sciatic nerve damage

[glammagee]

I have severe arthritis with bone spurs in my left hip joint. I had no problems and then woke up four months ago with severe pain. Went to my doctor who gave me some options. I wasn't ready to accept referral to a surgeon as I thought it might go away. In the meantime she gave me some drugs. Dicloffinac  and tramadol and sent me for a cortisone shot. By this time I needed a cane to walk. The radiologist inserted the freezing needle and explained that I was a good candidate for the cortisone as there was red fluid coming from the tube. When he went on with the needle I initially felt nothing as I watched on the screen and then a severe jolt ran across my groin and down the leg. I was pretty sure he was not yet on the joint so I let him know what I was feeling. He apologized and said he was just about at the joint. That part was painless. I left walking well but after a couple of days my groin and left knee began to ache. I had about two days after that where I felt fine again. Visited my doctor and thought I was on the mend. I did not tell her about the "jolt" during the injection because I did not know it was anything out of the ordinary. Over the next two months the pain intensified. I was and still am using crutches. I thought it odd that while the hip joint was still stiff and with some discomfort the most severe pain was in my lower back, across the front of the groin, down the left side of my leg both thigh and calf as well as the inside of the thigh. This pain was not constant and was not always on the same spot but very intense. When I saw my doctor three weeks ago she felt that the radiologist must have disturbed the sciatic nerve in some manner and that it could take up to a year to settle down. She said there were meds for that but they come with side affect. She upped the dosage of tramadol and has referred me to a surgeon. After three weeks I am still waiting for a call to let me know when my first assessment point went will be.  Living in Canada, I know this whole process could take up to a year. Is there anything more you could recommend to help me manage the severe pain that I have now experienced for the last three months. It appears the cortisone shot has worn off as the pain there is back to what it was. I am very fearful of another injection after the last one. I look forward to your response.


This discussion is related to Anyone else have sciatica pain after cortisone/steriod injection in hip?.

[Belle313]

Hi There!
I would urge you to look into The Light Seekers advice.

If you would of had the cortisone injection complication free, it doesn't
sound like it helped you very long. I've had to have 3 sets of 3 cortisone injections in my spine before having each spine surgery and they didn't help me. My dad had a set and he was doing really well even past the 6 month mark.  Hopefully with some rest/ heating pad and supplements your nerve will slowly become less irritated and stop hurting you. Sciatica is no fun and the Tramadol is masking the pain.

I would also urge you to try almost anything besides surgery for the bone spur. That was one of the most painful surgeries I've had(I've had about 20 surgeries). Anytime bone is being shaved off it hurts like h3ll post op. I'm not trying to scare you, just please explore all your options before committing to surgery.

Best wishes for a pain free future!

[TheLightSeeker]

Hi glammagee.

You story reads very similarly to my good friend in Quebec, who was last year in India and sends me a message that she's in severe back and shoulder pain, diagnosed with bone spurs/osteophytes.
I told her to get boswellia serrata, which actually comes from India and is one of the best herbal anti-inflammatories. This kept her going till she returned to Canada where she verified the osteophytes, was given a cortisone shot and was waiting to see a specialist.
She temporary got better till one day she called us crying, that she could not lift her arm, had a hard time to get out of bed and sounded desperate.
I sent her some MSM powder and a container of AOR Boswellia Serrata Nanoavailable liquid caps, which I had spare.
Also sent her TMS Structured Educational Program & TMS Recovery Program Links (TMS=Tension Myositis Syndrome).
While she was doing all this (the tms programs take a couple months)
she also visited a healer in quebec who does psychic surgery- a couple times.
In October we went to visit her (we live in N.Ontario, 12 hours away) and spent a week with her.
You could never tell this person who is 64, had ANY issues whatsover with
her back or shoulder! No drugs, just some supplements, healthy eating and
staying active.
She's also a TIFA practitioner now (it's something similar to Craniosacral Therapy) and we had a couple treatments-Wow! it was way beyond my expectations.
In the end she's not sure what helped make the breakthrough, but she thinks it's the combination of most of the things she tried.

I almost forgot to tell you, she has NO PATIENCE for pain, since she never had any serious pain issues in the past until a year ago, BUT she did experience much emotional pain in her life!

You have access to many complementary and alternative resources in Edmonton, so please consider exploring them.

BTW her specialist told her that she has "arthrose"  (osteoarthritis) and osteophytes and gave her a few  options which she politely declined with a smile on her face.

I know everyone's case is different, but, I think is worth exploring ALL your options.

If you want a living example of the impossible becoming possible, I'm it.
I had two near fatal accidents, which resulted in multiple fractures including
organ damage, PTSD and today... I am in near perfect health!
And of course I'm thankful for the emergency medical assistance I received and the attention in the ICU, however, my recovery for most part came from outside the conventional medical system.
My remarkable recovery defied all doctors' prognosis and expectations.
Just read my profile to get an idea.

Best wishes,
Niko

[SassyLassie]

Hello,

I highly recommend seeing a chiropractor, if you have pinched nerves that are causing the trouble, nothing will help except a good adjustment to relieve the pressure. He/she will take some x-rays and they will show what areas are causing the issues. No drugs or surgery will help if this is the case.