Sciatica, it's crippling me: Who to turn to?

I am so sorry for everyone’s pain…and thank you for sharing how you deal with it.
I have serious scoliosis from neck to buttocks, as well as all of the other “ wonderful” spine things that go along with being over 70.
A blessing is that there are so many curves I look straight; I’m just a lot shorter than I should be.
After an accident 6 years ago, my spine started doing all kinds of painful things, all over my spine, legs, neck and pelvic region. Was told that no surgery would help by every (many) doctor I have seen since then.
Pt and meds have been my only treatments. Actually, I think that too much pt gave me a great core but caused big pelvic pain issues.
Anyway, I was about ready to get a pelvic and also a spinal implant. I couldn’t stand it anymore-not being able to sit and the pain…
My almost last thing to try was suggested by my orthopedic doc, prolotherapy for the diagnosed ischial bursitis, which makes it impossible to sit for more than 4-5 minutes. Working on one side now and seems to be helping, but takes time. (Over working pt and too much trail walking seem to be the cause…) pt is wonderful and has helped me for so many things, though.
The other thing I am doing is having test injections for spinal area nerve ablation. The first series have helped immensely! The pain in my butt and that wrapped down the back of my legs to the front is all gone!!! I don’t know why I waited so long to do the ablation…I have more areas to work on, waiting for the neck mri to be scheduled. This procedure is covered by Medicare.
Every thing takes a long time to get from A to B, but it seems to be moving forward so I’m happy.
No meds at all for the last 8 months; not perfect, but sooooo improved!
Doesn’t fix anything, but a great thought for pain management if it would apply to any of you. 😘

I know my sciatica is caused by my Lumbar spinal stenosis....
I do honestly believe I need surgery and that I need to see a neurosurgeon.
Getting an epidural steroid injection is not going to help this horrific pain that I'm having, which as I've mentioned is just crippling. So, I think I will go for a consult and see what the neurosurgeon says or recommends. Thanks everyone for your input to my posting.

Strange situation for wife-Surgeon did operation for back and leg pain (Stenosis) As part of op removed 2 sp;acers from back from previous operations-X ray now shows spine totally misaligned was straight before pain is much worse than ever surgeon now says need oblque operation. She says no more operations

@denman55 I encourage you to do a lot of research when picking a surgeon because they are not all equally skilled. Find the very best you can, and look for their publications, where they trained, make sure there are no disciplinary actions against them. Look for any online videos of them and if you find some with them speaking at a spine conference for surgeons, you may want to watch if you have access. Look for awards from spine societies, etc or anything that indicate they are held in high regard by their peers. When you have a consultation, you should fully expect that they will explain any imaging to you in person and not just review it ahead of time so they can save time, and go with a list of questions. Make sure you understand exactly what they recommend. It is always worth it to get several opinions because that will help you judge the other opinions, and discuss this with your primary care physician. They can help you understand this. If there are questions you want to discuss here, please don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck in your quest!

Jennifer

I have experienced sciatica intermittently, ranging from mild to moderate. I have had back problems and do have some bit of osteroarthritis. Not sure if this is the cause but I have found that if I stretch my hamstrings, for example, putting my heel on steps or in a chair and bending forward and holding it for a few seconds and doing this frequently has really helped. Daily stretching of the core area has has also benefited me. Good luck.

I had terrible sciatica, I did have surgery and the pain down my leg was relieved. That was 13 years ago. So I think doing research on orthopedic spinal surgeons and consulting with them. I wish you well.

@anoyymous123 I feel for your wife. Not every surgeon is like the one she had who has increased her problems. I understand her frustration and lack of trust for this surgeon and I agree, but there are other excellent surgeons out there who can help. It is just finding the good one who wants this case. I responded to your discussion with information. There is hope. Please reach out to me if you need to know more.

Jennifer

In the end, surgeons decline to offer elective spine surgery because they cannot predict a good outcome, or the procedure desired is experimental. Frankly, it is my opinion that surgeons who refuse elective surgery are probably trying to do what is best for their patient. As you all know, you can always find someone to do your surgery. There is too much incentive for many surgeons to just go ahead and operate. If a surgeon says no, there must be a very good reason. Please take that into consideration and remember, you can always get a second opinion, but research your surgeons first.

Thanks again for your consideration and understanding.

@anoyymous123 I have been thinking about the "spacers" that were removed during the latest procedure for your wife and wondering if those were something external (attached on outside of vertebrae) that stabilized the spine? I know during a laminectomy, they have to cut bone to enlarge the spinal canal. It is kind of like raising the roof when you construct another story in a house. That would make sense then, if this was a device that spread the vertebrae a bit if those were removed during a laminectomy. Many patients call the cage or bone disc a "spacer" that replaces a removed disc with a fusion. Her implants may have prevented some movement from the spondylolythesis that allows the vertebrae to slip over another one and compress the spinal cord. I had that gong on a little bit in my neck before my fusion and when it slipped, it increased my symptoms. It was kind of intermittent because my physical therapist was realigning my neck weekly (before my surgery), and that is how I knew where my symptoms were coming from.

Even though I had surgeons dismiss my case, I do still respect their decisions because if the surgeon doesn't fully understand the problem, he shouldn't go there, and I wouldn't want a surgeon operating who doesn't know the problem. I chose to advocate for myself even though I was afraid of surgery because I knew the stakes were very high for what I would loose if the problem of spinal cord compression was allowed to continue. I was taking care of my disabled parents in wheelchairs and didn't want that to be my future if I could choose a different path for myself. Given enough time, the spine can fuse itself into a permanent deformity. Sometimes they pass because surgery would make a patient worse off, and sometimes they pass because they don't want the risk to their reputation and surgery really could benefit a patient (like me for example).

One very good question to ask a surgeon is, what will happen if no surgery is done and the condition progresses with aging and any other health conditions that are present? Will this cause further disability?