try a chiropractor trained in the palmer method.
this created miracles for me. Must be patient that it takes a while to get better and not think he is ripping you off with a bunch of visits as these are necessary to make the adjustment hold and the muscle get strong enough to hold the adjustment in the right p[lace as the injuries has weakened these muscles so even if h adjusts t to the right place, often slips back for some time till one day you are finally better.
I have had 6 herniated disks from 25 car wrecks.
The worst was when I was run over by a car (also had a 55 mph crash with internal injuries where I missed death by one minute and had to be cut out of the car.
the nerve pain radiated down my back to my foot twice and to my knee once.
I was so bad when run over while walking that if I moved in bed 1/4
inch the day after it happened, I would scream with pain.
To walk to the bathroom in the next room took me 25 minutes. Both my teens at the time had to help me. I would freeze up and be afraid to take the next strep as the pain was so excruciating.
I had to use a TENS unit for a year and a wheelchair for a year for anything over a small umber of yards.
A neurologist told me I needed immediate surgery which I refused (as I knew my chiropractor had fixed me before). The neurologist was so mad he yelled down the hall after me as I left saying "you will be back in a week. I guarantee it the pain will be too bad." I never went back.
It took 3 times a week visits to the chiropractor for months and then twice a year and finally once..a total of 15 months but my chiropractor got me to where i can walk 45-60 minutes with rest although I have some difficulty standing more than walking. I will never be normal due to all my wrecks and repeated injuries but I shudder to think where I would be without my chiropractor.
I currently am suffering greatly from sciatic and herniated disk as somehow re-injured but it was fine for several years. Now my HMO does not cover chiropractic and I am too poor. I only have 2 visits left till January and they never approve more so really suffering so I know what you are going through. My whole leg nearly from the knee down is suffering from muscle cramps., nerve pain that varies between numb, pins and needles, tingling and pain. it is driving me to constant tears.
Without the chiropractor I do not know how to fix it. I found physical therapy made me worst and do not want drugs and surgery.
the alternative things that have helped my back (but my leg is messed up but back went from excruciating where I could not sit more than 3 seconds without screaming and collapsed form pan when walking just a little bit to needing to crawl on my belly to a phone for help as could not even crawl on my hands and knees to tolerable pain but hard time walking due to leg being numb and having so many uncomfortable feelings. Not knowing if it will e permanent and not being able to use my chiropractor has me very depressed but I am still better than I was 7 weeks ago..was completely bedridden for 3 weeks having to live in my bedroom and eat from a cooler that my brother filled each day with ice.
What I feel helped but is not enough without chiropractor was the following things I found
1 cold and cold showers (see below)
2 colon cleansing and high enemas or
colonics (I could not afford some of this) A(recommended by Dr Christopher for sciatica)
3 externally using a##kisser or tiger balm with wintergreen essential oil added (optional)
4 putting a pillowcase soaked in raw apple cider vinegar and water on my leg up past knee and also under my back. (apple cider vinegar fomentation per Dr Christopher's book school of natural healing under sciatica)
5 drinking raw apple cider vinegar with water (per master herbalist who cured the incurables--Dr Christopher, Dr Schulze's teacher)
6 herbs per Dr Christopher for sciatic pain (herniated disk pinching the nerve)...chaparral tincture and burdock root tincture (he also says to use sassafras)
7 herbal tinctures for sciatica, nerves, circulation etc (also search which nervines are nerve relaxants..perhaps masking Dr Christopher's nine herb formula (see herballegacy.com) or email; me for the page from the book with info..his rebuilds nerve an nerve sheath and feeds the nerves.
