sciatic nerve pain

BMaximus Said:
Don't waste your money going to a chiropractor! I had the same thing and these exercises helped almost immediately, especially the first one...
http://www.squidoo.com/Recommended-Sciatic-Nerve-Stretches

bobkat Said:
I've tried just about everything over the years.   Chiropractic treatment, the usual medical treatment - NSAIDS and physiotherapy, massage therapy, accupuncture, TENS stuff, surgery X 2 with fusion, inversion table and other traction devices, epidural steroids, back supplements of every shape and color,  transdermal Lidocaine patches, you name it.     Probably a bunch of stuff I've forgotten.
I've come to the conclusion that everyone's back is different and in the case of ttreatment "If it feels good, so it!"  What works for one might not do a thing for the next and what works sometimes other times doesn't work at all for this flare up.   Be open minded and flexible and don't hesitate to try everything.  Just about any form of conservative treatment CAN'T hurt you.  Worst thing is they might not help and cost you a bunch of money! 
There are a lot of new gee whiz surgeries out there, but as a former partner of mine once said "Never be the first guy to have a new surgery done!"   Or the last either, but best to avoid anything new and sensational - if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't! 
  
IMO - Try all the easy things first, and avoid surgery till its the last resort.   There's a lot of fairly long term back studies out following randomized surgery vs. non surgey groups that show basically at the end of a year, the surgery group does better than the non surgery conservative bunch.  At two years, results are about the same.  At five years the non surgical/conservative group is fairly consistently  better. Wish I'd have know that before my first go around.  
That is NOT to say to avoid surgery if it is an emergency situation and the nerves to your leg are dying and your muscles are disappearning, etc. .  Sometimes immediate intervention is required and you'll usually get a reasonable result in a hurry and back to work quicker.  But if you have the time and can afford to lie around and wait for conservative treatment to work, you might be better in the long run.  Might not, too. Xtal Balls are in short supply!
  Trouble with any back surgery is that by removing part of the vertebrae, it weakens it and allows them to slip and slide when they should be rigid, which sets the stage for further troubles down the road, epecially with an idiot patient like me who insists on building cabins, welding up steel deer stands for everybody in the neighborhood, building 'stuff' and hauling out dead animals.  :)   
Conservative treatment is kind of a trial and error thing.  As I said, what works for one person may not for the next and vice versa.   No matter what happens, you will NEVER get a new back, so don't do stupid things like I do/did and get all the mileage out of your back that you can.  
Prevention, like most things, is best but obviously doesn't always work 100% either.
No matter how you treat it remember it is a lifelong condition that WILL rear its ugly head if you abuse it.  The human back has a lot of inherent design problems - amazing the lawyers haven't instigated a class action lawsuit against God!  God must have had a bad day when she designed the human back!

My own treatment plan that works for me has been to ride a recumbent bike (one of those stupid looking things - kind of like riding a lawn chair in a reclining position) for at least 15 miles pretty well every day, and I can walk fine.  Upright bike puts me in bed for a week.   In winter I ride my recumbent trainer bike in the basement for a 1 hour TV series program or a netflix documentary every morning at least 5 times a week with some back exercises thrown in.  The boob tube while riding it makes it tolerable.   Probably helps the old ticker, too.
Good luck and take care with your back.,  You only get one, and so far they haven't invented a back transplant. 

Try chiropractic treatment.  I have lots of friends and pts I've sent over the years that it works for just fine.  If it doesn't help, try something else.  Kind of like fishin....