Actually re the above - I wouldn’t even really class myself as unwell.

Come on now, back to headaches and stuff.

I saw a guy on Beast Master who had MS.

Surprised me.

He can sense when another person has a bowel movement, but ironically not his own.

Fuck.

Sciatica's flared up again. Normally, that just means an increase in pain levels across my lower back. But it's different today, got the increase in pain, but also numbness and pins and needles all the way down my leg, right to my toes. Pains also radiated all the way down my leg to my calf. Managing 5 minutes upright then having to rest for 20. Think I'll visit A&E.

A friend told me that sleeping with his feet on a pillow has sorted his out a fair bit.

Back exercises are best kept until you've seen a doctor or physio, as they are generally patient specific.  That said there are some standard ones here - back extensions particularly can be helpful in the acute phase. 

If you get loss of feeling around your groin or backside (basically any part of your anatomy that would be in contact with a bike saddle) or any problems with continence (of either variety) go straight to A&E as soon as you notice the signs.

Otherwise, take painkillers and go see your GP.  Ice helps in the first 24-48 hours, after that you can use heat if more comfortable.  Try and avoid bed rest if you can, ideally you want to be on your feet and walking around.  However avoid bending, lifting and twisting like the plague.  (Be especially careful getting in or out of the car.)

AJ wrote:

Never head ice/heat suggested for sciatica before. How's that work, I thought it was generally for stuff with swelling?

Sciatica's essentially just irritation/compression of the sciatic nerve (it's a symptom, not a diagnosis), and there's a bunch of things that can cause it (from muscle injury and swelling, to slipped disc etc).  Ice will have two useful effects - firstly it reduces swelling as you say - as sciatica is often (though not always) the result of some kind of injury there's likely to be some localised swelling even if you don't notice it.  (Indeed that swelling may even be the problem).  So ice helps reduce the blood flow, and thus reduces the inflammation.  It also has the handy effect of getting a whole bunch of nerves in your back to frantically send the message "this is cold" to your brain, thus helping to suppress the "this really hurts" signals you're also receiving. 

Heat has much the same effect with respect to suppressing pain signals, but it has the opposite effect on blood flow.  That's why it's not such a great idea in the immediate period after any injury (though it will make stuff feel better), as it tends to increase blood flow.  However once the initial swelling and bleeding has settled, there's an argument that increasing blood flow can help healing, and thus heat is often advised in the recovery phase.

Hope that makes vague sense - it's a massive over simplification, particularly the pain stuff, but it gives you a good starter for ten.  (If you want to know more with respect to the pain element, start by reading about "gate control theory", though there's a hell of a lot beyond that too.)

Quick shout out to Tin, we're lucky to have you x

Skerret wrote:

Quick shout out to Tin, we're lucky to have you x

Seconded

Nah, he’s NHS, so we are paying him accordingly, we haven’t given him a rise in years.

I’ve got ear ache. Going to the gp tomorrow. It’s probably linked to my sore throat fucking hurts mind.

So, went to a&e on Monday. Physiotherapist said extreme sciatica, go see my gp for stronger medication. Gp gave me gabapentin, sent me back to hospital for an x ray, went today. Described my symptoms in a bit more detail, they were worried it could be 'cauda equina' syndrome. Apparently that can cause paralysis if not caught in time. So at this point, thanks to Google and webmd, I'm shitting myself.

Turns out i don't have that, I've got piriformis syndrome instead. That's the muscle that rotates your hip, sits on top of the sciatic nerve. It's in spasm and inflamed, putting pressure on the nerve, hence the excruciating pain in my hip, and the pins and needles in my leg and numbness in my foot (they literally stuck pins in my foot, couldn't feel a thing).

Doctor gave me a line on Tuesday, but i wasn't going to submit it. Doctor today told me in no uncertain terms to hand it in to my work.

Diluted Dante wrote:

When you say a line...

Sadly, the 'scott canny come to work' kind of line, not the Peruvian marching powder.

Read the other day though, that cannabis is getting legalised for medical use. One if the applications is for chronic pain. I'll be standing outside my gp surgery the day it's on offer.

Have a wank.

Dull ache under knees, slight/mild hot burning feeling and hurts a bit when I bend/squat... patellar tendonitis? Probably from running and jumping. 

Rest? Ice? Ibuprofen???