Mel
Your situation is totally unnecessary! I had sciatica 20 yrs. ago, with the degenerative disc spewing out some of its (very thick) fluid onto a nearby nerve and congealing there, causing cramps all up and down my left leg; I could hardly move at times! (The above was confirmed by Fastscan (super-fast catscan), as prescribed by my orthopedic surgeon. A chiropractor helped, with many useful adjustments and other treatments. But the main thing that allowed me to get to work and only suffer occasional cramps (that I most immediately got rid of by rubbing the area or squatting (or both) [squatting spreads open the spine, taking pressure off the nerve] was: 1. a heating pad under my spine, lying flat on my bed, using medium heat, and with two pillows under my legs (lowering the "flat of the back" against the pad); 2. a board under the heating pad, about 15" long (more if you're real wide), and about 4-5" wide, with and sticking out from the side that is narrowed to about 2-3", so that the straps of a massage-vibrator can be put on it comfortably. Then vibrate and heat your back for about 20 min. (with a mild vibrator, please; there are many types!) NOWADAYS, you can buy vibrator-heater pads for placement on your chair or bed; the best place is the bed, in the morning; another one on the chair in the living room would help - but not when you can't be totally flat! Repeating the process when arriving home from work, if you do, would also help. If retired, try it 3X/day! Another 10 mins. of heat only would probably be better yet! Frankly, I'm not certain that the new vibrator- heat pads (my sister has one - I bought for her) are really useful for you. . 3.You should buy "Joint Fuel" by Twinlabs at your local Health Food store, to help rebuild the disc, perhaps. Add additional Chondroitin, 750 mg./day, MSM (1000 mg.); and Bromelain (300 mg./day) and give it all a month to see meaningful results of a more general nature than from the heat/vibration therapy! . 4. You do sound like you haven't seen a chiropractor!? Why? What city are you in? . 5. If you don't get enough relief from the above, if a job is at stake, or a marriage, etc. - you may need the more immediate relief offered by the latest surgical technique that (if I recall details well), basically, inserts a wire into the narrowed disc and cauterizes out the nerve that is sending the pain message to the brain. I have it on video tape, but will not bother to dig it out unless necessary. [Your Orthopedist should now about it and where to go for it (don't let him or anyone do it who hasn't a long success record at it; preferably go to the originators of the technique, if feasible!)] . If you are as constantly tied up as much as you indicate, you may have lumbago, which usually gets you to an Emergency Room right away, where they would probably remove the offending disc(s) and fuse the adjacent vertabrae together! Good Luck! . [I ALMOST FORGOT: that you should know, if seeing a chiropractor, or any decent Orthopedist, that you must do the following exercise, frequently, to get any chance for some quick relief, that may last a while: lie on your back and pull your knees as close to your chest as possible, occassionally spreading the knees out to the sides also; hold this for as long as you can, but don't go crazy: a count of about 20 or 30 should be enough, but with maybe about 10 repeats (it's been a long time, 18 years, since I've had any real trouble at all, but I still include a bit of this exercise in my 15 different exercises that I do now, only once a week, at age 67!] [More generally yet, put your legs up on a chair while lying down, back on the floor as above, and get your rear end under the chair as far as possible, staying that way as long as possible! You'll need the right kind of chair, with, maybe, a pad on it! Good luck!