I am so glad you answered. I am doing the exercises and using heat then cold on the area, I can't tell if this surgeon is hopeful after looking at the MRIs or I am not a big enuf client. I asked him if I would be able to play tennis and he gave me a rushed sure. I have herniated discs as well as stenosis. Thanks.

I've read about back problems & some trials they have had where 1/2 the patients did exercise for 6 months & other 1/2 had surgery. At the end of a year those that just had exercise did better. Trouble with surgery is things can go wrong. Friend had surgery at Christmas & wore a tight corset around her waist about 8 in. high I guess & seemed to be doing well but now she is seeing drs again as sometimes the pain is worse than before. My aunt's back was a mess but she had no pain, she had tripped or something so they had checked out her back. Only complaint she had was where injury on leg was. Dr. told her some people have the worst looking backbones & discs & they have absolutely no pain & other people don't looks too bad on tests & they can hardly stand up. He said it was a mystery why what the tests showed & what the patients felt was so completely different. Also there is a huge difference in recovery rates on injuries, some get better fast, some don't. No set pattern on how anyone will do. Were you playing tennis right before this happened? Better to have dr. not eager to operate then guy that can't wait-they are usually the bad ones. Hope all goes well & exercises do a lot of good.

What a great post sunnyca. I appreciate it. I have now have five weeks of physical therapy. What I learned was that they did not have the radiology report only a quick orders I was given By the Ortho guy. I kept doing the same exercises at home that I did there. All was done on a table. The ortho guy is a big shot, pretty boy with the best credentials and also is rated tops in our part of the world. In there in lies the problem. he spent five minutes with me after looking at the images and suggested physical therapy across the hall. I was glad because I don't want surgery and I believe everything you say about it being a 50-50 chance. This guy didn't ask me to come back and I believe he's looking for someone with big problems like joints, femur etc. so having the best doctor and getting brushed off is horrible. I do continue to do exercises at home and some folks on this pout have given me more. No I don't have lasting success but I'm not giving up. I'm going to go to a better physical therapy place. His orders said something like. L3,L4,L5. There was no mention of the stenosis for a pinched nerve. And he and I would have had to have some discussion to relate the lumbar region to a part of my leg. So I will see my internist and have a convo with him. thanks again. I'm taking all of these post to my Dr. This is a valuable site. I hope others get as much as I have.

I have sciatica problems that stem from Piriformis syndrome (basically the muscle deep up in your butt is knotted up). The Piriformis knotted up feels like I am sitting on a ball, on my right side. This causes pressure on the sciatica nerve causing lightening bolt type pains down my leg, my calf really hurts and my feet are tingly and partly numb. Some days it's worse then other's. When this first started a few weeks back I went to see a massage therapist who specializes in deep muscle massage. It helped quite a bit and I felt better for about a week, till I tripped over the cat and it wrenched my back. So here I am again... I have researched it on the internet and watched utube videos on exercises to do. I have to say the ones I am doing are really helping. I also bought one of the massage foam rollers. They are about 8" round and 18" long maybe. There are all sorts of video's on utube how to use them, you basically sit on them and roll in different directions. I bought the roller at Walmart. They have two kinds, one is a smooth dense foam for 17.00, the other has nubs on it, I chose the one with nubs for 23.00 I used it yesterday 3 times and twice today and I can honestly say it has helped I alternate with cold and heat. I have found that laying on an ice pack when I go to bed gives me the most relief. I also read where spinal decompression can be very helpful with sciatica and Piriformis syndrome. You might want to research that on the internet, looks logical to me when I read about it. From what I read a lot of people with other back problems benefit from spinal decompression also. Sounds kind of scary to read "spinal decompression" but it's not, they put a harness on you and you hang upside down, for a while, which releases pressure on the spine. My daughter has a friend with one of these in her home, she swears by it for her back pain relief. I have not as yet gone to see the doctor, I don't want muscle relaxers and or pain medication. I don't want to mask the symptoms if I can do some things myself at home, so that is the present route I am taking for now. The exercises on utube are really very simple and a lot of them are created by physical therapist's. I am not sure if everyone can actually get rid of sciatica, for some it's a recurring problem. But if a person can figure out exercises that work for them to get relief it would certainly be great.. best of luck to you... I do know how painful it is.

Debbie, interesting to hear they have a lot of exercises on utube. When I broke my arm & didn't have insurance, I wrapped it with elastic bandage 3 in. wide with a wooden spoon supporting my wrist. Found out 12 weeks later when had chiropractor x-ray it that both tips of the bones had broken off at the wrist & 1 was sitting on top of my hand, other reattached itself. But try finding exercises, & since my foot had broken bones it was hard getting around to library. So only exercises I found were in an arthritis book, couldn't find a physical therapy book anywhere. Afraid they will lose business if patients get ahold of how to take care of themselves I suppose. Anyway I had to exercise daily 4 times & if I was too tired I would get rudely awakened in middle of night as my hand started to claw up. So any time you have a problem that needs exercise don't quit or things might get worse(unless dr. tells you to) My arm had both bones broken half way between wrist & elbow(that was mainly part I was treating cause if nerve got caught when I was wrapping it I'd pass out in my dad's arms. Doesn't pay to look down coming off a ladder as I missed the last step & woke up laying on the grass. Bone on top of hand dissolved eventually & end of bone finally got bone growth so it no longer felt like hand was missing. The drug stores now have much better supports for various body injuries. But I think most back supports are not too helpful. I see people wear them for awhile & then they say it didn't help. I think most people with sciatica need to see a neurologist if pain doesn't lessen greatly in few weeks. Hope you & Maggie are improving daily!

