Sciatica and cramps
davecara
Posts: 104
Anyone suffered with constant sciatic pain and then cramps?
Until very recently, I've had very little or no feeling in my left foot for about 6 years and pins and needles down the outside of my left calf. Ive had numerous consultations and 2 MRI scans and, all I've had back to me is that I have a degenerative thinning of my discs and there's nowt they can do.
I was referred for physio which IMO was a complete waste of time as I lay there doing dolphin raises for 20 mins then was sent home.
Since I've started cycling again after a 10 year lay off, the back/buttock pain has eased off massively and I can feel my foot again! I've put this down to my lower back muscles getting stronger and generally moving more and being less sedentary.
Its not all sunshine and roses though. If I stay off the bike for more than 2-3 days I start getting cramps down the left leg. They come on suddenly and disappear just as quickly and at very inopportune moments (managed to knock my dinner off my plate at a restaurant yesterday as I had to stand up VERY quickly). I can deal with these just by improving my fitness, as the fitter I get the less often and less severe they seem to be.
The weird thing is, I seem to have a constant knot in the middle of my left calf muscle that I just cant seem to shift. Getting professional massage or a chiropractor are out as I just cant afford it at the minute and my GP has just put it down to being part of the sciatica.
Anyone have any experience of anything like this? Or can anyone offer any advice?
Until very recently, I've had very little or no feeling in my left foot for about 6 years and pins and needles down the outside of my left calf. Ive had numerous consultations and 2 MRI scans and, all I've had back to me is that I have a degenerative thinning of my discs and there's nowt they can do.
I was referred for physio which IMO was a complete waste of time as I lay there doing dolphin raises for 20 mins then was sent home.
Since I've started cycling again after a 10 year lay off, the back/buttock pain has eased off massively and I can feel my foot again! I've put this down to my lower back muscles getting stronger and generally moving more and being less sedentary.
Its not all sunshine and roses though. If I stay off the bike for more than 2-3 days I start getting cramps down the left leg. They come on suddenly and disappear just as quickly and at very inopportune moments (managed to knock my dinner off my plate at a restaurant yesterday as I had to stand up VERY quickly). I can deal with these just by improving my fitness, as the fitter I get the less often and less severe they seem to be.
The weird thing is, I seem to have a constant knot in the middle of my left calf muscle that I just cant seem to shift. Getting professional massage or a chiropractor are out as I just cant afford it at the minute and my GP has just put it down to being part of the sciatica.
Anyone have any experience of anything like this? Or can anyone offer any advice?
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Comments
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Hi Dave. Sounds exactly the same symptoms i had a few years back. I play 5 a-sides in the off season and suffered the next day the most excruitiating pain EVER in my left hamstring...had to get to hospital were they had to give me a dose of morphine i had nerve damage as well in my left toe to which this day is still numb and wont get the proper feeling back. They diagnosed it as a slipped disc....like you said i could only afford a handfull of appointments to the physio.(never thought it helped) anyway i started to get a pain in my buttock and down the right hand side of my leg...as usual NHS take umpteen boxes of Diclofenac and it will go away i was told...Decided to get back on the bike and it did help and gradually each week the pain got less and less, I got the whole oh cycling wont help as your posture is not as upright as it should be. to cut a long story short it has gradually all but dissapeared and it's not affected my cycling it just maybe take a good few months in my case 4-5 months of niggly pain. As for the Cramps i used to suffer quite badly after a run on the bike so i started using those High 5 Zero tablets in my bottle and i dont get much cramp issue's just make sure you drink plenty on the bike and after as i had a few of those moments having to stand up fast when the cramp started...my mates found it funny but then again they dont know what it means to break sweat
. cheers. 0 -
Until recently i suffered terribly with sciatica.
i have always played football but started biking about 3 years ago. The idea was to get fitter ready for the new season but as it turned out i loved biking so much i started doing more and more.
I ended up buying a nice bike and even paying for a professional fitting.
However, when the football preseason began at the start of the july i found that whenever i tried to sprint i had severe pain down my left hamstring.
I assumed it was a hamstring strain so rested up for a couple of weeks, but when i tried running again the problem persisted (yet on the bike there was no pain).
I ended up going to gp who referred me to physio. They treated me for 6 weeks for a hamstring injury yet it didnt help in the least. Eventually i was referred to hospital and the specialist sent me for an mri.
The results showed a degenerative thinning of the discs. They also said there was damage to the sciatic nerve as a result. And what could they do about it??? nothing! I was told that this type of injury is pretty much untreatable.
Anyway, i took several months off from sport but again when i came back the problem was there.
I picked biking back up and that was fine, but whenever i tried a run the pain down the left hamstring would flare up.
I decided to see my gp once more and he tried me on a muscle relaxant. I have to say it has helped massively! I have been able to do a full preseason and have so far come through unscathed.
Another factor which may have helped is now when i am on the bike i try and keep the highest cadence i can (ie no churning a big gear). I have found this a difficult adjustment to make (especially as you feel like you are getting no where sometimes) but i believe it has also helped.
Every time i run now i have the fear that at any second the pain will return, so i am taking it match by match. But there has definitely been a huge difference.
My advice to the OP would be to go back to your gp and discuss a muscle relaxant. Also to make sure you spin a high cadence on the bike.
Best of luck.0 -
The fact a muscle relaxant worked suggests it was false sciatica caused by (Piriformis?) muscle trapping a nerve rather than disc/ nerve problems. A real and common problem for which there is treatment thankfully0
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Yeah,if you are suffering with sciatica, it would be worth looking up piriformis syndrome and doing some of the stretches. It can really help.Mañana0
