Severe Left Leg Pan And Walking

Did you try the chiropractor?Never believed in them myself until the pain got to bad I was willing to try anything...................I got the sciatic pain in the left leg also................always the left..............the chiros rearrange the bones so they are no longer pinching the nerves that are causing the pain..................the longer you've been in pain...........the longer the treatment..........the initial visit will be the most expensive as they have to take down your personal history..............after that about 30 bucks (Canadian).............they also sell the orthopedic pillows which take some getting used to but rarely have back pain now.

That is horrible I am going through the exact same thing!!! I reccomend a non surgical treatment called VAX-D. It is a form of traction that works for many people. It worked for me but I reinjured my back afterwards. I then got surgery which made me twice as bad off. Please dont take surgery lightly. I wish I had never got surgery. Its too late for me. Try this out!!!

I recently had a discectomy on l5/s1 and could not be any happier. I have been suffering from chronic lower back pain and discomfort/spasms for around 6-7 yrs now. I have unfort learned to deal with my back going out every 3-4 months to pt wher i am incapacitated for a few days until the inflammation goes down. I try to be active and learned there is nothing i do to cause it- it just comes on when ever it feels like it............ until 40 days ago. I came home after playing ice hockey with SUPREME pain and discomfort- and went thru my normal routine of stretching and ton of advil. It only got me to the most uncomfortable shooting pain down my leg.... so bad i took a vicaton... that did nothing but make me more paranoid!
I would up moaning in bed until all of a sudden the pain turned to tingling and (what my Dr taught me) fasciculation. It was a scary but comforting feeling. This is when i knew it was BAD. Fortunately i am in NYC and have the best Dr-disposal around. Long story short- i ruptured one of my many herniations. I have them on l5/s1, l4/l5 & l3/l4. L5/s1 finally burst. But the flexibility was explained to me as like a pimple popping...... it relieved the pressure within the disc/nerves.... but the substance that popped out of my disc was now pushing on a nerve- causing my tingling/fasciculation and eventually losing feeling in my left calf. 2 specialists later, i had the surgery by a spinal specialist who has done it about 400 times. I am so greatful i had it done. I was running out of time since the longer i waited, the more severe the damage wouuld be to my calf, as the nerve was dying near the site. I am over 1 month post-surgery and at about 90% strength. Nerve damage is extremely scary because it has a mind of its own,,,,nothing u can speed up or make feel better.
Anyhow- i hope this hopes someone out there..... i didnt see this site until i was out of surgery and wanted to hlp others.
Chiropractors- i do not agree with their procedures as i believe they are perpetual- meaning once u go, u need to keep going back! That being said, if it works for you, who am i to tell you different. For those of you that are having spasms- get a StimKit.... you can find them on Amazon from random sellers. You are not supposed to be able to obtain without a prescription but there are always loopholes. If unfamiliar, it is sticky diodes you put on attached to a battery pack that sends impulses to the muscles groups that works wonders on spasms.... which inturn sometimes relieve swelling and overall discomfort.
My specialist also recommends (and i hear) swimming is great, b/c it relieves the gravitational pressure and at the same time gets you to increase range of motion... something we can all appreciate.
I hope this helps some of you. Feel free to email me if i do not respond soon enough here.

I also have a herniation at L4/L5 and L5/S1. I went to the chiropractor first because this is the second time I have had the problem, the first time it happened was about 5 yrs ago and I had a really good chiropractor. I had severe sciatic pain where I couldn't sit or stand or get comfortable. He put me on the stretching machine thing and gave me TENS (electrical stimulation). I felt alot of relief after just the first visit and was was completely better in about 3 months of going 3 times a week.
This time though, the sciatic pain was coupled with numbness/weakness/tingling/muscles spasms. It started out really bad in January this year and I went to the chiropractor which seemed like it made it worse this time. I went to my "regular" doctor as well and she referred me to a spine specialist and I had to get an MRI done. She already knew what the problem was because of my symptoms identified the exact location of the herniation and everything but it has to be confirmed with an MRI.
Meanwhile...
The chiropractor couldn't help me this time and I was spending about $200 dollars a week on massages just so I could have an hour or two of relief at a time because that's how desperate I was. Getting up every morning had having to psyche myself into getting up and doing some stretches for an hour and lay on a tennis ball under the muscle spasm knots all down my right butt cheek, thigh, calf, and foot just to be able to get around. I tried accupuncture and that also gave me about an hour just barely a little less pain.
After a couple of weeks I was non-functional. I couldn't drive, walk or anything and the spine specialist ordered an epidural steroid injection. I chose not to get the IV sedation because I figured it would be just like the epidural I got when I was having the baby. It felt like he hit my nerve when the medicine hit my nerve and I screamed in agony. The nurse told me that sometimes when you are severely inflamed that just having the medicine near the nerve can set it off. After that was over and I was waiting to be discharged I was feeling alot better it really helped. It was like a miracle. About 3 weeks later I was in severe pain again but had to wait another week for the injetion. I felt great again after the second injetction. I still felt great when month passed and I didn't get my next scheduled injection because it is not a preventative injection, it only helps with current pain. About a week later I was in severe pain again and the spine guy told me I could get the injection or wait to talk to the surgeon. I told him the shots seemed to be lasting only around a month and we set up an appointment for the surgeon and I tried to tough it out and they tell me all they can give me is percocet for my pain.
It takes a month to get in to even talk to the surgeon and meanwhile i have to have an ekg done to confirm that I have a pinched nerve. Which of course it says that I do and that my muscle (in my calf) is now not getting any nerve supply at times. About a week before I see the surgeon I am totally immobilized and insane with pain and my husband has to take me to the emergency room because I am in the worst pain I can ever possibly imagine. I can't even put pressure on my foot or sit in the car. He has to put me in the back of the car so I can lay down on my side. Imagine having nerve pain, muscle pain like your muscle is dying, and muscle spasms all up and down your whole right side from the top of your butt cheek to the end of your toes to where your toes are involuntarily curling and your foot is spasming. yeah, that was me.
Of course the emergency room can't do anything for me except for give me some valium because I have an appointment with the surgeon the following week. The valium does help though to relax my muscles after taking for about 1 1/2 full days.
So I call the spine guy again and tell him I can't wait to see the surgeon until next week or I'm gonna off myself so he goes ahead and gives me another steroid injection which helps again but I still have slight pain if I go without the percet too long and my calf, foot, toes are still numb.
Anyway, my surgery is in 3 days (on Wednesday). I am having a microdiscetomy done. I can't stand the thought of this steroid injection wearing off again. I have already tried everything else. I even did try staying on my feet to walk out the cramps. HAHAHAHA. That does NOT work. Big mistake. Big time spasms and knots. I would not wish this on anyone and unless you've been through it there's just no way to explain the excruciating, debilitating pain to anyone. I guess that is what this forum is for. People who are not going through it have no idea how debilitating it is and how helpless, useless and hopeless it makes you feel. I wish the best of luck to everyone and I'll let you know how the surgery goes as soon as I can get back on it afterwards.