Very much relate to this and sorry you are dealing with sciatica. Ongoing pain is very tiring and tedious- yet one more thing that is always there, the gremlin in the back of the head.
I have fibromyalgia and also for many years had a lot of fairly constant gynae pain too. I am used to managing pain on a daily basis and the fatigue that often comes with it because of insomnia. I find that most of the time if it is the dull, lingering sort, distraction - getting to a point where you can ignore it, generally through immersion in work, works. Sharper erratic pain harder to deal with but it is a bad day indeed if I can’t walk it out. Walking has pretty much been my salvation. So has going to a kind of rehab gym which takes a very holistic approach - everything about your movement and posture is analysed and corrected and then your strength and balance is built up with very focussed exercises. I can’t imagine life without some resistance training now, it has been transformative.
The other thing I do a lot is breathe into the pain and that does bizarrely work.
Walking is the best…and your rehab gym sounds very good - do let me have details when you have a moment? I find it essential to UNDERSTAND what’s happening, and once I understand that nothing FATAL is occurring, it helps me to live with it. This whole thing involves quite a bit of mind-manipulation.
It is this place. Ignore the running bit - they help everyone from top of their game sportspeople to people in their 90s with heart problems who are trying to stay mobile who literally shuffle in - and everyone in between. I have friends who go who have MS, who have lost fitness due to cancer treatment, you name it.
I don’t have chronic back pain but I fell over onto the pavement yesterday and ache all over, including a pulled lower back. I’m going to try some of these ideas; I used to write a gratitude journal every night, 5 things, all the time thinking how stupid it was, but it really wasn’t.
I have had chronic lower back pain (bulging disc) for a decade now and really appalling (couldn’t stand up straight) for about 18 months.
The things that finally helped me, other than Pilates, physio and the steroid injection, were:
- sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees instead of flat on my stomach which puts pressure on the lower back
- meditating and breathing to the source of the pain - sounds woo but I swear it was a game changer over time
- acupuncture
- body work to rebalance the body and also give me someone to talk to about it whose job it was to listen! Part of the problem is that it gets SO BORING that actually someone whose job it is to listen to you and all the micro tweaks you are making is pretty useful.
I so agree with the WONDER of someone who actually LISTENS. I’ve had several awful experiences with paid professionals who did NOT do that. I have not yet tried acupuncture or ‘bodywork’ so will put that on my list…thank you so much for taking the time to make these suggestions.
I get this so much. I had bulges at L4 L5 S1 and those “can’t stand up straight” days were my rock bottom too. What you wrote nails a big truth… your body finally felt supported and safe. That’s what actually shifts Back Pain. The breathing part isn’t woo at all. I had to learn to relax into the area instead of fighting it. And having someone who actually listens matters more than people think. Chronic pain gets lonely. Keep doing what builds trust in your body not fear. Pain is your friend not an enemy.
Oh darling! Where to start? Like you say, the details are often boring, particularly because, I find, "back pain" was at some point hijacked by those who felt a passing twinge and milked it for life. Alas, some of us have it for real. Mine started with a BANG! when I was 21 [I was eventually put back on my feet by a sack of valium] and has marred my life ever since. I think that I do not remember what it was like NOT to feel that pain.
In October last year, an acute phase started [for unknown reasons, as all acute phases do] and I pressed on as I normally did, first by staying as mobile as the pain allowed [with diminishing returns] and then by popping Codeine at twice the normal rate, then adding an anti-inflammatory, then asking for a Tramadol prescription and taking double. Three weeks into this nightmare, on this diet of opiates and water, unable to drag myself to the toilet, or out of bed, unable to stand or sit or walk or sleep, throwing things [books, glasses, pens, whatever was within reach] at the wall, screaming at the top of my lungs with my boyfriend duly expecting the police to turn up [this being London, of course it did not, because why would it], I found myself an injector.
At this juncture I should say that THIS told me everything I needed to know; I am wimp of royal proportions because if I were not a wimp, I'd have a face like a Kardashian by now. But I was dying, and I am not over-stating here, and figured that maybe I wouldn't if an injection could be administered. At this point I was able to drag myself on crutches for a couple of yards. It was a sacroiliac steroid injection straight into the joint that put me back on my feet. The injector told me I had experienced non-stop labour pains for three weeks, no wonder I was at the end of my tether. And I mean, I would not know about labour but I can imagine that pushing a watermelon through a lemon cannot be an entirely edifying experience. Oh and let's add insult to injury to it all: didn't lose a pound in the process. Perimenopause is fucking real. Big kiss!
