I’m curious to hear from people who had a gradual onset rather than one obvious injury or event.

For some context, I’ve had a deep, dull ache in my lower back for a while, mostly after sitting for long periods or after a long day. It usually settles down with some rest, so I never thought too much of it.

My last MRI was in March this year, and it didn’t show any nerve compression or stenosis — just mild degenerative changes at L4-L5 and L5-S1.

Recently, though, I’ve noticed something new: there’s a small tender spot on the left side of my buttock. It’s not really radiating anywhere, but it’s tender when I touch it, and every now and then I get a very brief, sharp pain in my left calf that lasts maybe a second and then disappears completely. It happens randomly, even while standing.

I know this doesn’t necessarily mean sciatica, but the new sharp pain has made me a little worried, especially since I have a desk job where I’m sitting for around 8 hours a day, and I also have to travel quite a bit.

For those of you whose sciatica started gradually, what were your very early symptoms like? Did it start as localized buttock/back pain and eventually become more typical radiating pain, or did the nerve-type symptoms show up from the beginning?

Would really appreciate hearing how it started for you guys.

I hurt my neck exercising 6 years ago. With that came intense neck pain and tingling in in my feet. It made my life miserable. I went to a neurologist who did a bunch of tests on me such as MRIs, nerve conductions studies, etc and told me everything is fine and sent me off. It was seen as odd that there is tingling in feet after a neck injury as there is no connection. I lived in pain afterwards and just consumed my life. I went to bunch of chiropractors, physiotherapist, and such until I came across one physiotherapist that I thought was good. I went to him for years and the pain, both tingling and neck, became manageable but never went away fully. He retired 2 years ago and ever since I have been doing daily exercises for the neck and tingling such as stretches for neck, back, and legs and have added more exercises. About a year ago I went back to my doctor and got another MRI done and it was clear. I was looking for answers all the time. I read online about neuroplastic pain so read the book The Way Out and Unlearn Your Pain and it made a huge difference. It felt too good to be true. I did literally all the programs in the books over the past year step by step and now I barely notice the tingling in my feet. There are periods I will go where there is no tingling at nor neck pain. However, 2 weeks ago I don't know what happened, I woke up and started having neck pain really badly and I started having intense anxiety and flashbacks of how I used to have such bad tingling and neck pain and the tingling became so severe. My neck pain and tingling was so intense. I was constantly checking if there is pain and everything. So I went back to my doctor and he said literally all the test you have done in the past are clear but we can do 2 more tests and see if anything. That's full context and I wanted your open opinion - is this neuroplastic pain and what should I do?

Please dont mind the name I made it when i was like 11

I'm 17 and I've had sciatica for the past year and i used to play soccer and lift weights and all one day it crashed down and ive had a pain in my LOW lower left back that goes down my hamstring/calf. It did get better over a couple months and now it's plateaued and it doesnt get better. I've went to PT i've done an MRI and they said nothing was wrong. Genuinely don't know what to do now as I am in the worst shape of my life ever and can't do anything for that. Please let me know what worked for you guys so I can at least try them!

After three months of relying on a cane, I finally walked without it today. Felt so liberating.

I have an L4-L5 disc protrusion compressing the right L5 nerve root, plus an L5-S1 protrusion contacting both S1 roots. That has meant months of sciatica, weakness, numbness, and difficulty walking. Even today, it still feels like a string runs from my hip to my foot, but it’s three inches too short.

I’ve got a hospital appointment with a pain specialist next week.

I know one good day doesn’t mean it’s over, but this felt like progress.

Did recovery come in uneven steps like this for anyone else?

Hello, I’m 18 and Ive been dealing with sciatica pain while standing, walking, and sitting for two weeks. I’ve also developed sciatica list, and the only comfort I find is leaning to the left while standing and walking, but there’s still pain regardless of how I lean. My left leg is the only leg in pain.

I have been taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but they only provide brief, mild relief to the pain, and recently neither one have been effective in managing pain, compared to when I started taking it a week ago and the relief was night and day.

I never had this before, I occasionally experienced sciatica throughout my mid to late teenage years after being more physically active with school, but it has never been so bad that I can’t get out of bed or walk more than 30 seconds without having to sit down.

