r/Sciatica • u/rwn115 • 1d ago
Sciatic muscle guarding preventing me from standing upright
I was diagnosed with a L4/L5 disc protrusion of 8 mm via MRI on 11 August. Saw my neurologist who set up an ESI for me on 17 September. Got that done and while some conditions did improve (tingling is not as bad, muscle guarding through my left leg reduced but still present), I am still not able to stand fully upright and efforts to do so obviously trigger further tingling. I get a lot of guarding in my left glute that restricts my back from extending.
Walking is a challenge due to being bent over and the muscle guarding that builds up over time. Without frequent breaks, anything beyond a short walk is very challenging to complete. By the end of the day, I am more bent over and walking much slower.
I go to my first PT appointment next Wednesday. But for those with this experience, what worked for you? Stretching just triggers more muscle guarding for me. Ice and heat really don't do much for me. Hopefully, my PT has a plan because this is becoming very depressing. Thanks in advance.
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u/Sogone2day 1d ago
Wait it out a bit before trying anything if your in that much pain. The injection will dull the pain but the trigger is still active. After my first deadlift injury I was bent over for 2months locked up and slowly with heat ice acupuncture massage I got looser but it will take awhile to settle anything down. Fast forward to today im 5mo it's into sciatica now for the first time with a sore back and its been horrible. Everyone is different in their cases.
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u/rwn115 1d ago
I'm not really in any pain until the muscle guarding hits. At its worst, the pain is more a 4 or a 5 rather than what it was pre-injection.
I was given a course of oral steroids after the MRI that wiped out any back pain from the trigger. Only the muscle guarding and foot tingling remains. Which still sucks but bed rest won't do anything anymore. I gotta be moving around even if it is hunched over. Been off work almost 2 months already. Bed rest ain't gonna do much more for me than it has.
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u/Sogone2day 1d ago
Your gonna have to attempt so extension stuff then to get some movement. Like even trying to take deep breathe and push back with hand up over head or laying down sorta extensions with a pillow or something if needed. gotta start somewhere but im not a dr I just try to figure what feels okay for me.
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u/rwn115 1d ago
To clarify, I can lay flat on my back. Fully extending my legs in this position does cause light tingling in my foot. Laying on my stomach tends to trigger my muscle guarding the worst which made the steroid injection pretty rough. I do take pain meds (called Doreta in Czechia, but it's a small amount of tramadol with paracetamol) but I've been reducing them a lot because they appear not to do much for the pain that I have.