Lower back Sciatic Nerve

Yeah.  It's much better to take the word of a random anonymous person on the internet.

Nerve pain can be fairly excruciating so hopefully the meds will take some of the edge off of it.

When you have an acute injury, R.I.C.E. is a good acronym to remember (rest, ice compression, elevation)

Stuff you can do to get relief:

ICE: Ice is your friend, not heat. Don't take a hot shower, sit in a hot tub or put a heating pad on it. If it is inflamed, then the ice will help it. Don't leave ice on for longer than 10 minutes at a time.

COMPRESSION: In order to get some pain relief, sometimes a lumbar belt (which can usually be purchased at WalMart for like $20) will help provide support/compression while you are in an acute phase of injury.

ELEVATION (sorta): Lying flat on your back with something substantial (like a couch cushion) under your knees can take some of the pressure off of your lower back. Sometimes even a pillow under your head can cause enough traction in your lower back to irritate it. When I say flat on your back, I mean flat.

FYI:

Physical problems often respond to physical treatment, i.e. physical therapy or chiropractic. I have found that a combination of both is usually the best. In my experience it can take 4-16 weeks for a sprain/strain soft tissue injury to heal, and that means once it starts healing. If you re-injure it then you can start the clock over again. Also, while a lot of MDs don't like chiropractors, a lot really do. Our office has medical referrals all the time. And we refer to MDs all the time as well. Definitely keep your MD in the loop with what is going on with you.

Good luck with your back pain.

Geez, can't even joke around with some folks.

No nerves touched here.  Do whatever floats your boat.  The previous poster (who is a DC, gasp) gave out some pretty good advice.

The good doctor knows exactly of what she speaks.

End of last season, marathon training, my back "went out" on me. I had a microdiscectomy (L5-S1) in Aug 2001 so I knew the pain and was weary. Bumped into my orthopedist who said "if it's not better in 6 weeks come see me." Six weeks to the day it stopped hurting. I'm back training full bore.

Heed the good doc's words!

The time that it takes for the tissue to heal is not really negotiable.  It just takes that long.  However things like chiropractic and PT help with the remodeling of scar tissue, joint stability, neuromuscular re-education, strength, stability and range of motion.  Modifying your activities of daily living and training so you don't re-injure it while you are healing also help.

Since I haven't done an exam on you, I can't specifically tell you.

If you want to PM me with more details regarding your injury I can perhaps give you a better idea of my opinion.  But you probably won't like it.

Great response. Again spot on. Another wise doc

I stretched and used my inversion table but every time I tried to run the sciatica was too intense.  Everyone is different but for me there was no speeding it up. Hope you have better luck.

Rhino, I am sorry you are experiencing this. Before I post, let me say that I have no agenda or medical credentials, just my own experience. I started experiencing sciatica last year. At first, it was just in my glute and wasn't debilitating, it just concerned me. I saw a chiropractor and she prescribed 42 visits and wanted me to pay in full up-front to get a discount. What?! So I decided to see a non-surgical orthopoedist (sports doc) instead. He did an MRI, which (to his suprise) showed a herniated disk. He told me to stop all exercise, and he gave me anti-inflammatories and Vicodin and sent me to PT 2-3 days a week for 6 weeks. I tried exercises and they put me in traction. The pain got worse and started radiating down my leg (the Vicodin didn't help at all). I decided to try another route and went to a chirpractor. The DC told me I could exercise, but I couldn't tolerate it because the pain had gotten so bad. After 3 weeks and 9 visits, I was completely messed up. Not only was the pain radiating down my leg, my back muscles started pulling me in contorted ways so that my shoulders were not squarely over my hips. I subsequently found out that this is referred to as "splinting"... the body trying to protect itself from further pain. Next I went to an occupational therapist who did some soft tissue work to alleviate the muscle spasms. She referred me to a different DC. I was hesitant, but nothing else had worked, so I reluctantly went.  Well, it turns out that the 3rd chiropractor I saw was the person who was able to help me through this. It took 2 months of twice a week visits with her before the pain was reduced significantly (the technique that really seemed to help was called distraction. It's more specific than traction). I lost my whole season and am now, nearly a year later, just beginning to run again.

Here is my .02:

• If you are having nerve pain, be careful; even if you are up to it, you may want to consider not exercising until it is resolved (I know that right now, you aren't even up to it).
• I am shocked your doctor didn't even touch you. Find a new doctor.
• If you are open to it, see a chiropractor.
• Whether it's a physical therapist, doctor, chiropractor or other care provider, ask WHEN you should start feeling better, and if you don't start feeling better within his/her timeframe, consider moving on to someone else.
• DON'T LOSE HOPE. It took me 3 chiropractors, an MD, a PT and an OT to finally find relief. The back is frustrating and everyone's experience is different. I really feel for you.

I can imagine how frustrated you must be. I am glad you have experienced some relief from your adjustment. Keep your chin up, it will get better!  

 p.s. I don't know how old you are, but I don't care - you aren't too old...