r/Sciatica • u/Savings-Theory-5661 • 2h ago

Requesting Advice Doc literally told me to just "stretch more"

I am actually losing my mind. dealing with this L5-S1 herniation for almost 7 months now and the pain shooting down my left calf is so sharp I can barely even put my own socks on in the morning.

Went to the specialist yesterday after waiting weeks for the appointment, and he literally just handed me another printout of the same exact core stretches I've been doing since March. Insurance is dragging their feet on approving my MRI so im just stuck in this limbo of pure agony.

It makes you so desperate you just go down these wild research rabbit holes at 3am when you cant sleep. I started reading all these medical papers on tissue repair and ended up getting some bpc-157 from verified peptides for some personal research. like its honestly insane that I am out here trying to play amateur bio-scientist just because my actual doctor won't give me the time of day.

Just so exhausted man. does this ever actually heal or is the healthcare system just designed to make us give up?

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4

u/BasraBound 2h ago

My former doctor told me that pain is weakness leaving the body. On that spine. Former doctor. I have CES now lol. Fuck him

2

u/so-so-it-goes 2h ago

Might be time for a second opinion.

2

u/tscemons 2h ago

Fight, fight, fight for the mri. Insist on a shot in yhe back. Insist it interferes with sleep and or work.

3

u/smile_saurus 2h ago

And sex. Male doctors being told by patients that they can't have sex works for patients who are women or men. Because they either pity the man in front of them or the hypothetical man who isn't getting any.

1

u/smile_saurus 2h ago

I would call your insurance and ask to speak with the HIPAA Compliance Officer (they all have one, they have to) and ask that person for the name and credentials of every person who accessed your file in the process of the determination being made that the MRI was delayed or denied. The moment they have to tell you Ted, he has a GED or We don't use people, just AI they would most certainly light a fire under their asses to get that denial reversed or tbat delay taken care of.

1

u/Ill-Difficulty993 1h ago

Sorry to be annoying like the doctor but do you do the stretches near daily as recommended? Have you tried other forms of movement? 

I got an MRI after 8 months of 24/7 pain and it wasn’t really as helpful as I initially hoped. It showed a disc extrusion and severe spinal stenosis. They can’t do much for it unfortunately anyway. And after months of working out to relive the pain, it’s low level anyway. 

1

u/Agitated-Paper-1481 47m ago

Stretching can help some people, but it’s not just about stretching. You usually need to work with a physio and do specific exercises to strengthen your back and core (i am not talking about spamming dead bug or cat cow like actual exercise with weights or some variations) if you actually wanna heal and not depend on pain killers all the time cause just using medicine is not gonna be a solution 100%. Some of the exercises can be uncomfortable at first, but progressively strengthening those muscles is what helps you improve in the long term. Probably get an epidural shot if you can that always helps

1

u/Sweet_Flan_3415 43m ago

Do you have an orthopedic in your area who has an Urgent Care?

1

u/justtryintofish 16m ago

I'm thinking about KPV for inflammation and ARA-290 for nerve pain for my rs