I’m really only posting this because I thought of the subject line. (What the hell am I talking about?)
Anyway. For the last few weeks my little unwanted friend has been visiting, on and off. Before my surgery it would kick in when I got up from sitting or lying down, and gradually wear off after n minutes/hours/years, depending. This time it seemed to cause pain when I lay down and signalled its ghostly presence at most other times through a vague feeling of pressure at the top of my right leg plus aches down the calves (all standard referred pain for sciatica).
I have no firm idea of the cause. Suspects include lack of exercise, excessive sitting, muscular surprises (some drooling cretin stops in front of you, forcing you to stop in a hurry or walk into him) and a spinal disc with a mind of its own (I think it moves about a bit).
I did the usual tricks: stood up and walked about a lot, avoided too much back strain (I’ve given badminton a miss for a few weeks) and did some prodding and poking (“physiotherapy lite”). It didn’t ease off, though – it got worse.
Lying on the floor on Monday lunchtime, inspecting the carpet, a Belle and Sebastian song popped up on iTunes. It reminded me of buying the album – a month or so before my surgery – and first hearing that song, while lying on the floor inspecting the carpet. Hmm, I thought.
I rang my physio and made an appointment for next Monday (nothing available sooner).
And when I got up the next morning, the sciatica had disappeared.
Expecting some cruel trick, I’ve acted as if it were still there but allowed myself to sit down a bit more (you can only stand or kneel for so many hours in a day). But it hasn’t (yet) returned, so today I cancelled the physio appointment.
Now I’m seriously considering thinking about possibly starting to go swimming every now and then. Oh, I’m so lazy.
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