The Most Difficult & Humbling Week Of My Life
Well, I’m back…kind of. This last week has truly been the most difficult and humbling week of my entire life. I’m used to being the caretaker, the strong one, the one upon whom others rely. I’m used to being independent and doing pretty much anything I set my mind to. But all of that changed a week ago Saturday.
I’ve dealt with minor lower back and even sciatic pain for years. I’ve never given it much thought, to be honest. I have pain, I do some stretching and exercise to work out the pain, and I get on with life and don’t let it slow me down.
But when this sciatica came on week ago, there was no stretching it out. There was no getting on with life. And it didn’t just simply slow me down. It brought me down like a darted elephant. Never in my life have I experienced pain like I’ve experienced over the last week. On a scale of 1 to 10, the worst of it would have to be somewhere around an 8 or 9. When it first came on, I would have said it was a 10, but my brother told me that the paperwork that his chiropractor has patients fill out says that on a scale of 1 to 10, a pain level of 10 is suicidal. Literally.
So while I never reached that point of pain, there were many times that I thought to myself, through my crying and wailing in pain and writhing on the floor or the bed, “If I don’t get some relief, I’m literally going to lose my mind.” Literally. So I was whatever number that is. Is that an 8? Is that a 9? I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve never had pain like that in my life, and I now have so much more sympathy now for people who deal with chronic pain week after week, month after month, year after year, with no end in sight. My heart truly breaks for those people.
Thankfully, my pain seems to be letting up now. Each day is a little better. And while I’m not back to 100%, I’d say I’m somewhere around 85% as of this morning. But let me tell you, I fought hard for that.
I started off this last nine day nightmare in so much pain that I couldn’t walk without screaming and wailing in pain. Then it got worse. I spent two nights on the floor beside the bed on my forearms and knees, with my butt in the air, while swaying my hips back and forth just to get some relief. Perpetual motion in that position seemed to be the only thing to bring even a little relief. But sleep wasn’t wasn’t anywhere to be found.
I couldn’t walk from room to room, either. Having to crawl through my house on my hands and knees was just about the most humbling thing ever. Well, that, plus the fact that for two days, I couldn’t get to the toilet. I’ll spare you those details, but just reiterate that this has been the most humbling experience I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Thank goodness my mom was available for three days to not only come and take care of me, but also Matt and Cooper. She was amazing, and I’m so incredibly thankful for her being there for us.
And I’m also so thankful for all of your input! I read all of your comments on my last post (even though I couldn’t respond to any of them because I had no mental focus through the pain), and I did many of the things that all of you suggested. Some of the things were out of the question just because my mobility was so limited. But I did a lot of the things (plus some that I got from other sources), and I think they all helped.
- Many, many stretching exercises (although anything that required me to lie on my stomach was out of the question),
- Two chiropractic appointments (with another one scheduled today),
- One 90-minute deep tissue massage (which was the most wonderful pain ever 😀 ),
- A countless amount of time using a TENS unit (those things are amazing!!),
- Magnets,
- A magnet roller,
- A heavy duty back massager like the kind a chiropractor uses,
- Pressure rolling with a lacrosse ball,
- Hanging from a bar on the Swedish ladder (good for spinal decompression),
- An acupressure band (affiliate link) (it really did help some!),
- Sleeping with a pillow between my legs while on my side,
- CBD cream,
- Castor oil packs,
- Lots of ice packs,
- This back stretcher (affiliate link) (this thing is amazing!),
- Epsom salt baths,
- Ibuprofen,
- LDN (low dose Naltrexone),
- all topped off with a little Mary Jane early in the week (like those two sleepless nights on the floor) to keep me from losing my mind. (Just seeing who actually read that whole list!) 😀
So after all of that, I’m definitely on the mend. As long as I stay still (i.e., sitting in my bed), my pain level stays at a zero. But my bed is the only place I can sit so far. Sitting in chairs is still too painful to endure for more than a few minutes. My walking is getting better each day (and I do so best with the assistance of a cane), and the pain rarely surpasses a 3.
So things are looking up. And, in fact, two days ago I spent lots of time in my studio doing a little organizing and putting things away. I couldn’t do anything too strenuous, but it felt good to be in there for the first time in a week, and to be doing something productive.
