I saw my new orthopedic doctor for the first time today (my previous one retired). I received surprising news: I have sciatica off my back (not the hip, such as the piriformis muscle). An MRI of my back shows a bulging disc and spinal stenosis, right where the sciatic nerve exits on the left side. The condition is moderately severe, so under normal conditions the nerve is not compressed. But anything that inflames the disc can compress the disc and cause sciatica. This explains why I developed the first symptoms of sciatica after exercising too hard about a month ago. Then it calmed down after a few weeks and I flared it up again with more exercise. This also explains why the PT exercises I have been doing, which are for both the piriformis muscle and the SI joint, have not worked as well as they have in the past because they are not directly targeting the lumbar spine. For now, he’s going to start me on prednisone, which he thinks will do the trick since the sciatica has settled down a lot. I am allowed to exercise, including cycling and exercise, as long as there are no signs of sciatica. I will start to add more intensity and back off as needed. I will also look at PT exercises specifically for the lumbar region, here is a good reference). I would like to build muscle in this area to make it less fragile in the future.