Oh Lord...Steph that sounds abysmal and I am SO glad you found someone good with a needle. I am def not ruling it out but I am not at labour pain stage thank God (and I DO know what that feels like). I too started off with the pills but once I realised this was not going away they were no longer a viable option. Glad you have the Boyfriend. Call me old-fashioned but I think a Boyfriend is a VERY GOOD THING xxx
I have rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Earlier this year I started going to a Tai Chi fitness class once a week and I practise in between. I'm finding the slow gentle exercise helpful. I can go up and downstairs easily now. I need to walk more too.
Except I found Tai Chi not good for my lower back - something about the posture. Which was a shame as I loved the practice - but of course everyone is different.
Wow, this came at such a perfect time for me as I wake up everyday in pain. I hadn’t realised how much I was focussing on my back/my hip/all my other aches and it makes so much sense to think that the more you practise thinking about pain, the better you get at it!
It’s a fascinating list and one which I’m going to work through. Consistency is my aim now: self help, exercising, gratitude and I KNOW the more I can stick with things the happier and more positive I feel about being in control of my life. 💪🏻 Thank you for the kick up the bum! ❤️
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this article. I’m so so grateful. You are top of my gratuity list. I’ve bought a book by the guy on the Chatterjee (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000585376328) podcast mentioned. I did stretches today and I’m parking fear even though I’m having nerves burnt in my lower back on Friday after an acute facet joint inflammation flare up. Plus I’ve to drive to O2 today for a concert. But I’ve walked stretched and I’m FINE. I can do this. I’m reframing my thoughts on pain, doing that 28 day neurological process, about to study Alexander technique and I’m hitting Pilates. This isn’t going to control my life x
Hans Zimmer was ace! (Husband’s Xmas gift). Drove there and back (hour each way) and sat all concert and I was FINE. Today did a mat Pilates class. I honestly could have wept with joy. It really is down to you (someone mentioned you on Sophia Money Coutts’ back pain article that appeared on my substack notes). I found all you said SO helpful. Doing the big 3 daily and telling myself I control the pain. You have no idea how much this post is helping people! You legend!!! X
Excellent article. Saved and shared. When you’re in a deep dark pit of flare up that lasts for months, it’s hard to remember your own name, let alone where to begin in putting yourself back together, just carrying on and also wondering whether you’ll ever get your life back. I always make pages of “next-time” notes, then bin them when I’m better because it feels like bad juju to keep them around, like I’ll manifest the pain back. Ridiculous, I know.
Anyway, this one is staying. Thank you, and take care.
For what it’s worth, after trying so many therapies over the years, these are the things I always end up returning to for cervicogenic migraines and myofascial/neck/back pain. I use them together, and while they won’t help sciatica, they’ve made a big difference for me:
• Massage — essential for me
• Light swimming 4×/week
• Restorative yoga twice a week
• Daily stretching (iMuscle app + YouTube help)
• Deep relaxation: bath, music or chants, incense, lying in Alexander Technique position and either visualising pain leaving or focusing on feeling good
• Sound baths
• TENS machine
• Acupuncture + ear seeds
• Hypnotherapy
• Better sleep posture (Levitex pillow + pillow between knees)
• Diazepam or edibles, occasionally helpful when muscles just won’t release and the mental stress is too heavy
• Botox in traps, base of skull, sides of head, and forehead,
helped me enough to get back into stretching and strength training, with the long-term goal of not needing it
Diana thank you for these really brilliant suggestions. I think what you say about ‘forgetting’ it all when things aren’t as bad is very true, and in fact my dear friend who suffers very badly said that the ONE thing she would add to the list is to KEEP doing the things…even and ESPECIALLY when things are going well. x
Hi Letitia, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this article! My husband has had back pain & sciatica for about 35 years. He thought he had tried everything, but thanks to you he has learnt a new exercise which he thinks will help. He finds gentle swimming is the best thing for him. Once again many thanks, Anne
Goodness Laetitia, thank you so much for this. I was putting on my boots for work last week and suddenly could not move, was in excruciating pain that made me pant as if I was in labour...I'm now knee deep in nurofen and feeling bruised. I also feel vaguely insulted as I've done yoga for 30 years and pilates for 15, and I walk my dogs every day, I mean what was all that for, really?! So your message is very timely, thank you, I've been feeling quite low and sort of what-nowish. But I have your list. Onwards! (Slowly).