Since I couldn’t do much of anything else over the last week, I had plenty of time to think. And I think I figured out what caused this bout of sciatica. Y’all are going to laugh at me, but I traced it back to a day that I literally fell off of my platform shoes not once, but twice in one day. 😀
I have these cute little platform sandals that are probably three inches high at the heels. I love these shoes, and I’ve worn them for the last two summers with no problems at all. But about four or five weeks ago, I was traipsing across my un-landscaped (and unlevel) front yard in these platform sandals and I accidentally stepped into a hole in the yard (a hole that I couldn’t see because it was late and I wasn’t paying attention), and I lost my balance and toppled right over, landing on the ground right on my hip.
And as if that wasn’t enough, later on that exact same day, while wearing the exact same platform sandals, I was getting into the driver’s side seat of the van. While I lifted my right leg to slide onto the seat, I turned my left foot to the outside edge (which is not advisable while wearing platform shoes), and I lost my balance and toppled right over to the ground again, landing on my hip again. It was just one of those days. 😀
But I actually think that is what set off this whole chain of events that led to these last nine days of pain. Both the chiropractor and the massage therapist mentioned how my hips were out of alignment, so I started thinking back to what would have caused that. Well, falling off of my platform shoes twice in one day and landing on my hip would certainly do it! 😀
I know that many would say that the lesson here is that I need to get rid of the platform sandals, but I can’t do that. They’re my favorites, and they have at least one or two more good summers left in them. So for me, the lesson here is that if I fall off of my platform shoes again, I need to schedule a deep tissue massage and a visit to the chiropractor the very next day rather than waiting four weeks while damage is being done. 😀 And maybe I should refrain from traipsing across my unlevel front yard while wearing them as well. From now on, I’ll only stick to level ground while wearing platform sandals.
Anyway, I’m hoping to be back to work in a couple of days, or hopefully by the end of this week. I’m not going to push it, though. I don’t want to do something too strenuous too soon and go backwards. There’s no way I ever want to go through this pain again, and I’ll do just about anything to avoid it in the future.
UPDATE: Several of you have requested a look at these sandals that stole a week from my life, so here they are. 😀 They’re a bit dirty, because that’s what happens when you tumble over in the dirt not once, but twice, while wearing them. 😀 They’re my favorite shoe brand, Sole Society, which always fit me perfectly. Unfortunately, Sole Society was a victim of the economy during and following COVID, and didn’t survive.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
If you haven’t already checked, maybe get an x-ray to see if you have arthritis in your hip joints. My hubs had to have both of his hips replaced in 2021, but for the longest the pain felt to him like it was lower back related. It was so bad he thought he might never walk again, but in his case a hip replacement magically restored him. He woke up from surgery feeling better than before he went in.
Did the chiropractor/physiotherapist at all suggest getting an MRI? Your description of the pain sounds exactly like what my husband went through after getting pulled to the ground by a sudden leap from our 85lb dog – he had a huge (2.3cm) hernia on one of his spinal discs. An X-ray wouldn’t pick it up since it’s not bone, it would have to be an MRI.
Yep – read that entire list of remedies 😉 Hope the cravings for Doritos and Mallomars didn’t get to intense 😀
Ah, not being American I was hoping someone would say something 😂 thank you ☺️
Glad you’re feeling so much better. Go slow!
So glad to hear you are recovering. The pain is hard to deal with. You were smart doing what you did. Even if you take another week to get back to work we’ll be here.
i had that happen to me about 35 years ago, sciatica pain so very bad i couldn’t walk or sit or do anything. i was taken to the hospital, where they informed me that only active people get this bad a pain, and they thought i had broken both my hips! since i was then in my 30s, they were also concerned that something much worse was going on. but it turned out to be sciatica. i can so sympathize with you. there is no getting away from that kind of pain
THERE you are!! I’ve been away on vacation/business, and usually my inbox has four or five updates from you by the time I get to check my email. But nothing!! And I was worried. Thank you for the update, because I was thisclose to using the comment board on your last post (29 Sep), and ask anyone if they’d heard from you.
Please take care of yourself. Your blog can wait; we can wait. If you’re not healthy enough to enjoy your accomplishments, then what’s the point? So glad to read that you’re on the path to recovery. Seriously. Get well soon.
PS: Thank you, Kristi’s Mom, for your spectacular time and care.
