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Over the last few months, I have been having huge sciatic nerve pain.
Tingling right down my legs, I can't really bend forward properly, and I think my arms have gotten shorter - I used to be able to touch my toes. And now I have reached 45 - nobody told me about the involuntary noises! EEEERRRRRRRR! OOOOOIIIIIII! HOIVEN MAVEN! I think they were an automated firmware upgrade, because I don't recall signing up for them.
It turns out that most of the pain for me is actually being referred from a nerve bunch at the front right, inside the pelvis towards the hip joint. The chiropractor prods that, and I jump through the roof! Touchy. It affects the nerves along the spine, and the sciatic nerve unfortunately is the first one to respond.
The chiro has a hand-held mechanical massager called The Thumper. If you have ever used one, you will agree that it is sensational on the lower back. We were so impressed, we went out and bought one for home. It weighs about 3.5kg, and is about 45cm across... a big machine. The great thing is that it can do both sides of your back at the one time. Ten minutes with that, and I am 10 years younger, and my arms have grown back to their normal size.
But every morning, I wake up and the pain is back. I think I assume the crash position while I'm sleeping. 20 minutes stretching certainly helps.
And in spite of all of this, it still doesn't stop me from carrying my scope around. Thank goodness I opted for the 10-inch, and not the 12-inch.
EDIT:
Peter, is your pain from the vertebrae clashing, or is nerve/muscular in nature? When mine is more muscular, I use on of those neoprene back wraps, like a slimline girdle with velcro. The heat that it traps in makes a huge difference in a short amount of time.
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