Thank you, I do now feel grateful that I am a) not in chronic pain and b) my body has worked well thus far (I'm 59). I will keep walking as it is the thing that keeps me sane. I saw a good physio today who actually explained to me what had happened, which is SO helpful, I needed to visualise it, and I have started a gratitude diary, never done one before, but hey, if it helps an iota it is worth it. Thanks again, I'm so sorry you are in pain xx
Dear Jo thank you so much for this. I hesitated to put gratitude there as it can sound, well, like a platitude… but it really is helpful, so yes, recommended!
I'm so sorry to hear you have been suffering with back pain. Chronic problems like this can be so debilitating but sounds like you have come up with some fabulous aids. I especially liked the bit where you talked about sounds baths and not needing to know if there was any scientific evidence to back them up as pain relief, because if one believes it helps it doesn't really matter does it! Walking/moving everyday is key to dealing with so many issues, we should all do more.
Thank you for this Laetitia. Altough I have been doing yoga for nearly 50 years, I have recently developed back pain. I am also trying everything to control the pain, I don't want it to rule my life.
Very much relate to this and sorry you are dealing with sciatica. Ongoing pain is very tiring and tedious- yet one more thing that is always there, the gremlin in the back of the head.
I have fibromyalgia and also for many years had a lot of fairly constant gynae pain too. I am used to managing pain on a daily basis and the fatigue that often comes with it because of insomnia. I find that most of the time if it is the dull, lingering sort, distraction - getting to a point where you can ignore it, generally through immersion in work, works. Sharper erratic pain harder to deal with but it is a bad day indeed if I can’t walk it out. Walking has pretty much been my salvation. So has going to a kind of rehab gym which takes a very holistic approach - everything about your movement and posture is analysed and corrected and then your strength and balance is built up with very focussed exercises. I can’t imagine life without some resistance training now, it has been transformative.
The other thing I do a lot is breathe into the pain and that does bizarrely work.
Walking is the best…and your rehab gym sounds very good - do let me have details when you have a moment? I find it essential to UNDERSTAND what’s happening, and once I understand that nothing FATAL is occurring, it helps me to live with it. This whole thing involves quite a bit of mind-manipulation.
It is this place. Ignore the running bit - they help everyone from top of their game sportspeople to people in their 90s with heart problems who are trying to stay mobile who literally shuffle in - and everyone in between. I have friends who go who have MS, who have lost fitness due to cancer treatment, you name it.
https://runningschool.com
Thank you…they are near me. How brilliant. I will go see them.
You aren’t far from me either in that case! I promise you won’t regret it. They are all amazing there and work wonders!
I don’t have chronic back pain but I fell over onto the pavement yesterday and ache all over, including a pulled lower back. I’m going to try some of these ideas; I used to write a gratitude journal every night, 5 things, all the time thinking how stupid it was, but it really wasn’t.
Moira that sounds really awful. Sending healing and yes, gratitude is totally better-making.
🤎
A useless tip from a fellow back painer: swearing actually reduces pain.
I fully fucking concur.
I have had chronic lower back pain (bulging disc) for a decade now and really appalling (couldn’t stand up straight) for about 18 months.
The things that finally helped me, other than Pilates, physio and the steroid injection, were:
- sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees instead of flat on my stomach which puts pressure on the lower back
- meditating and breathing to the source of the pain - sounds woo but I swear it was a game changer over time
- acupuncture
- body work to rebalance the body and also give me someone to talk to about it whose job it was to listen! Part of the problem is that it gets SO BORING that actually someone whose job it is to listen to you and all the micro tweaks you are making is pretty useful.
I so agree with the WONDER of someone who actually LISTENS. I’ve had several awful experiences with paid professionals who did NOT do that. I have not yet tried acupuncture or ‘bodywork’ so will put that on my list…thank you so much for taking the time to make these suggestions.
