so be patient.
>>35258976
http://www.triggerpoints.net/symptom/sciatica
>>35260784
Don't do this surgery!!! It is a absolute last resort, your life will never be the same.
>>35258976
Ugh, what causes this shit? It sounds terrible.
>>35260471
hmm.. that sucks, doesn't your physio give you exercises to do?
>>35260882
is this just anecdotal or are there any sources that legitimize your claims
>>35260964
Sounds a little like what Stuart McGill recommends. He's a big brand name spine biomechanics researcher at University of Waterloo. Several books and hundreds of journal articles.
>>35260964
It's what worked for me. I saw two doctors, had an MRI, even tried TRT and cortisone shots. Every time I worked out doing deads, squats, leg presses, Romanian dead lifts, it would set me back and I'd be in severe pain. I just had to accept the fact I couldn't work my legs out, and i also did stretch my hammys out either in that time. The act of curving my back out just made things worse. Always have an arch in your back when sitting and standing so as to not press against the nerve. This includes sit-ups and pullovers. I still don't do deads or squats with an Olympic bar, but I do use the hex bar now. Slowly working my way back, but planks and weighted planks are in my routine everyday. It worked for me, hopefully you too.
>>35261105
**DID NOT stretch my hammys!
>>35258976
Its a disk herniation. I had mine a year and a half ago. I had to do tremendous amount of work to relieve it. I rarely get anything from it nowadays. I an squat, deadlift and all without a lot of discomfort. But you have to take care. You must have a strong core. be flexible. etc. TRy a lot of different things. Take care.
>>35261105
In my case squats and deadlifts (not doing pr's in any of those) help me. But I'm far behind the days of accute pain. First you must alleviate inflamation (McKenzie movements) then strenghten (planks) then flexibility and then slowly very slowly starting to work those movements. Squats and Deadlifts strengthen the paraspinal muscles much more than anything else. Also reverse hypers are amazing.