I took a fall on 6-25-23 in a pair of great Oppos sandals which resulted in a ER visit, stitches in my forehead and a broken finger. Those sandals were donated;no sandals were worth that kind of pain I endured. Glad to hear you are on the mend!
Yup, I fell off of the cutest platform sandals and almost destroyed my newly replaced right knee. I knew if I kept those babies I’d wear them again, so I sadly said goodbye to them. It’s not worth the risk…. But I’m so glad you’re doing better! ❤️
Maybe it’s the nurse in me or that I’m blessed with a ton of common sense, but in my world no pair of shoes is worth that amount of pain that might put me on a surgical bed should I not bounce back! I couldn’t even wear those thick heeled shoes a lot of my colleagues wore because I couldn’t walk fast in them, and a lot of surgical nursing is walking fast to fetch instruments/drugs/or other needs of the surgeon. I really hope you can let them go and save yourself another bout of pain.
Glad you’re on the mend.😉
Pray your pain continues to improve and you find a permanent solution that works. If you haven’t done so yet, you should get an MRI on you back because I did almost everything you have done to stop the pain/numbness/stinging/ in my back and legs/feet. I finally had a spinal fusion four weeks ago and am slowly working my way through recovery. It didn’t help that my hubby got Covid that next day, and I got it four days after surgery.
I feel your pain, quite literally. I have been dealing with back pain for 25 years. Doctors (which I highly recommend you consult, not just chiropractors and massage therapists) have diagnosed me with Degenerative Disc Disease, which basically means that the discs between my vertebrae are dissolving. And as I get older, the pain increases because, eventually, the vertebrae become bone on bone. I have spent days at a time in bed, not moving only crying. Finally, this past August, I had a spinal fusion and I’m still in “recovery.” There is some discomfort, but not the level of pain I’ve dealth with for the past 25 years. I strongly encourage you to see someone who can give you an actual diagnosis. I know that you have a hectic and very busy life already, but find someone who can teach you Tai Chi. It’s helped me so much over the years (and now I teach it locally).
Ugh, I have DDD with Osteoarthritis. My lumbar spine is just crumbling. Along with constant bursitis in my hips, which need replacing & my bone-on-bone knees, which also need replacing, I’m a mess & too old to have 5 big surgeries. If I lived through the surgeries, my back would still hurt & I’m not gonna live out the rest of my life doing that. Plus, I’ve just gotten out of the hospital with a new surprise: congestive heart failure, so there’s not a surgeon on this planet who would risk doing surgery. My pain level is a constant 8.
Valium to calms me (took muscle relaxers for years but doc has discovered they are dropping my b/p too low) & I have injections at Pain Management every 3 months. They help, but on the flipside, steroids taken over a long period of time will eventually lead to your body’s downfall.
There’s a rock & a hard place!
Kristi, I’d also advise establishing yourself with an orthopedic physician for a baseline MRI in case this happens again.
I also had a pair of platforms that I loved…back in the 70s! AGE & OLD HIPPIE ALERT! And I also stepped in a hole in the yard, resulting in a broken ankle. There may have been adult beverages & weed involved…but what a great night of partying with BJ Thomas & band after their concert! His band were local friends of mine. Worth it? Heck yeah!
Just like my hearing aids when some snarky relatives say “Was it worth it listening to all of that loud music”?
Yep. Every single minute of it! 😊
I know that losing your mind feeling. When I had one episode (ever) of a level 10 back pain many years ago and couldn’t sleep for 24 hours, I was desperately looking for pot but it wasn’t legal yet and I aged out of having sources. lol. I drank vodka to get relief and I hate vodka but I still could not not sleep. i was going crazy. But, I went to the emergency room.
Why didn’t you go to the emergency room with pain that severe? They would have given you a pain drip and the pain would have stopped immediately. Just curious….because I noticed seeing an MD isn’t on your list.
It’s a personal thing, but I won’t take prescription pharmaceuticals unless I’m dying, and even then, it would be questionable. And I knew I wasn’t dying. I haven’t taken prescription pharmaceuticals in 25 years, and my use of OTC pharmaceuticals is bare minimum (like very extremely rare use of Ibuprofen only for extreme pain, OTC cold medicine when the natural stuff isn’t cutting it, etc.). I avoid allopathic medicine like my life depends on it.
