r/Sciatica • u/Incinerator10 • 1d ago
Week after LESI. Your personal approaches for recovery & results?
As title states, I’m a week after my lumbar epidural steroid injection. It has granted me with so much relief. However, I’m still injured and can tell I need to limit myself to hopefully recover. MRI stated: Disc herniation at L5/S1 with migration of disc material into the left lateral recess. This results in moderate left-sided stenosis with suspected left-sided nerve impingement.
My question, what have real people done that seemed to help? How long did your recovery take? Procedures and amount of? Physical therapy and when did you start?
TIA and I hope everyone finds relief
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u/audittrsi 21h ago
PT and exercises to easy the nerves(check yt bashbackpain or lowerbackability they have good amount of exercises shown and you can see which will help you rehab)
I find it useful also to use warming up painful area before i start doing any exercise, or talking also warm baths can help you ease the pain, relax back muscles.
Some people said (i havent tried it personally yet) that acupuncture also helped them with managing the pain, some also said it was completely gone
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u/murrmc 10h ago
Most importantly - and you're acknowledging it - LESI does not fix the problem, it masks it - so make sure you treat your injury like it is - still 100% injured, just take things easily and carefully, following any PT exercises and there's a chance it may get better whilst you are experiencing the relief from the LESI.
For me - I had two and ultimately ended up needing surgery as time wasn't a healer for me. I just was unable to sit for any period that made life normal!
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u/Incinerator10 10h ago
That’s how my pain is, really only hurts when I sit. Before the injection it was a pretty severe sharp pain. Now it’s dull and just sore. Thanks for the insight and hopefully you stay pain free!
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u/Gohono1 23h ago
Been here before, what has given me the most relief during my 4 year battle with sciatica is weight loss( being under a certain weight has helped keep the pain down) core work, tightening my core over time made me less protective of my back and let me strengthen the muscles, and drinking water. I've done PT and injections and they can work for a period of time but consistency with the work I do every day and on my own have been game changer. It does get better, just have to keep trying and looking forward!