[voodoo1]

Wow this pain in my lower back-hip/leg is putting a hurting on me. Sciatic nerve is flaring up...tried heat,ice, muscle relaxers,pain pills ibiprofin, stretches and nothing seems to make it go away. Been unable to ride , too hard to sit down so I jst take some pills ( not a fan of them) slam a beer and it takes the edge off for a bit. Three weeks of this !!!!!! I can stand all day just can't sit and get up without feeling this real severe pain going down my right leg. May end up having to go see the doctor again. What a bummer.

[cowboy]

sound's like a Doc just might help , i did the beer slamming & pill's for awhile on my knee then off to the Doc

[skull2007]

they'll likely give you a cortisone shot which usually helps alot, most guys imo get this from carrying a wallet while riding in a cage alot. good luck

[fujimo]

i have had two back operations,,,before what helped the most is hanging from your feet or knees,,,upside down,,, they make a gravity chair,,,but is expensive,,,i find a ledge or whatever and let myself down from it,,,has worked,,,need help getting back up,,,pops

[Art_NJr]

Originally Posted by voodoo1

Wow this pain in my lower back-hip/leg is putting a hurting on me. Sciatic nerve is flaring up...tried heat,ice, muscle relaxers,pain pills ibiprofin, stretches and nothing seems to make it go away. Been unable to ride , too hard to sit down so I jst take some pills ( not a fan of them) slam a beer and it takes the edge off for a bit. Three weeks of this !!!!!! I can stand all day just can't sit and get up without feeling this real severe pain going down my right leg. May end up having to go see the doctor again. What a bummer.

Chiropractor. Only problem is you may have to go to 10 to find a good one, as like M.D.'s, many treat the symptom rather than the problem. Mine treats the underlying cause of the problem.

I've got a ruptured L4/L5 disc from a 1988 injury & thank God I did not have the surgery the 1st M.D. I went to recommended. The sciatica pain was severe including a sensation that felt like electricity running all the way down to my ankle & he had me on drugs so strong I didn't know what planet I was on. 2 other M.D.'s said that pain would never go away - but guess what - it did & I haven't taken Rx medication in many years.

My Chiro said about the only thing the M.D.'s were right about is that your body does have a "memory" but we're going to create a new one. I'd had 2 knee surgeries too & when I saw him @ 1st I limped pretty bad, walking with my left foot turned out & my head titled off to the left. He said you've been favoring that knee without realizing it & been out of shape for so long your body thinks that's normal. X-Ray showed my spine in an S shape, out 29.4 mm.

Long story short, last X-Ray showed my spine within 1 mm of being straight & if you were to see me walking today, you'd never guess I ever had an injury in my life. No limp, no knee pain, no back or leg pain & no drugs - just a very, very good Chiropractor. I'll be 55 this month & I can do things I couldn't do when I was 35.

[maxpower_hd]

Originally Posted by skull2007

they'll likely give you a cortisone shot which usually helps alot, most guys imo get this from carrying a wallet while riding in a cage alot. good luck

My brother had issues from carrying his file cabinet in his back pocket. Now he hardly ever carries one and he's doing much better.

I have a buddy who also has some major back problems along with the sciatic nerve thing. He just got a shot from the Doc and he feels like a new person. Riding and everything.

Hope you feel better and try not to get too attached to those pills.

[Ultra Al]

Be careful with the Iboprofin, Advil, Excedern etc; My Doc says Tylenol is the least harmful. Too much of that other stuff will "eat a hole in your stomach".
I have two ruptured vertebrae (how many people who work construction over 30 years don't?). They wanted to cut on me but I saw what it did to a bro and determined not to go there. I did some research and found some simple exercises that I do daily (well, I should anyway) and my back hasn't locked up since. AL

[steveb]

I would recommend a good Chiropractor .I had problems went to one straightened out my back and gave me exersizes to strengthen the muscles around my spine and I have not had a problem in 9 years.

[hotroadking]

I would agree with Art and Steve, my step daughter ended up in so much back pain she couldn't sit, stand or lie down,

Big Shot MD was pumping her with pain pills, wanted to cut cut cut fuse, etc

I took her to my Chiro, told her she should get another opinion before getting put on a table,

Remember Surgeons only want to cut (for the most part) or they don't get paid, and 50 ft cabin cruisers eat a lot of fuel.

Long story short, she went through a lot of adjustments, initially very painful but eventually he got her all aligned and she's been pain free for several years.