Sure that’s your choice but why not see an orthopedic back specialist? Your problem might be more severe then what a chiropractic can fix and you may need surgery and you may be making it worse.
Just an aside, prescription doesn’t mean less safe and/or more harmful to your body and natural doesn’t mean safer and less harmful to your body. One is a natural chemical and one is a synthetic chemical. Botulism and some mushrooms are natural but they can kill you. I know you are not eating botulism this is an example. 🙂 Isopropyl alcohol is synthetic but it is much better to treat wounds with to prevent infection than water.
Totally agree George! Kristi, I use a combo of OTC and script medications. If you were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, would you shun insulin? Sometimes, as we get older, our bodies tend to have some malfunctions and western medicine will be your only choice. That said, I use an OTC supplement instead of Metformin. Better results with bloodwork and no side effects.
You really should get evaluated by an orthopedist with an CT or MRI. Our bodies tend to do strange things as we age, like grow extra bony things in weird places. Most all sciatica is caused by narrowing of the bony foramen along the spine where the nerves exit the bony spine from the spinal cord. All the exercises and other external therapies won’t help that. It requires removal of the extra bone surgically. Or live with the pain which will get worse since the bone continues to grow.
Having a rotten disk can also contribute to the sciatica, When the doc removes the rotten disk and fuses the vertebrae, the pain goes away. And so does the sciatica. I went thru 5 yrs of my husband having sciatica along with a large numb spot on his left thigh. The surgeon did a procedure called AxiaLIF and he was pain free, numb spot regained feeling and no more sciatica. All within 48 hrs post-op. It was an outpatient procedure! Get yourself to an orthopedist now since it will only get worse without treatment.
I agree!
I’m with you girl on allopathic. I stay away as much as possible. All they want to do is give you a pill for something. They dont look for root causes, just treat the symptoms. Ughhh
Most orthopedics are very conservative and will start with physical therapy and over the counter anti-inflammatories. Osteopathic remedies, which include staying fit and exercising, (although great for many things) will not fix a malignant tumor causing back pain that you didn’t know about because you didn’t get an MRI.
Kristi, why do you avoid allopathic medicine like your life depends on it?
That would be a much longer conversation than one could probably have in the comment section of my blog. 🙂
Thanks for writing back, and I hope you feel 100% back to normal very soon! I really enjoy seeing what you do with your house and yard.
I am so sorry you are going through all of this!! I love the fact you put the Mary Jane snipit in there. 😉😂 Siatica is rough! I hope it keeps moving towards feeling better.
Okay, so we are going to need to see a photo of these sandals 😄. Glad you’re feeling better!
Glad to hear you are feeling better! You are a go getter, be sure to take your time when doing things!
Hi Kristi – Happy to hear you are feeling better. I have had the same problem and so do my sisters. It’s horrible pain. We found that sleeping on a rock hard bed mattress keeps it from happening to us. When sleeping, as soon as we feel one hip or side of our body rolling into a body impression in a older mattress – we move to a section that is flat on the bed. Might be something to consider testing out. Or sleeping on the bed corner to corner where your body doesn’t roll into a worn out body impression area on the mattress.
I have known that pain (in my neck actually) and the desire to just chop off my head if it would end the pain. It is unknowable for those who have not experienced it. Although I had no practical advice, I did pray for you. Happy to hear you are doing better.
Bless your heart. Summer is over so put the shoes away until next summer. I’m one of those chronic pain people. Today on Facebook my memory was from 10 years ago. I was complaining about daily pain. Good days followed by bad days. Well, I still have that daily pain and I will have it for the rest of my life. Joy. My maternal grandmother lived to be 93; my mother lived to be 94; my paternal grandfather lived to be 100 + 4 months. So I figure I have at least 20 more years to deal with this. Mothers are great. I had a good one but she was as tough as nails and not very sympathetic.
I’m glad you are almost back to normal. Reading your blogs makes me feel good. You are just so talented. Have a blessed day.
Totally support you on your platform footwear. I am short too and I love adding a little height with my footwear. One reason I’m not crazy about going into one of those “no shoes “homes. Those are for people with long legs. I would gladly bring along a pair of shoes that have never been worn outside with floor-safe non-marking soles.
Please look up a chiropractor called “RingDinger” in Texas (oodles of videos on YouTube!)
Sounds like he would be worth a visit!!!
