Do any sufferers have any tips for me?
Is it constant? I've finally got mine to calm down by paying attention to the way I sit. I don't sit with one leg tucked up anymore, leaning off to the side, crossed leg on the floor, etc. Now it only flares when I do too much bending and lifting. If you can tolerate Ibuprophin (sp) that helped dull it a little.
Some simple daily yoga stretches lying on my back with my knees bent and legs crossed (gentlemen-style) helps keep flare ups to a minimum.
I put one arm through my legs, the other arm around the knee on the same side (for instance: left arm/left knee), then grasp my hands together.
I gently rock left to right, back and forth to a count of 30, then finish by squeezing the held knee toward my body for a count of 20.
I do the procedure twice, first with one knee, then the other.
Lots of B12 ( I supplement daily, because I am prone to sciatica) and a chiropractor.
Do any sufferers have any tips for me?
Do any sufferers have any tips for me?
Here is my expert opinion based on not much....
My mother has very bad sciatica if she moves wrongly after smashing up a concrete stairway through the garden when she was in her 20's.
She will be careful when bending down at all. Every time she does so she treats it as a deliberate manoever. Head up back straight and bend the knees. When she is kneeling she will get back up and change position if the thing she is after is to the side of her. She does loads of gardening and is not troubled with her back even though I have seen her faint after lying on a beach due to the sand keeping her in the wrong position.
I also have a reasonable back even after 25 years of plumbing. I also kneel down carefully.
To train your head into how to pick up a piece of paper from the floor; Stand with your back to a post or door way or outside corner so that your spine is against the corner. Now go down to the floor keeping your back against the corner. pick up the paper. If the paper is not in easy reach go back up and sort out where you will have to be to have an easy, frontal, reach for the paper.
This is exagerated but the idea will be with you each time you bend over. But don't bend over, lower yourself in a planned way.
It becomes second nature after a couple of weeks of thinking about it.
I take B12 every day as part of my CML treatment.