I get this so much. I had bulges at L4 L5 S1 and those “can’t stand up straight” days were my rock bottom too. What you wrote nails a big truth… your body finally felt supported and safe. That’s what actually shifts Back Pain. The breathing part isn’t woo at all. I had to learn to relax into the area instead of fighting it. And having someone who actually listens matters more than people think. Chronic pain gets lonely. Keep doing what builds trust in your body not fear. Pain is your friend not an enemy.
Oh darling! Where to start? Like you say, the details are often boring, particularly because, I find, "back pain" was at some point hijacked by those who felt a passing twinge and milked it for life. Alas, some of us have it for real. Mine started with a BANG! when I was 21 [I was eventually put back on my feet by a sack of valium] and has marred my life ever since. I think that I do not remember what it was like NOT to feel that pain.
In October last year, an acute phase started [for unknown reasons, as all acute phases do] and I pressed on as I normally did, first by staying as mobile as the pain allowed [with diminishing returns] and then by popping Codeine at twice the normal rate, then adding an anti-inflammatory, then asking for a Tramadol prescription and taking double. Three weeks into this nightmare, on this diet of opiates and water, unable to drag myself to the toilet, or out of bed, unable to stand or sit or walk or sleep, throwing things [books, glasses, pens, whatever was within reach] at the wall, screaming at the top of my lungs with my boyfriend duly expecting the police to turn up [this being London, of course it did not, because why would it], I found myself an injector.
At this juncture I should say that THIS told me everything I needed to know; I am wimp of royal proportions because if I were not a wimp, I'd have a face like a Kardashian by now. But I was dying, and I am not over-stating here, and figured that maybe I wouldn't if an injection could be administered. At this point I was able to drag myself on crutches for a couple of yards. It was a sacroiliac steroid injection straight into the joint that put me back on my feet. The injector told me I had experienced non-stop labour pains for three weeks, no wonder I was at the end of my tether. And I mean, I would not know about labour but I can imagine that pushing a watermelon through a lemon cannot be an entirely edifying experience. Oh and let's add insult to injury to it all: didn't lose a pound in the process. Perimenopause is fucking real. Big kiss!
Oh Lord...Steph that sounds abysmal and I am SO glad you found someone good with a needle. I am def not ruling it out but I am not at labour pain stage thank God (and I DO know what that feels like). I too started off with the pills but once I realised this was not going away they were no longer a viable option. Glad you have the Boyfriend. Call me old-fashioned but I think a Boyfriend is a VERY GOOD THING xxx
I have rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Earlier this year I started going to a Tai Chi fitness class once a week and I practise in between. I'm finding the slow gentle exercise helpful. I can go up and downstairs easily now. I need to walk more too.
Thank you Margaret - this is an excellent suggestion; I hadn't thought about Tai Chi. Will give it a go. And yes, walking!
Except I found Tai Chi not good for my lower back - something about the posture. Which was a shame as I loved the practice - but of course everyone is different.
Wow, this came at such a perfect time for me as I wake up everyday in pain. I hadn’t realised how much I was focussing on my back/my hip/all my other aches and it makes so much sense to think that the more you practise thinking about pain, the better you get at it!
It’s a fascinating list and one which I’m going to work through. Consistency is my aim now: self help, exercising, gratitude and I KNOW the more I can stick with things the happier and more positive I feel about being in control of my life. 💪🏻 Thank you for the kick up the bum! ❤️
So glad it’s come at an opportune moment. I’m having a bad patch right now which is partly why I wrote this piece x
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this article. I’m so so grateful. You are top of my gratuity list. I’ve bought a book by the guy on the Chatterjee (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000585376328) podcast mentioned. I did stretches today and I’m parking fear even though I’m having nerves burnt in my lower back on Friday after an acute facet joint inflammation flare up. Plus I’ve to drive to O2 today for a concert. But I’ve walked stretched and I’m FINE. I can do this. I’m reframing my thoughts on pain, doing that 28 day neurological process, about to study Alexander technique and I’m hitting Pilates. This isn’t going to control my life x
Thank you for this amazing message. You are NOT alone, and yes, you CAN do this. I will be thinking of you on Friday and how was the concert? x
Hans Zimmer was ace! (Husband’s Xmas gift). Drove there and back (hour each way) and sat all concert and I was FINE. Today did a mat Pilates class. I honestly could have wept with joy. It really is down to you (someone mentioned you on Sophia Money Coutts’ back pain article that appeared on my substack notes). I found all you said SO helpful. Doing the big 3 daily and telling myself I control the pain. You have no idea how much this post is helping people! You legend!!! X
Couldn't be more thrilled about this. KEEP ON KEEPING ON. Marathon not sprint etc. x
Excellent article. Saved and shared. When you’re in a deep dark pit of flare up that lasts for months, it’s hard to remember your own name, let alone where to begin in putting yourself back together, just carrying on and also wondering whether you’ll ever get your life back. I always make pages of “next-time” notes, then bin them when I’m better because it feels like bad juju to keep them around, like I’ll manifest the pain back. Ridiculous, I know.