I dealt with sciatic pain from being placed incorrectly on the table for surgery. The only comfortable seat I found was using an inflatable exercise ball/ chair because it
elevated pressure points. What also helped was stretching, muscle relaxers and rotating between ice packs and moist heat heating pads. There is no pain like it…this coming from someone who has had 2 root canals with no lidocaine .
(I’ve always had a high tolerance for pain)
Oh my gosh, I’ve also had a root canal with no anesthesia!! And until last week, that was definitely the most painful thing I had ever experienced. The sciatic pain eclipsed the anesthesia-free root canal. So much worse, by far!!
Awful, awful, awful! I’m glad you’re getting on the other side of it all.
How on earth did you physically get to a chiropractor?
Hope you haven’t completely closed your mind to traditional medicine — it saves and improves a lot of lives. I skew the other way, extremely wary of putting something in my system that hasn’t been clinically vetted and prevented by law from making unsubstantiated claims.
So sorry, Kristi, it’s no fun to be in that kind of pain. I remember the platform clogs from my younger days, but I’m not brave enough to wear them again, lol. I nearly got myself killed falling off them while crossing the street in front of an oncoming car. So glad you are feeeling better!
In light of the falling, I also suggest an MRI. One of my friends walked around with a silent, secret hip fracture for months before someone suggested the MRI and found it. She just had pain and they tsk, tsked her as a whiner until they actually found it. It didn’t show up on x-rays. Just because you can get back up doesn’t mean there isn’t damage.
PS. ditch those shoes–cute or not.
C
Omagosh Kristi. I am so darn sorry you went thru that. Happy that you’re doing better. (and yes, I read rhe whole list) of remedies. I’m just ordering some cbd cream for hubbys knees. Arthritis has visited his knees, and my daughter recommended the cream. Thankfully you’re on the road to recovery but take your time and dont overdo it.
I am so glad you are feeling better.
I know the 6-8 pain level after a series of procedures to repair my neck and brain aneurysm.
It affects everything, including your breathing.
I still have my little TENS unit and my large heating pad and neck ice pack for using after gym days.
I have my series of stretches for life now and the gym day longer versions.
Stopping all that is not an option.
I will join the chorus of getting your hip and back scanned.
I had an unknown genetic vertebra problem that went fully active with a fall. My constant tight shoulders were the mild symptom progressing to major symptoms estimated to need a surgery within 6 months if I hadn’t fallen.
Given your history and your caretaker role, it would be worth knowing you have no genetic or other hip and spine issues. And should you need repairs, when to get them done according to a specialist.
Meant to type eleviate not elevate.
Kristi,
This is Julie, the semi retired personal trainer again. After hearing greater details of your agony, I am strongly suspecting the quadratus lumborum trigger points as the cause of your problem. When someone cannot walk and has a pain level that high without a herniated disk, this is nearly always the cause but it often gets misdiagnosed as sciatica because of the pain referral to that area. I have experienced this as severely as you describe myself and have had many clients with it as well. Did anyone you were seeing mention this muscle? It can take a bit of time for it to calm down with treatment so be patient. Over time the pain will subside but without eliminating the trigger points it will ambush you again, usually at the worst moment! The reason I offered free phone consultation was to help zero in on the cause and suggest the specific way to self treat. The lacrosse ball I suggested for sciatica is much too big to get into the trigger points which are in the back waistline in the narrow space between the ribs and hips but is great for the trigger points in the hips or higher in the back. There are 4 on each side of your spine. A tool called a jackknobber (available on Amazon) is perfect for this and sitting in your car gives you the firm back of the seat to press against. You can email me if you want to talk to me and you can block your number to preserve your privacy, as I know you must be very careful. Praying for you and Matt!
I am so happy you are starting to feel a bit better. Yep read the whole list and whatever helps with relieving pain go for it. I am recovering from back surgery so I can relate to your level of pain. I hope you can get an mri because that might explain what is causing your pain. I put off surgery for months thinking I would try everything available to ease the pain and that made the recovery worse.
Please seek out advise from your Dr. 🙏🙏🙏
So happy to hear that you are getting better! Could you please share what TENS unit and CBD brands worked for you?
First of all, lol I agree we need to see those shoes, and I hope you put them up on a pedestal and shine a spotlight on them when you photograph them.
