muscle strains
 

Last week, I woke up with pain running from the left side of my bottom to almost mid-calf in that leg. I've been in some serious pain, but it "feels" like it's a muscle strain. Any suggestions on how to make it feel better? I've been popping Motrin like crazy, but I'm apparently not trying the right stretches or something, and it really starts to hurt after I've been sitting for a while.

Sounds like sciatic nerve. You can probably google treatments.

Cheers.

If it is what the previous poster describes (herniated disk or even worse, extruded herniated disk), there' a variety of things that you can do, none of which is easy or doesn't not require effort.

Having suffered it, the recommendations are to:

1) Improve posture (sitting, standing, walking). Lumbar support helps (roll up a piece of clothing and place in behind the small of your back when sitting).

2) Lose weight and maintain weight loss (should be the top priority IMHO). I'm not even remotely considered anywhere near a big person but 5-10 lbs helps enormously (stand 178cm, and weight about 80Kg now - was as heavy as 85Kg during my most recent episode).

3) watch your back (i.e., lift with your legs, etc.)

As for analgesics, some may work for you and some may not but it won't serve any long-term purpose. When I had a bad episode some 15 years ago, I had epidurals which did not work (paid a lot for it, despite insurance). The surgeon recommended I try every non-surgical method before I let him mess with my spine. Eventually was prescribed one family of NSAID which worked much better than the others. Had a recurrence a few months ago and had to go through step 2 as I was already doing 1 and 3. The effective NSAID also worked bt I had to go through and maintain weight loss for it to go away. Strongly recommend staying away from chiropractors and acupuncturists.

BTW, the pain is more like a discomfort that can't be localised. There's nothing wrong with the leg but the discomfort is due to nerves affected bby stuff going on around the spine where the nerves emanate from the CNS.

No, this is more of a muscle pain in my behind, and the back of my leg feels tight, like I've pulled something there too. It has a distinct muscle pain feel though.

I told you to be careful about going to those sorts of clubs. Using my expert medical knowledge sounds like a hamstring strain to me. Whatever you do don't google anything medical. I ended up with terminal leprosy the other week but made a full recovery. The shoulder pain from a rather substantial 20 mph mountain bike "off" while showing my 9 y.o. daughter how to (or not) jump I decided not to google as everyone is shouting "ligaments, surgery". Still at least my daughter knows what to do when I am out cold...

Anyway, hammy I reckon !

LOL, yes, those sorts of clubs can be dangerous to my health! :D

Asking for medical advice on FT is usually so much more beneficial than using google. :D

Although, at least here, I can laugh until I'm feeling better. :D

See an MD immediately. This could be anything from nothing to something serious where delaying medical treatment can have serious long-term or permanent consequences.

If it persists for a week or two, see an MD. Before then unless you think it's critical - ie, is more than simple muscle strain, you probably don't need to do so.

Don't do anything super active; give the strain time to heal. You can do ibuprophen for a while, but after that you've got a bigger problem dealing w/ your liver. You can alternate heat/ice on it. Btw - on stretching, do it after exercise. Not before.

I was going crazy last week. Pain/burning behind my knees & part of my legs. I knew it was from sitting too much on plane, at home office desk, on couch. I mean massive burning/pain. Weirdly enough my routine wasn't that different than before. I figured it was either a circulation issue or lactic acid build up. Tried getting into massage therapist on Friday; no dice. Started walking; bought & ate some bananas (for potassium); picked up some horse chestnut (for circulation). Am fine now. It happens to me occasionally, or I've just had enough experience over the years to know what to do or what's doc serious & what isn't.

My bum left knee from that fall a few months ago is still bugging me though, so probably am going to have to bite the bullet & see the doc on that one. Probably going to wait until after my Europe vacation next month though.

Cheers.

I agree with all of the advice SkiAdcock gave ^

Additionally, if you have access to a foam roller, you may want to give that a shot. As a runner, I've become good (if not great) friends with the foam roller. I roll both the front and back of my legs on it...all the way from my knees to my butt. Sometimes the lower legs too.

I also get a sports massage somewhat regularly from an LMT. This woman shows absolutely no mercy though, it sometimes takes me 2-3 days to recover after a massage.

Ok, since I'm tired of hobbling around as I have been for the last week, I did make it to the PCP. She thinks it's a muscle strain, gave me prescription strength Motrin and muscle relaxants. She suggested physical therapy, but at $25/visit for a co-pay, I figured that in this case, google is my friend. :)

If you haven't gotten the prescription for Motrin yet, just buy over the counter & take 4 of them at a time. It's the same dosage as prescription & cheaper. Sports doc taught me that one. But you can't take them for a long time because they're tough on your liver.

Really time, taking it easy, alternating ice/heat, will probably do the trick. There's not really a need for PT for a muscle strain. Also, if you want to do some stretching do it post-exercise - or get in the shower, let the water warm you/muscles up, and then do some slight stretching while in the shower. Muscle strains happen; could be worse, even if not fun.

Cheers.

Having let myself get out of shape over the course of many years, I too had a muscle sprain - in my case, it was my right knee. Sucks, but at the same time, as the weight continues to come off and my muscles get bigger and more toned, I'd imagine I'd get less strain in the course of pursuing physical activity. At least, that's how it's always worked for me before. @:-)

I have an appointment with an LMT tomorrow, because even taking Motrin and muscle relaxants, it's not going away.

Motrin/ibuprofen is bad for ulcers and your kidneys, not the liver. Liver is the worry with Tylenol/acetaminophen. Both are potentially lethal.

Agree with OTC being cheaper unless insurance would pay.

Not medical advice! Just entertainment/info value, I could be wrong

Oddly enough, my insurance will pay for prescription Motrin, but will not pay for a prescription for Allegra-D, since it's OTC in the same dose.

After my visit with the LMT, I felt very abused yesterday. Today, I'm feeling a bit better, although still sore. I've noticed that if I allow it to stiffen up (don't move it for a while), it feels worse when I do move it, but loosens up after a few minutes.

I'm not popping as much Motrin, and I've not taken a muscle relaxant since Thursday.