Anyway, this one is staying. Thank you, and take care.
For what it’s worth, after trying so many therapies over the years, these are the things I always end up returning to for cervicogenic migraines and myofascial/neck/back pain. I use them together, and while they won’t help sciatica, they’ve made a big difference for me:
• Massage — essential for me
• Light swimming 4×/week
• Restorative yoga twice a week
• Daily stretching (iMuscle app + YouTube help)
• Deep relaxation: bath, music or chants, incense, lying in Alexander Technique position and either visualising pain leaving or focusing on feeling good
• Sound baths
• TENS machine
• Acupuncture + ear seeds
• Hypnotherapy
• Better sleep posture (Levitex pillow + pillow between knees)
• Diazepam or edibles, occasionally helpful when muscles just won’t release and the mental stress is too heavy
• Botox in traps, base of skull, sides of head, and forehead,
helped me enough to get back into stretching and strength training, with the long-term goal of not needing it
Diana thank you for these really brilliant suggestions. I think what you say about ‘forgetting’ it all when things aren’t as bad is very true, and in fact my dear friend who suffers very badly said that the ONE thing she would add to the list is to KEEP doing the things…even and ESPECIALLY when things are going well. x
Brilliant article, brilliant reminders - thank you. It’s good to remember again the neurology of it all (not confined to back/physical pain either).
YES
This is so incredibly helpful - thank you xx love to you and hope you improve soon xx
Thank you so much Colette
Hi Letitia, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this article! My husband has had back pain & sciatica for about 35 years. He thought he had tried everything, but thanks to you he has learnt a new exercise which he thinks will help. He finds gentle swimming is the best thing for him. Once again many thanks, Anne
Oh Anne I am SO incredibly happy it is helping him! x
Goodness Laetitia, thank you so much for this. I was putting on my boots for work last week and suddenly could not move, was in excruciating pain that made me pant as if I was in labour...I'm now knee deep in nurofen and feeling bruised. I also feel vaguely insulted as I've done yoga for 30 years and pilates for 15, and I walk my dogs every day, I mean what was all that for, really?! So your message is very timely, thank you, I've been feeling quite low and sort of what-nowish. But I have your list. Onwards! (Slowly).
Oh your poor thing! Please stay positive and do NOT stop walking…walking is literal MEDICINE XXX
Thank you, I do now feel grateful that I am a) not in chronic pain and b) my body has worked well thus far (I'm 59). I will keep walking as it is the thing that keeps me sane. I saw a good physio today who actually explained to me what had happened, which is SO helpful, I needed to visualise it, and I have started a gratitude diary, never done one before, but hey, if it helps an iota it is worth it. Thanks again, I'm so sorry you are in pain xx
Dear Jo thank you so much for this. I hesitated to put gratitude there as it can sound, well, like a platitude… but it really is helpful, so yes, recommended!
I'm so sorry to hear you have been suffering with back pain. Chronic problems like this can be so debilitating but sounds like you have come up with some fabulous aids. I especially liked the bit where you talked about sounds baths and not needing to know if there was any scientific evidence to back them up as pain relief, because if one believes it helps it doesn't really matter does it! Walking/moving everyday is key to dealing with so many issues, we should all do more.
I mean…when use ‘did you go to medical school?’ as a gotcha….the world is a bit bonkers isn’t it
Kundalini yoga.... Moves all the energy through the spine. It's so beautiful ❤️
I may need to revisit yoga…the breathing part of it is mind-blowing. Hope you are well x
Thank you for this Laetitia. Altough I have been doing yoga for nearly 50 years, I have recently developed back pain. I am also trying everything to control the pain, I don't want it to rule my life.
…and it won’t, because you’re not going to let it. It’s that simple x