I am a Doctor of Chiropractic with 33 years of experience. If this happens again, and I pray that it does not, I would also recommend an MRI. Meanwhile I will say that your symptoms and the degree of pain you experienced are suggestive of a disc herniation. The good news is that discs do heal. But I wanted to make sure you had a realistic understanding of the timeline. Once the pain is gone, the collagen in the discs will still be healing for many weeks. You will have the blessing of being pain free, but your body will not be back to normal (but might feel like it is.) During that time you can work, but go easy!
Here are two things that may help you long term, and are not likely to hurt anything, no matter what the cause of the pain:
1) Make hanging from a bar (or your Swedish ladder) a daily habit for your lifetime. The traction will separate the vertebrae and create more room for your discs. This will improve circulation and reduce compression.
2) A course of physical therapy for Core Stabilization exercises can be very helpful. Later on you can do them by yourself in your lovely home gym, but now while you are healing, you could benefit from a good PT supervising you, making sure you are doing the exercises correctly and not risking reinjury.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
I’m glad to hear you’re feeling so much better. Praying that you can get back to normal soon. Take it easy. We’ll be here when you’re ready to resume your blog and all the beautiful work you do.
After adding up the money I spent on chiro care and acupuncture after wearing my brand new shoes just once, it was much cheaper to just buy new shoes. Same with the couple thousand I have spent on rehab in the last 8 months after foolishly thinking I could repaint my small bathroom. And I’m still doing rehab. From now on I’ll cheerfully pay a painter and call it a bargain!
Oh MY, that was a hard post to read. The whole time reading I was so worried what was going on with you, and also worrying about Matt and the pets. YIKES…you had a terrible time of it, but hopefully you are on the mend. Please do see the doctor and see if he wants a few tests to make sure things are all good. You do NOT want a repeat, or make things worse. With all you do, as well as taking care of Matt, you want and need to stay healthy and strong. It reiterates the old saying about taking care of yourself first so you can take care of others. Thank God for good moms! I just had surgery and my daughter is helping me…Thank God for good daughters too. Hoping for a complete recovery soon. PS) What is a Mary Jane…yes, I read the whole list…is it alcoholic? 🤣
Comment 2 of 2: In the first comment, I suggested a trigger point book and Back Buddy to help you identify and self-treat any trigger points that might be causing or contributing to your pain. In this one, I just wanted to mention the importance of determining WHERE your sciatic pain is starting from. Does it start in your low back, your pelvis/hip or your buttocks? When you have the severity of pain you described,
it can be hard to really dissect it in your head and figure out where is the pain actually starting. The reason that it is important is because your treatment could be different depending on the origin of your pain. The sciatic nerve is really long and could get impinged in a number of locations. If the pain starts in your low back or right above the tail bone; then you may have a herniated disc and could benefit from a lumbar epidural. If the pain is starting more in your pelvis; then the nerve may be impinged by the sacroiliac joint and a steroid injection into the SI joint could be helpful. If the pain is starting in your buttocks, then you may have piriformis syndrome and an injection into the piriformis muscle could help.
I had severe sciatica last fall. I did all the things – massage (which I already get regularly for pain), heat, ice, self-trigger point work, and even physical therapy with no
resolution of symptoms. The ortho thought it was from the advanced degenerative disc disease in my lumbar spine, but I didn’t have back pain. After I really broke down my pain location in my head, I came to the conclusion that it was piriformis syndrome because my nerve pain started in my lower buttock. My pain Dr is great. He listened to me about my symptoms and agreed with me. So, I had a piriformis injection instead of the lumbar epidural recommended by the orthopedic Dr. My months long pain was gone within a few days.
Even if you aren’t interested in pursuing treatment with steroids right now, don’t rule it out as it can make a huge difference in reducing the inflammation and nerve damage you’ve got going on. Also, figuring out where the sciatic pain is starting can help you determine WHICH stretches to perform for your particular pain (ex: stretches for the piriformis are different than those for lumbar pain). Determining the origination of your sciatica can also help you narrow down possible trigger points that could be causing or contributing to your nerve pain.
I hope you continue to improve- just don’t push yourself too hard too soon!
