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Back injury, Sciatica 7-Apr-2008 At 5:17:33 PM TonyB

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Over a period of months, 30 years ago, pain starting in my left side radiated down my left leg until movement became excrutiating and walking became impossible. I refused the knife and spent 2 months in traction in hospital. Like jackw, I then wore a brace for 2 years. Since then I've been able to manage the problem very successfully (without the brace). I'm still very much against the knife. I read a survey that claimed that 2 years post operatively, there was no significant different between those operated upon and those not.

My view is that the key is to build huge abdominal strength in order to brace the back. I've always down a lot of sport but for the past 30 years I've focussed on strengthening the core and abs. There's a nice book written by a fellow who was a doctor on the Changi railway. He claimed that amid every disease known to man, the one complaint that he didn't see was bad backs, despite the men carrying huge loads under terrible conditions. His conclusion was that sciatica is a sedentary disease. Lots of exercise, stretching and strength building is the key to a cure. It's worked for me.