Back in the High Life Again (Steve Winwood)

Sciatica, which is also known as sciatic neuralgia, is a condition that causes pain in the low back, down the back of the leg and into the foot. It can make sitting and standing for long periods of time difficult and can lead to weakness, tingling and numbness in the leg and foot. It will often come and go throughout a person's lifetime, causing periods of varying degrees of pain and discomfort. If left unchecked, sciatic pain will generally grow worse and the nerve can become permanently injured.

The reason why the pain travels so far, seems to radiate up and down the legs, and back is because it is caused by the compression of the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body. This nerve originates in the lumbar spine extends into the buttocks before traveling down the leg to the ankle and foot. When the vertebrae in the low back are compressed, the roots of the sciatic nerve can become pinched and irritated, which is what causes the pain and injury.


Most of you know that, after a two-year hiatus, my sciatica resurfaced in January 2020, and I was actually managing it very well.  Even when the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020, I was walking, stretching, and doing yoga.  Of course, at that time, we all (or at least I) thought we were in for just a few months of self-isolation/inconvenience... and here we are, five months later, with no sign of re-normalizing in sight... of our social calendars, much less our daily lives.  I confess to having lapsed with many of my self-care routines and my daughter Sarah, being a pro-active organizer and tired of watching me attempt to curb my moaning and limping and grimacing (oh, my!), called me on Monday and told me that I had an appointment with a chiropractor on Tuesday afternoon.  

I am sighing in contentment now, finally turning my sciatica issue over to professionals.  After my chiropractor visit yesterday afternoon - thermal imaging (my spinal column was completely green/normal, without a hit of yellow, orange, or red/severe, no deterioration or degeneration!); X-rays (slight misalignment); some stretching; some manipulation with instruments; an adjustment of my back and neck; and some laser therapy - I almost called an Uber to drive me home.  I was that relaxed!  Of course, many hours later, I felt pretty beat up, so I did some stretches, drew a very hot bath with liberal amounts of Epsom salts, used the massager my sons gave me for my birthday, slathered on some CBD salve, and then divebombed into bed. 

Today I had a massage for the first time since February (I cancelled my mid-March session) with my healing hands guru Karen (amazing!), and I am considering all this a re-set.  I am tired of living with pain.  I can see it in my eyes when I look in the mirror.  Then don't look in the mirror, Susan... right?

I go back to the chiropractor tomorrow morning for a more comprehensive review of my scans and X-rays, at which point we will develop a plan for future treatment (or not).  Either way, I am vowing to stretch every two hours on a daily basis, and alternate yoga with walking, even leisurely.  Life's too short to experience intermittent electric shocks down the back of one's legs... 😌

P.S.  I just opened a new container of HOPE hummus, and the inner seal said, "Self-Care Ain't Selfish".  Synchronicity!

NR:  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone


SONG:  Back in the High Life Again by Steve Winwood

BOOK:  Sciatica Exercises & Home Treatment: Simple, Effective Care For Sciatica and Piriformis Syndrome by Dr. George F. Best D.C.

POEM:  Sciatica by Cliff Burns

You can never call Pain friend.
It is quarrelsome, insistent,
practically inescapable
like a boorish relative one must
endure at weddings
and family functions
or a childhood pal,
now out-grown,
who always overstays their welcome.

QUOTE:  "Fall down seven, stand up eight." ~ Japanese Proverb