[voodoo1]

yeah I have been to one chiro for a frre consultation and xray. He told me the I'd never have back problems had alot of good tissue betweeen vertabrae, short of having something happen to me. Fast forward four years and then I get blasted off my bike by a 92 year old women in a lincoln and was told I'd probably never walk again and if I did it would be with a severe limp. ten months of physicail therpay I proved those Doctors wrong(said it nothing short of being lucky, I told them I was to poor to sit around). fast forward four more years and here I am hurtin' for certain but nothing has ever happened to me that did not heal up from the hit I we took four years ago. I never carry a wallet in my back pocket. Iam gonna head you alls advie and see a doctor...
later ya'all,
Voo1

[Art_NJr]

Let me add riding position on your bike. I couldn't even think about riding a bike after my back injury in 1988, but my Chiropractor got me to where I could & I'd to ride to his office.

I decided to try putting forward controls on my '95 Sportster & it's also got a Corbin seat which is lower than stock & 4" risers on the stock handlebar. I also played with moving the front brake & clutch handles up & down a bit.

Doc came out to see what my riding position was after changes & said I like this newest setup a lot better. For me in my situation - might be terrible for you. And he doesn't ride - he just knows what will relieve stress on old injuries & not undo what he just did.

But there are so many adjustments you can make to a Harley that if you're hurting with this setup, even after you did see a good Chiro, get his (her) opinion if you can, or @ least make a change (only 1 thing @ a time) & see if that helps.

[Red Rider]

voodoo1 - sorry to hear about your pain. Got some titanium verterbre, myself, so been there. Good luck and get well soon!

[FLHTbiker]

I was in a boiler room back in 1978 when the boiler exploded. I wound up in the hospital for 2 weeks and had to have back surgery. A disk in my lower back broke into pieces when the stack of the boiler came down on me. They did a milogram (sp) on me which showed the disk pieces. If you have never had a milogram done, I don't recommend it. They put two rather large needles in my back and ran some kind of dye in me then they rotated the table your laying on so the dye flows from the upper part of your spine to the lower. I had a very sever head ache afterwords as they didn't tell me that I was supposed to lay flat for several hours afterwords.
Had the surgery but have still been plagued with back issues every sense. I to have to still do exercises to strengthen the lower back muscles. Sometimes surgery is necessary like in my case. Don't recommend it if there are other alternatives though. The scare on my lower back is about 5-6 inches long, now days they do that micro surgery leaving a small scare. Now I'm balanced out you might say as I have a scar on my back and now one down my chest.

[SK]

Originally Posted by FLHTbiker

Now I'm balanced out you might say as I have a scar on my back and now one down my chest.

And here to tell about.

[FLHTbiker]

Originally Posted by SK

And here to tell about.

And that's the best part of it

[kenfuzed]

I can relate with you, I've been going through the same thing for a while now.

For several years I've had lower back pain including the pain going down my left leg that I was told was Sciatica. I would have a couple of weeks of pain and it would go away for several months.

Then this past August things took a turn for the worse. Not sure what the breaking point was, but around that time I had been doing work around the house and working on a fence... who knows. Suddenly I couldn't get out of bed one day and another day needed help getting out of my truck. I lost feeling in my left leg and would get pulsing pain through my joints and back. For the next few months I endured unbelievable pain while bouncing between doctors.

Finally I got a MRI which revealed everything. I had blown a disc out one side in my lower back (between L5/S1) that was now crushing a cluster of nerves for my left leg.

Since the diagnosis I've undergone 3 epidural procedures to relieve the pressure and pain while consulting with several back surgeons. Sometime this year I will be having surgery (perhaps a couple) to try to get back to some normal living... and riding!

[SK]

Ken, my dad had the same thing way back when. It was debilitating and he had to retire early from it. He had the disc removed, and was better for awhile. He eventually died of prostate cancer, but the morphine he was taking for pain in the was more needed because he had another disc going bad and it wasn't worth the operation when he was dieing of cancer. Damn..that was 22 years ago already.

[FlynDutchman]

I just got back from a week of training at the Illinois fire service institute....every day you burn, crawl around in a fire building, climb ladders, & move heavy a$$ hose around.....I was in pain the first day.....my hotel had a hot tub so I hit the tub & downed some alieve just about every day & I felt fine.... Find a hot tub joint by you ...sometimes you can rent a hot tub room by the hour

[voodoo1]

thanks again everyone...last weekend it lewt up but now is back full force all the way to my calf muscle....got no pills but alieve(old faithful) but been using those Iand Ibprofin for longer than reccomended now the stomach is all queezy, so head for the hot tub at the neighbors.....got a ride Saturday one way or the other!!!!!

[FLHTbiker]

Man, you need to go see the Doc before you get some permanent damage.