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(JD) · Nov 15, 2010, 05:41 PM

aw ((((ECHOES))) you're having more than your share lately!

I do take a narcotic ongoing for the whole body/day to day pain. When one (or both of) the ilia effect the sciatic nerve, it's as much the swelling from that occurring as it is the bones being out of place that presses on the sciatic nerve. (My sacrum is always "out.") I take toradol for that swelling, and often have some relief within 20 minutes. It has allowed me to sleep when I otherwise wouldn't have due to the pain of the pressure. Did I say that right? I'm having a tough few days finding the right words (or worse, thinking I've said something profound only to find I've offended!

)

I never had any success with neurologists. A physiatrist is master at the body and movement and muscles and nerves. (That sounds like a sound...

)

I have a full page of typed up treatments I use for my various pains. For the sciatica, I first heat my body up to let my muscles relax and quit pulling at all the bones. That heat tends to be more residual than the cooling which is the next part. I then ice up the low back to where it's solidly numb. I find the cold helps the nerve pain immensely. I've even done ice massages (frozen water in a paper cup) to pin point the ilia. (You know, the ilia? Those two dimples in the small of your back? That's where they live, little horizontal bones that don't respond to inversion tables or stretching the spine. )
The therapeutic ultrasound at the PTs is a must if I can't get out of the pain. I rarely have a flare longer than 4 days...though this last one was over 2 weeks.

Yeah, limping or walking awkwardly because of the pain will put the rest of your back out of place. I find I have to take TINY steps so I can do so evenly and smoothly. I can't always.

Watch what you eat. Go to the arthritis website and see the foods that cause inflammation and stay away from them!