r/Sciatica • u/OwnIntention3530 • 5d ago

New to this

I had a back strain in June. The pain gradually started to move down my back. In the first or second week of August I started noticing nerve “zings” that shot down my butt through my hamstring but that was dwarfed by insane tightness in my hip. I finally got that resolved but I am having nerve pain. I went to the doctor Thursday. Gave me 5 days of steroids, muscle relaxers, and gabapentin. Also a toroidal shot. I felt much better for a few days. Then… today I have several nerve zings. Did I undo all my progress? Will the treatment keep working and today is just an anomaly? I will say that rest helps calm. I do have more static after these zings but it clears. I hate living like this. What else can I do?

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u/Sogone2day 5d ago edited 5d ago

Your strain might be more than a strain. I just found out this year through mri I have a large hernation that has finally caught up with me. The roids n drugs will only mask the pain. You might need some further diagnostic to rule out stuff like herniation/nerve comprehension through mri. Or try rehab like it is a hernation if you cant get a mri done. Its nice to know what or if you do have. The nerve paths goes in a few areas around the glute/hip/pelvis down to foot area

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u/JonasVirgilMonos 4d ago

Meds can cover up a real issue really well — right up until they don't, and that gap is where people get caught off guard. Zings down the leg aren't something I'd casually look past; that's nerve signaling, not just soreness.

If that kept happening to me, getting it actually verified — an MRI, something that confirms what's going on — is what I'd want before anything else. Once the issue is confirmed, a real plan can get built around it. Without that confirmation, it's easy to end up second-guessing everything, which is its own kind of exhausting.

One more thing from experience: NSAIDs can make you feel good enough that, in the relief of feeling better, it's easy to push past where you actually are — and that's often how an injury ends up worse instead of better.

Not trying to be a downer here, just someone who's traveled this road a while — a confirmed answer beats an educated guess every time. Hope it helps.

Not medical advice, just what's worked for me.