This is a success story about one of my clients who had been suffering with chronic sciatica pain in his buttock, leg and back.
He came in earlier this week – FINALLY – after several months – with no more pain in his buttocks, hip, leg and back!
Ok… you’re probably wondering… why I would be so excited about this…
Several months?? Wouldn’t this be a more exciting success story if I told you he came in without pain after several weeks… or several days?
No… because that’s not the way chronic sciatica problems work (or heal).
We are close to 1 year into social distancing and doing our best to flatten the curve. Although we are all coming together as a country to do our moral duty to stay at home, it doesn’t come without consequences.
More screen time and more couch time are wreaking havoc on our bodies.
Most people I speak with are making a concerted effort to be as active as they can during the day. But even the best efforts are not combatting the extra bending and sitting that is happening. It’s almost impossible to avoid it. Due to social distancing and more people working from home than ever before, our primary way of “gathering,” seeing loved ones, and communicating with co-workers is now totally digital.
Whether we like it or not, we are hunched over and leaning forward more than ever — and it’s becoming a pain in the butt, quite literally.
In our last blog post I talked about the difference between “good pain” and “bad pain.” Since then, I’ve spoken to many of you over the phone about your concerns. One of the most common questions that came across this week was about sciatica pain (pain in your butt, and not the figurative kind)!
Yes, too much sitting can cause sciatica, but not for the reasons you might think…
One person I spoke with thought it might be due to the hard kitchen chair they were sitting on. Makes sense, right? But when they added a cushion, and then tried moving to the recliner to do their work and social online gatherings, the pain in their butt/sciatica pain got worse.
He did what most of us do, and went straight to Google. He thought that maybe he had “piriformis syndrome” and started doing the recommended stretches. The pain in his butt started to subside a little, but then spread to the back of his thigh. He thought the pain in his thigh might be due to the stretches and that it was a good thing. But after about a 6 weeks of this, he woke up one morning unable to move his back! That is when he called me.
I explained that the pain in his butt was NOT due to piriformis syndrome like “Dr. Google” told him. It was actually coming from his lower back. All the extra sitting was putting pressure on his disc, which was putting pressure on his nerve, and the result was pain in his butt and sciatica. Without realizing the true cause of his problem, he accidentally started doing stretches that made his problem worse. It’s very common to have a back problem, and not experience any back pain. Back problems can manifest in your butt, thigh, or lower leg, and very often get confused with tight muscles that just need to be stretched. If you do the wrong stretches, you will make your problems worse and you WILL end up with back pain – often severe and seemingly out of nowhere.
Luckily, we were able to hop on a Zoom session and give him the correct stretches to do. Within a few weeks, he no longer had pain in his lower leg and foot but the pain in his butt was still there. He knew what to do to keep it from coming back. He then began to come in the clinic for the rest of the treatment and today his sciatica pain is completely gone. He wishes he had not waited 2 months to address this problem while he tried to solve it himself.
If you’ve had sciatica for more than 2 weeks, it’s not getting better, and sitting at your couch or desk at home right now is giving you back pain and/or sciatica……then….Don’t rely on Google to figure out your pain!
Email us at info@mmsspt.com or FILL OUT THIS FORM if you’d like to talk to a specialist at my clinic about what’s going on with you… for free 🙂
We can tell what's going on with you just by asking you some specific questions - and it can be over the phone, over Zoom, or in person.
From there, if we think we can help and you're a good fit for what we do - we'll help you get started with us as soon as possible!
Hopefully this brief success story and information helps.
If you have been suffering for a while and your sciatica pain is not going away, you are fed up and ready to do something about it, then APPLY HERE for a free 30 minute “in-person” discovery session, where we will answer all your questions and also do a screen on you to find out exactly what is going wrong, how bad it is, what it will take to fix it and how long it will take.
Trupti graduated with a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from UNC- Chapel Hill in 2001. She has furthered her studies with numerous post-graduate courses focusing on the Neck, shoulder, knee, and back, with a strong emphasis in manual therapy. Recently completed courses in Maitland-Australian Physiotherapy Seminars (Levels 1- 5), has afforded her an excellent way to relieve pain and help people get moving, active and healthy quickly and effectively.
With 20+ years of experience in Physical Therapy, Trupti has practiced in various orthopedic and sports focused clinical settings, in both the Raleigh-Durham, NC and DC regions. She has been Director of multiple Physical therapy Clinics in DC and also worked with some renowned specialists at Georgetown University Hospital in DC. During her years of service, Trupti has had the privilege of caring for a wide variety of clients: from school-aged children to retirees; from homemakers to business professionals; from weekend warriors to professional athletes.
Trupti is an avid fan of the outdoors, art, traveling and of course the Tar Heels. She enjoys spending time with her niece and nephew.
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