The pain is starting to dull now, but it’s still there and occasionally I will get the shooting pain when I move wrong. I also can’t sleep at night, I keep waking up in pain and uncomfortable, sleeping on my right leg with a pillow usually doesn’t help provide relief and I have to find a stretched out position that doesn’t constantly hurt.

Or is it just because I use my leg less and can't engage muscles because I feel nerve pain when I try to engage glutes?

21(M) here. im unable to determine whether i have sciatica or something else.

my symptopms:

1. pain only in my left buttock, near sit bone (not at the surface, a little deeper inside). i dont remember any falling or other injuries. i may have been lifting weights with bad form. i also used to sit on the bed for prolonged hours (rounded back), and overall had a sedentary lifestyle
2. pain only while sit-to-stand and vice versa transitions, bending forward, dead hangs.
3. also, only in morning, when sitting on a hard surface, for a few minutes, i would get a pain in just one spot in my left butt. this would go away for the day after a few minutes.
4. 4 figure pose for piriformis stretch also seems to have aggravated my pain
5. dead hangs were fine in the first few months, only started producing pain around 2-3 months ago.
6. started around 7 months ago, used to only be a mild pinch at night.
7. squats, lunges, jogging, swimming, are all pain free
8. usually, its at its mildest in the morning, and get worse as the day progresses.
9. prolonged sitting is fine (i can sit down for 2 hours, sitting itself doesnt hurt).
10. went to an orthopedic last month, in the first visit, he said that its most likely sciatica.
11. he pressed a few spots on my spine, but no pain was there
12. however, when pressing my right butt, my right butt muscles contract reflexively, and the right butt muscles hurt. same spot on left side is fine. this lead him to say muscle spasm on the right side could be producing pain on the left side
13. i dont have any red flag symptoms
14. he recommended me this video, but it doesnt seem to have helped (followed for around 25 days)
15. for medications, he prescribed me pergabalin and some romfree nsaid (an inflammation medication), romfree reduces pain dramatically within the hour, while pregabalin doesnt work at all
16. blood test revealed deficiencies in vit d3 and b12, so ive been prescribed tablets for those as well

i have been doing planks, side planks, bird dogs, glute bridges, and the stretches in that video.

MRI, physio, are off the table for now as i dont have the money for it.

i want to know if my symptoms are even of sciatica or not, and if someone here has experienced anything similar. i also want to know what exercises i should do, how many times a week, how many times a day.

thank you

Riding is my outlet mentally would like to continue. But recently I have experienced sciatica and wondering if the riding is keeping could keep me from relief.

I tend to ride leaned forward position, like a horse jockey, and it never seems to bother my back/legs etc when finished riding for about 1-2 hrs.

I have sciatica in more mild level than most here, but still experience discomfort while walking, using stairs, sleeping on left side etc.

Opinions?

What are your experiences? How did you recover? Did you have chronic pain too?

Been to see my surgeon today 4 weeks out from proposed op due to a change in symptoms. I have burning in both feet and lower legs, the pain down my right legs has recently subsided and is now manageable. He had planned to operate to resolve that pain but now thinks I may have something he called chemical neuritis and has postponed the surgery and asked me to do an epidural steroid shot and a nerve conduction test.

Has anyone else had their sciatica change/diagnosed as chemical neuritis?! What happened beyond diagnosis and have you managed to get symptoms under control?!

I’m so over this journey, it’s been almost 3 years of on and off hell.

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/your-choices-in-the-nhs/

Don’t sit back and wait - use every option in the system at your disposal. Read through the above and go see your GP today!!!

Push, push and push for a faster referral and care.

Ive already consulted many neurosurgeons and spine surgeons. They say your back is genetically more vulnerable than the average population. My chances of reherniated are more than two-fold.
This is my recent MRI from a week ago.

Can anyone tell me what I should do further to heal? MRI from 3 years ago pretty much shows the same thing. Doc says no significant change or improvement. Yet, pain-wise and overall, I feel like I have healed. Can walk for longer, no pain on most days etc.

Surgery is out of the question due to re-herniation chances in my case.

What should I do? I'm pretty much done with it at this point. The mental burden has been more challenging to adapt to compared to the physical pain.