Glad to hear you are progressing away from pain! I know the feeling all too well, but thankfully, I haven’t had any in years. But your description of that brought me back! I had to sleep in the recliner for a week, though the term sleep was relative to the pain. Drugs from the doctor, heat and ice were my solace until I could lay on my back and do strengthening exercises. So did the Mary Jane help much? Just curious. My husband was offered a prescription for his neck pain, but didn’t want to go that route.
Comment #1 of 2: Glad you’re feeling a bit better. All of the things you tried are great and I’m sure helped you make some progress. As someone who has had chronic pain for 30 years and been in pain mgmt for 20+ years, I have tried it all! While I do take several medications for pain; I also use other methods for pain control and reduction. So, I have a couple more suggestions on top of all the others you’ve already tried. Sorry if this gets too long, but I just wanted to explain the basis for my suggestions. This is one suggestion and I’m going to make another comment about my other suggestion.
First is to remember that song about how the thigh bone is connected to the hip bone and so on; because your accident involving your shoes could certainly cause a chain reaction all the way to your hip, spine and/or pelvis. I don’t know how much knowledge you have about trigger points, but they are along that same premise – a trauma like that could cause a trigger point in your leg leading to a chain reaction resulting in pain in a completely different area from the trauma. Given all of the heavy work you do and your history of back problems, I think you could benefit from trigger point therapy and deep tissue massages on a regular basis. I agree that they HURT, but that’s because they have to dig deep to release your trigger points. A spa massage feels great while they are doing it, but my pain is unchanged at the end of the massage whereas deep tissue and neuromuscular massage hurts me to the point of kicking and cursing but so feel so much better when it’s over. So, find a good therapeutic massage therapist as opposed to a spa therapist (a Swedish massage isn’t going to much for something like sciatica).
In addition to seeing a massage therapist, I also work on my own trigger points (the rolling that you did is one method). Most books about trigger points are geared towards performing the work on someone else, but there are some now that are geared towards working on yourself. I’ve bought every edition of “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief” by Clair Davies since it first came out 20+ years ago: https://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment-dp-1608824942/dp/1608824942/ref=dp_ob_title_bk. It’s fantastic in educating the reader and helping the reader find and work on the trigger points responsible for their pain. Along with the ball you mentioned; some type of Back Buddy or Theracane is also very helpful when working on your own trigger points. (I am putting my 2nd suggestion in a new comment)
I’m so glad you are doing so much better. Chiropractors help so much. I couldn’t help but get quite amused though when you said you couldn’t give up your shoes. That was funny. Wishing you the very best!
I hope you continue to make progress on this sciatica and find ways to strengthen whatever is needed to keep it from coming back! You in platform sandals traipsing around your back yard? You just tickle me thinking about that! Except for the horrid possible end result, of course.
I read the whole list 😂 I am sorry and I’m glad you’re feeling better. What an ordeal!
I have had surgery for pancreatic cancer which then caused malabsorption of nutrients which led to bone loss and then compression fractures. I am only
4”11 and love high heels but they are very bad for my back- I gave away many practically brand new shoes rather than have pain. Get rid of your shoes- the future pain that may come from those shoes can’t be ignored.
I am glad you are getting some movement back and the pain is lessening. I have been brought down by back pain before, too, and I am very glad you are on the mend!
I definitely read the whole list. 😀
Um…why is there no pictures of these platform shoes?!? 🤣
Kristi,
Wishing you a good recovery.
So happy you are on the mend! I understand how a good pair of shoes, that you love, fit and are able to withstand a few seasons are almost priceless! Can’t wait to see what you are up to next…the studio is and will continue to be outstanding
I understand why you would want to keep those sandals! I’m here to tell you . . don’t!
It simply isn’t worth more pain and the money associated with treatment!
When I was about 50 or so, I had all these absolutely gorgeous high heeled shoes. A few near tips convinced it was time for them to go. I think it’s all about accepting our lifestyle changes and dealing with them. There will be other pretty shoes. Heck! I’ll even donate to a new pair if you donate those to someone else.
I hope you are feeling fine very soon. Sciatica is no joke!
The shoes are cute but you are 50.
They are cute!
I’m feeling for you! Ultimately, we discovered that my piriformis muscle had cramped and wasn’t relaxing. The piriformis muscle is around the sciatic nerve. Massage couldn’t reach deep enough. What brought instant relief was one session of dry needling (a form of acupuncture my chiro does). One second of pain and I’ve been fine since and that was several years ago. So, might be something to look into.