Different treatments for Sciatica ?

[miss49]

I have been fighting Sciatica for 6 months.  I am unable to stand or sit for any length of time.  I had an MRI and had a Cyst removed via needle as out patient along with a steroid injection.  I was told one in ten people the procedure would not be successful and happen to that one by a neurosurgeon.  I was told they could TRY going in at a different angle and I could TRY steroid epidural.  I have been searching for other options and have not found any with concrete results.  I have been told by a chiropractor he could cure me with a  very expensive decompression therapy. (basically computer generated traction machine tha requires 20 treatments and is not guranteed to work ) .  I have also found all sorts of buy me quick fix books etc. on the internet.  Has anyone ordered the tapes etc from "loose the back pain .com" ?  They claim  a DYI muscle balance , nutrition, pressure point therapy will cure you of sciatica.  They also sell nutrients, inverter tables, heat pads etc. on their website. What about the TNF injection that shows instant relief by a doctor in California on Utube?  Just google "improvement in 30 minutes for sciatica" on utube.  Makes me want to jump on a plane!  The chiropractor also almost had me convinced to cough up big $$.  I have found when in pain and desperate for relief it is hard to sort thru the hype and the real deal.  Anyone tried any of the above mentioned treatments?  I am scheduled to begin PT tomorrow and Epicural the next day and am going to do water arobics everyday starting next week.  I have to have the steroid epidural or my insurance is going to dump me for not having a clear medical plan of treatment!!  I am scared to death and have not had good results in the past.  I had a steroid epidural in my neck about 15 years ago and I suppose they missed the spot and it cause hemorage in my head and I was sick for two weeks!  When the cyst was removed last month and steroids injected in the joint during the same procedure I developed some sort of infection along with knots on the inside of the infected leg!  Antibiotics cleared up the infection I suppose and now Im going to let them put another needle in my spine? !!  Insanity:  Continue to do the same things and expect different results!    Anyone with positive experience or info??

[bigsissie]

I have had the decompression therapy with good results. I have herniated disc though and some other severe back problems. I bought an inversion table thinking it would be cheaper and more helpful and it is a regrettable decision. I hurt severely after using it. Also you may want to look for a Osteopath instead of a "straight" chiropractor. You may have to pay out of pocket but if you get a good one it is worth it.  Normal chiropractors want to force my back into place and the osteopath I found does not do that. After one adjustment from a normal chiropractor I hurt but I have never felt like that with my other one. Something else you may want to check on instead of the shots is a T.E.N.S. unit.

I do not believe in any of the quick fixes anymore. I did in the past and they ended up costing more than the therapies I had. Best of luck with what ever path you chose. Best wishes, Sissie

[MYoungAtHeart]

I have a trapped sciatica nerve from my last back surgery when rods and screws were placed in my spine to keep my spine from crashing in on itself.
With the insurance i have, i had to jump through several hoops, PT, the water exercises, stretching, etc before my insurance would pay for the next step which consisted of injections into my nerve and spine. I had 6 injections, they were uncomfortable but the doctor let me watch the screen as he guided the needle in and that was pretty cool to see that and in a few minutes, in reality probably a half hour, it was over and I was allowed to drive myself home.  The 6 shots were done over the course of a year but i also had set up my own exercise program at home to keep limber and moving because sitting and lying down just made the pain worse.  My insurance said "Enough shots now " and I was let go from the Pain Clinic.
One morning 3 years after my last shot, and my last surgery, I woke up in the morning with no more sciatica pain at all.  Its been a year now and I still keep active and am glad I did the injections but it has never been explained to me why or how the pain is gone.  

I wish you the very best of luck with your procedure.  I do hope you will come back and tell us how you are doing.

M