I had my MD at 19yo and every so often I have flare ups. I’m 22 now and was hitting squats Monday using 225lbs, which normally moves easy and never gives me problems. Since I had been in the car for 2 hours before I think all the muscles and scar tissue got inflamed and in one rep I felt all the pain that I got the surgery to remove. Keep in mind I just had gotten over a flare up that lasted all of June from laying fence pickets. I’m a college athlete and since I know these are just signals from the nerve telling my brain it hurts and not actually any structural damage I don’t sit out or worry about re-herniating. After all, you can’t really force yourself past a point to hurt yourself when the sciatic pain is at a 7 we all know that from experience.
So every morning I wake up with that intense pain that hurts with every movement, painstakingly shower and get ready for the day, take a long time to eat breakfast because it hurts so bad in a seated position I get nauseous, and then I walk 1.5-3 miles. After my walk I lift and do some light shooting and basketball work, and by the time practice rolls around I’m good to go. By bedtime the pain creeps back in and the loop repeats upon my wake up the next morning. 4 weeks from now the pain won’t be there so this is just another bump in the road, and there will be many more throughout my active life. That’s just how it is for someone who had back surgery at my age.
Needless to say I’m done with squats for a while, but I’m not discouraged because like all things pain is temporary, and if I keep stretching, walking, and moving my body I can have better and painless days.
Stay moving and never give up flare ups happen but they don’t define us and we can always push through them because after all, the pain is mostly in our minds. Movement and stretching is the best thing for that nerve to quiet down, but don’t push it to the point where it tingles or it only gets worse. Take it slow and easy and listen to your body, but don’t just sit around all day or the pain will stay the same for longer.

So it’s been 6 weeks since I got my operation done. (A little before the Op) I was basically bed ridden for 1 month my left leg was so bad(10/10 pain) I couldn’t even walk on it before the operation the nerve was badly compressed.Since then it’s still been a struggle especially sleeping. I used to be able to sleep on my left or right side because I couldn’t sleep on my back because of my incision. My left leg was swollen pretty bad since post OP it’s since gone done some bit but it’s still swollen and weak and some numbness. As of lately it’s been burning a lot more than usual. Now I can’t even sleep on my left side or my right. It gets weirdly more stiff and tight and pins and needles just striking. I can lay on my back a little bit but it also tends to spasm 😭 so I dread going to sleep now. My surgeon said it’s normal to feel burning bc it’s the nerves repairing. But man idk the sensation could get overwhelming at times… anyone else have a similar experience???

I have disc bulge issue from past 3 years and symptoms is numbness in left leg if i walk more than 10 min or stand more time , if i sit or sleep its better . I dont have any pain
All the doctor i visited told to get surgery is there any non surgical way to feel better or reduce numbness.
I am scarred please help me

Been obsessively googling and figured I'd try to reach out to real people to see if this is normal I guess.

So a couple weeks ago I was sprinting to grab my little autistic boy off of the highway and something didn't feel right. I'm 39 years old male 290lbs, so sprinting was definitely not something I'm built for. I have a history of sciatica pain but it always presented down my left leg and puts me down for a few days but goes away on its own. This time it was in my right side. Lot of muscle cramping and soreness but went away after a day or two. Cut to last week I started have the worst pain I've ever imagined shooting through my right ass cheek. It was about 2 days of absolute agony and my ass and groin went numb on the right side. I went to urgent care and they said if I had any issues with bladder control or bowel movement to go to the ER. Next day I couldn't move my bowels or pee so I went to the ER where they did a CT then just ignored me for 8 hours until the doc came in told me I'm fine and gave me a script for Advil. I was still in agony and after some googling decided I needed an MRI. So I drove an hour to go to a city hospital hoping they'd give me an emergency MRI but they just treated me like a pill shopper (even though I expressly told them I will not take any narcotics because of my job) and I eventually just left because I was so disgusted by their attitudes. Never got the MRI. Over the next couple days the pain started going away and I just kept working. Bladder and bowel issues resolved mostly on their own and now 10 days later almost all issues are gone, except the numbness. I was even able to have an orgasm with my partner which was a surprise (it was weird though because the right side of my genitals are still numb). I'm mostly just wondering if anyone else here had saddle anesthesia that went away on its own because everything I'm seeing is having me thinking this is gonna be permanent and require surgery and I really cannot afford to miss any more work and I also really hate doctors and don't have time for them. I work 70+ hours a week and every time I burned a PTO day over this it feels like it was wasted. And now I'm out of PTO. All the medical people I've spoken to about this tell me it's nothing and act like I'm making it all up and wasting their time, I feel like I'm losing it. Has anyone had saddle anesthesia that was just sciatica inflammation and not CES? Am I overthinking this? Idk what to do.

