Anyone else had sciatica on the same side as a single mastectomy?
I am a keen walker and 2 plus weeks after surgery I started with sciatica. I’ve done hip stretches and my husband has massage the tender spot in my buttock to some effect but now feel other muscles are pulled in my left leg.
Spoken with a friend who originally trained and worked as a nurse but then retrained and has worked for 30 years as an osteopath. She thought it will be because my centre of gravity has changed! I’ve contacted a local osteopath for an appointment. Unexpected consequences!
Annie
Sciatica is so painful , I have it too connected to spine issues . It would certainly make sense that changing how you stand / move would impact on your lower back . Sounds like you have done the right thing getting advice from an osteopath .
I have had a similar experience. What has helped me is The Feldenkrais Method. Basically when we have an injury/surgery, in order to heal the body protects the area and immobilizes it to facilitate healing. But that means we aren’t using ourself in the normal way, and some parts of us have to work harder than usual which can result in pain including problems like sciatica. So, for me a big part of the recovery from treatment has been about undoing movement patterns that were taken on to protect during the healing and become habitual. It’s like we need to reset our nervous system back to what it was presurgery as much as possible. this can take quite some time, but that is healthy, because our system won’t stop protecting the area til it’s healed enough to be ready to be used in a usual way again. It’s been an amazing discovery for me to learn just how much my chest and shoulder and neck and ribs on the operated side have affected the way I walk, for example. So the Osteopath mentioned is right. The Feldenkrais Method is alot about resetting habits and patterns in movement from compensatory ones to healthy ones and its done with utmost gentleness. I hope this is helpful.