Sunnyca_gw and Debbie Atkinson Brown. I would like to have you put your posts over on The Kitchen Table. I started a post over there on the same day as this one and got 45 responses. There are many people over there who will have the same problems and I think over here I have lots of information that they would appreciate. There is also information you might like to read. As for myself I have been using YouTube and found a few exercises I can do right now. I am interviewing neurosurgeons and will wait for their educational lecture about my MRI. My iPad is stalling out and this is my 2nd try at getting to you. It is over loaded. Please join me.

I had sciatica on both sides. And pain in my back. Went for lots of pt. Couldn't hardly lift my left leg to go up steps. Had to put my groceries on the next step up, then go up that step. DH put in a high potty so he wouldn't have to help me up off the toilet.

Had an MRI, lots of spinal problems. L4 & L5, stenosis, etc.

Surgeon recommended a pain clinic. What a difference it made in my life! All good! I went for probably 3 series of 3 shots each over 2 years.

God bless the surgeon for sending me there.

Maggie, sorry I didn't get back here & tell you I don't know how to repost. Kathyg reminded me of a friend that fell in the shower, she kept going to dr but her HMO wasn't very helpful in getting her to a specialist(gave her some pain pills) finally after couple of months of walking slowly with walker she got very angry & told them she wasn't leaving until they did something. They gave her a note to take to a pain clinic & whatever they did took a couple of treatments but then she was back walking without walker & pain was gone so don't write pain clinics off as quacks, I know they really do help some people but I would check them out to see if it is mostly drugs, shots or exercise. Try to talk to couple of patients to see if they are getting any help there. Lady died so I can't ask but after an injury that was 2 or 3 months old it was amazing that they could even fix it. Chronic pain often becomes chronic! Then you have to live with it.

Sunnyca, I have talked with people on here. I go yo PT, do the workouts and am stymied that I read that surgery and pain med are about 50-50.. The pain will give be relief for less tha a day. I'm very discouraged but than you for writing,

Back problems are very difficult to cure in a lot of cases & not much room for err. Nerves run through the spine & if cut you won't walk. I think a lot of problems are not too oblivious so even when they cut & look they can't determine what is going on. I had groin injury & could hardly walk for months. Surgeon told me, I can go in there but I'm not at all sure I will be able to see anything & then you will have to deal with the surgery which may have damaged it more. I told him I would wait it out. Couldn't cross my legs for about 5 yrs. Sometimes seemed better then worse for awhile. It was long hard pull getting over it. But I did by just being careful. Things like making the beds up were awful but eventually it healed. I had a rusty long nail go through my foot when I was young. Played on wood pile & jumped down, 1 of boards had slipped, someone had torn down an old shed, I hadn't seen any nails but as I landed I saw blood pouring over my bare foot. Went to move & foot didn't friend poured some water on it I think anyway I pulled my foot loose, It was nearly in center of foot behind my toes. So for 40 yrs every time I put on ice skates it was painful or if really cold day. Moved to Ca. & still have a few days in winter where there was pain. I'm 73 now & I noticed 5-10 yrs ago somewhere in there, no more pain when cold. So figure 8 yrs old to 68 is about time frame that is 60 yrs to heal. Had to be a nerve. Most of yr didn't hurt. Would surgery have helped, maybe made it worse. I'm just glad it's finally gone! Human body is a mystery sometimes. Just keep trying things that seem to make it feel better & it just may need more time to heal. I think my foot taking so long is unusual. Broke foot & it healed much quicker & arm pin has completely gone so maybe I split the nerve by jumping & landing on it or something. Most injuries resolve themselves with or without help in a yr or so. Have you tried Ben Gay type creams(not in summer tho) Chiropractor might be able to help. Did you look up your pain on Mayo Clinic site or John Hopkins's Medical, New York Medical, place connected to a teaching hospital. I don't find Web MD of much value for things I was looking up but they might have something on this.

Sunny you made me jump when I read this latest post. I know lots of people have spinal stenosis on several levels just like I do yet there is only a 50-50 chance that they can Open the colloumn and get just the right nerves. I spend two hours a day on physical therapy at home and need to return to my therapist who can massage apart. The best doctor I know of is in Houston, Texas but I would have to spend a lot of money getting there and staying in a hotel even though my brother lives there.. His wife had what I have and she had her redo of the surgery from this man and she recovered beautifully but she doesn't want anything to do with my side and doesn't let my brother either for the last 20 years. For anybody who does have my problems this man is at the University of Texas and I will be glad to give you the rest of the information. RavenCajun said she heard his practice was good. I hope I can help someone regain their quality of life.

Would rather hope that you are comfortable finally, Sunny. You sound happy in California. I hope your troubles are over. A lot of shivering tales in your past.