Sciatic pain relief

[Cheryl]

This is Cheryl's mom. My husband's sciatica acted up about 2 weeks ago. He was beginning to feel better after 10 days of rest,a little walking, and some exercises. However, on Monday (3 days ago) the pain become much worse. He cannot stand or sit for more than a few minutes before the pain is so bad that he has to lie down in the fetal position for relief. Lying on either side in this position does relieve most of the pain. Before this bad flare up he had taken Advil or Alieve which helped for an hour or so. These do not help now if he tries to get out of bed. He doesn't want to take anything stronger. Does anyone have any insight or suggestions for this problem?
Thanks,
Michelle

[mmglobal]

Michelle,

That kind of pain really warrants seeing a doctor. It's not like he's a couple of days into it. When you start marking the weeks going by with severe pain, you really should get to a doc. He'll probably want an MRI so you can make informed decisions about what is happening. When the problems get so severe, even when the pain subsides, he'll still be very close to another episode. Some of us will ultimately have a good result with rest and conservative treatment... but the decision to wait it out should not be without imaging when the severe pain has gone on for so long.

A doctor should be involved in your decision making process and imaging will be a key factor in knowing if it's safe to wait it out or not.

All the best,

Mark

[Cheryl]

Thanks, Mark. We'll see how things go in a few days. Doctors are a last resort for my husband.
Michelle

[mmglobal]

Toughing it out is a good thing... especially if you ultimately get your problems resolved without surgery. However, if he has serious neuro deficits like weaknesses or bowel, bladder, sexual dysfunction... he should see a doctor sooner rather than later. Leg pain and back pain is one thing, but other deficits or really severe pain should be tended to by the docs early.

mark