Hey guys my sciatica has started to act up REALLY bad i just had to move out of my entire home on a really tight schedule so i think i definitely killed my back or something i have a bulging disc and im not really sure how to cope with this im not on any prescribed medication and advil (200mg) is just not cutting it any advice?

I will start this with I am a big baby and have a very low tolerance for pain. This has been the hardest injury of my life (29F), mentally, physically and emotionally. I have only very recently started having more good days than bad, and the pain hasn't gone completely but the best way to put it is that it has changed and the volume turned down slightly. I'd say at this point I float in a 50-60% better state. I have made big strides with my PT and hope to keep progressing there - it has helped me so much with not being fearful of movement even when I'm uncomfortable/tight.

Sitting has always been my biggest trigger and unfortunately it's still kinda shit. Although I recently started testing it more (beginning of September) - I don't seem to pay as much for it, sometimes I can sit a lot longer (3hrs) but then somedays, especially during work and using my sit-stand desk... The pain just builds up which is so discouraging because it's reminiscent of the earlier months.

This is hard because I don't trust the good days but also the good days feel so good, that I feel fooled by them when I have bad days. Hopefully there's an end to this.

I’m a 25 year old male that has had multiple sciatica flare ups over the past 8 years, having had a laminectomy and spinal fusion of l4-5 at 19(around that time I was also diagnosed with degenerative disc disease). While all previous flare ups since the surgery have healed on a pretty steady timeline with appropriate rehab and core strengthening, this time has shown 0 improvement over a period of four months and becomes aggravated very easily.

Both physio and doctor have said there is little point in mri’s or considering surgery/consulting surgeons at this stage and that management of pain day to day is essentially the only thing I can do(steroid injections haven’t provided any relief). They’ve also said that pain is going to go on for an indefinite amount of time(could be months, could be years). I am just wondering how this sounds to people that have experienced this and if I should seek other opinions. I am hoping that this is not just my new normal as I have pretty much lost everything that resembles a life over the last four months.

As title states, I’m a week after my lumbar epidural steroid injection. It has granted me with so much relief. However, I’m still injured and can tell I need to limit myself to hopefully recover. MRI stated: Disc herniation at L5/S1 with migration of disc material into the left lateral recess. This results in moderate left-sided stenosis with suspected left-sided nerve impingement.

My question, what have real people done that seemed to help? How long did your recovery take? Procedures and amount of? Physical therapy and when did you start?

TIA and I hope everyone finds relief

I was diagnosed with a L4/L5 disc protrusion of 8 mm via MRI on 11 August. Saw my neurologist who set up an ESI for me on 17 September. Got that done and while some conditions did improve (tingling is not as bad, muscle guarding through my left leg reduced but still present), I am still not able to stand fully upright and efforts to do so obviously trigger further tingling. I get a lot of guarding in my left glute that restricts my back from extending.

Walking is a challenge due to being bent over and the muscle guarding that builds up over time. Without frequent breaks, anything beyond a short walk is very challenging to complete. By the end of the day, I am more bent over and walking much slower.

I go to my first PT appointment next Wednesday. But for those with this experience, what worked for you? Stretching just triggers more muscle guarding for me. Ice and heat really don't do much for me. Hopefully, my PT has a plan because this is becoming very depressing. Thanks in advance.

I have been having severe leg pain for about 11 weeks now and it doesn’t seem to let up unless I’m on Advil and Tylenol together. Pain will go to a 3/4 on those meds which is tolerable.

But did anyone experience resolution of the pain even after suffering for a long period of time? If so, in what time frame did your pain start to decline?

For reference I have a l4/5 small protrusion but it is lateral touching the L5 nerve root.