[JavaBrewer]

I posted a thread here many years ago about sciatica misery. I won't link it here because I was in such pain I sounded pathetic. My right leg was numb, and I dragged that leg trying to walk. I spent many nights in a hot bath drinking huge volumes of liquor combined with Vicodin pills. I was ready to kill myself to end it all. That lasted 2 months until my body started to heal. I had an orthopedic doc try to make some adjustments, but they did not work. I took the recommendation of a local acupuncture guy and after the first visit I was in much less pain. Success! NOPE, my second visit he got more serious with the needles and I was literally crying in agony. I had to crawl out of his office on my hands and knees. It was quite the spectacle.

The only relief I got was standing upright. Not so good when you are wasted and have no sleep. I tried pool therepy and was comfortable hanging on the edge until one leg went a few degrees to far and made everything much worse. Repeat the crawl spectacle this time out out of the gym pool.

In the end nothing really helped much. I found a chiropractor that focused on minute adjustments that after 10 sessions or so started to help. I found ice to be horrible and went with heat in the pain areas. A few more weeks and I got feeling back in my leg/foot and no longer needed pain killers (booze/pills). I started a slow regimen of core body exercises using my own body weight and have been mostly pain free since...going on 15 years or so.

I am getting older and it's just a matter of time until I lift a coffee cup and it all comes back to haunt me again. Far too many injuries in my youth and middle years that I cannot overcome.

So my suggestion is once you get the sciatica pain under control focus on core strengh training. In my case that really worked and continues to work.