-skullcap (NERVE STIMULANT)`
lobelia (ANTI-SPASMODIC HERB-wonderful for muscle cramps internally and on the sin --do not take too much as it can be an emetic in large doses)
-Horse Chestnut-leg circulation and extremities
-horsetail-similar
-oat seed
willow/meadow-sweet (herbpharm)
bilberry-circulation
ginger-circulation
cayenne-circulation
ginkgo-circulation
mullein-garlic
all these are herbpharm brand tinctures available online and at whole foods stores
8 also taking
coq10
alfalfa
and gaia brand's- infla-profen
with occasional pain pills and ibuprofen when pain is too terrible though trying to only take rarely
Also chiropractor told me to lie on back and push pelvis back flat to the floor and kind of rock.
But the most important of these I feel from experience is chiropractic
but lack of insurance caused me to seek out these other things that helped my back pain but not my leg numbness etc much
from Schulze's
patient handbook
9 Hot and Cold Showers: (the most effective way to move the blood and create circulation ) Once daily, you must do a complete hot and cold shower. You will start with hot water for 1 minute, then cold for 1 minute. Re-peat this 7 times so the shower should last about 15 minutes. Another time, daily, you can do a complete hot and cold shower routine again or a partial one just applying the water directly to the affected area. Make sure while you are doing both hot and cold showers that you pay special attention to the affected area and massage it vigorously. If the shower is impossible then use Hot packs and Ice packs.
Schulze also sells herbdoc.com a product called deep tissue repair oil.
10 I also recommend juice fasting and lots of juices and raw foods..during the period of big improvement from bedridden o walking and less back pain, I was eating 74% raw due to eating from a cooler and lots of produce/salads and also
juicing and taking green smoothie and I think that helped (see hacres.com for more on what foods are raw)_.
hope this helps and if anyone knows more please respond for both our sakes.
My brother also had sciatic at the same time from herniated disk and he could not go slow route as he was going to lose his job and tried back stretching machine which speeds up what chiropractic is essentially doing
Also went to an anesthesiologist who pinpointed the nerve itself (not normally done unless excruciating pain as it takes doctor more time and he makes more money with just shooting it in the general area in a longer hit or miss fashion) but my brother is persuasive and got the right in the nerve shot and his pain gone 5 weeks later but needs to get it again tomorrow..had no pain for 3 weeks he said. His insurance paid most but had to go through canals to get this treatment.
My chiropractor felt the treatment was not good as though it stops the pain, it does not correct the problem. My chiropractor said the body sends pain as a warning something is wrong to alter use of an body part but without clue of pain, so he may think alright and injure it more..that makes sense to me but brother does what he wants.
hope some of this helps.
chiropractors could never get me normal but they had in past got me walking again, improved for years and avoiding surgery and a bunch of drugs.
This is IMO as one who has had this a lot as most helpful.
I would personally, angel, can the physical therapy (or do both) and go to a chiropractor trained in the palmer method or at least see if they have physical therapy in a pool as some find the physical therapy hurts them more. I did and someone recently told me they were helped with the
PT in a swimming pool though.
Note when it radiates to one's foot pinching nerve worst than if radiating to one's knee. This 15 months as for the worst herniation my chiropractor said he ever had in 30 years. My herniations that went to the knee with radiating pain took 8 months or less depending on the particular one, so this might be a worst case scenario so do not let it scare you. The thing is eventually this can work. How I wish I could go to him like I used to now that I so badly need him. My leg was never this bad before with the nerve damage and afraid it might be permanent like a spot I have on my thigh on the other leg was but this interferes with walking and that did not.
Also you can email me if you want me to forward some pages form books and things I did for my brother back before he took the medical route (I am not doing all I recommended for him and unsure how to deal with the damage the nerve is causing my leg but my back has improved greatly with these things and a few chiropractic methods so if you want to email me I can forward the attachments and things to you if I have an email address.
As my brother said recently he had no idea how painful this was until he experienced it. Weeks ago the pain was so excruciating it felt worst than 4 toothaches I would say..now greatly less though leg pain is worst for me this time due to some shifts/pops that took place in me when I was walking that made my leg worst.
trust me I know what you are going through. I hope this is of help to you.