For the past week I've been suffering from sciatica. the pain is mainly located in the lower back spine area into the buttocks.It comes and goes and usually lasts for 3 or 4 day then subsides. This time it is still persisting after over a week. It might be time to hit up the Doc. Tried stretches, massage gun, and 800mg ibuprofin with really no relief. Tylenol extra strength, same. Takes the edge off but still contant ache. Next step is our red light therapy mat then heavy med like oxy which I don't like and can't take while working.

For those who suffer from this. What are you remedies or what do you do to alleviate?

I've been wondering if an inversion table would help. I seen them available around here all the time.

Sciatica hit me after a bicycle spill fifteen years ago. Over time, it subsided to the point where it rarely flares now.
Going by memory that working stomach and upper body muscles worked the quickest. Heating pads helped.
And that stretching made it worse. I never took any meds. Stayed off the bike a few weeks.
What caused your affliction?

I think it's a combination of getting old, playing impact sports growing up, surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and 40 years of hard motorcycle and MTB offroading. All the associated crashes and injuries that go along with such.
Actually, today, 12/7/22, I had my cervial fusion from having deteriorated discs and spinal stenosis in my neck. Fused C4-C7. I attributted that to all the same reasons.

I just recently went thru lower back pain which I think was sciattica. Couldn't even bear to bend to tie my shoes, and very painful to stand from a sitting position. Physical therapy had me feeling fine within 3 weeks. The phys. therapist was great, really knew his stuff! Had tried chiro first, but it didn't seem to help. Not that it makes much difference but will hit 75 in a couple of weeks.

Mine is impacted by weight. When I get a few extra pounds on, it is worse. But when I do have flare ups, if I lay on my stomach, bend my leg so that my heel is to my butt, my wife can lift my knee a few times and it seems to loosen things up. We bought a hot tub about 6 months ago, and I seem too not ache as much in general now.

I started having back pains in my teens. The things that have worked for me have been specific exercises prescribed by a Physical Therapist. I would advise, however, that you first see a sports Orthopedist and get X-rays to rule out specific nasties. I see you are in LV, where you have two professional sports teams. If I were in your position, I would inquire of them who their back specialists are. They will be top notch, and used to a patient pool that wants to recover function, not limit activity.
Good luck.

As an elder I have bulged discs L4 and L5. I had a shot 2 years ago for the L5, and that cleared that up. The L4 I find stays pain free if I cycle, my thought is blood flow thru the leg muscles helps prevent the lower back and glutes from spasming, thus if I ride, my back doesn’t hurt. I am very lucky with this.

I am NOT an MD, nor PT specialist, nor any certified medical professional. But I did have a quite severe case of 'Sciatica', some many decades back. With occasional lesser outbreaks in the subsequent years.
If you haven't done some research on 'Sciatica', it's a good thing to develop some basic understanding...
As always, it's best to address ith with the help of a Professional with strong knowledge of the various forms that 'Sciatica' might take. Even with that, it's often difficult to really pinpoint.
Mine was 'severe' and eventually diagnosed as 'Piriformis syndrome' - which can happen to some significant percent of the population. Susceptibility is due to variation in anatomical structure - no thing which would be considered a disease or malformation...
Anyway, The Sciatic nerve issues tend to happen at the Lumbar spine and pelvic girdle areas. It is an irritation of the Sciatic nerve by skeletal or muscle abrasion/trapping - predominantly of the Myelin Sheath of the Sciatic nerve.
If the condition is caused by the piriformis muscle, the muscle has likely gone itno some level of spasm... The piriformis attaches deep within the Pelvic girdle and is not easily reached (if at all).
'Stretching' for Piriformis Syndrome is often counterproductive (as it was in my case, stretching just caused greater 'irritation').
I went saw my Primary and then thru a few 'specialists', over a period of months with no relief. I finally came to one doctor, who also agreed it was 'piriformis' and had me stop stretching, staying with moderate exertion level of any activity, and no 'abrupt' movements, like sprinting or similar. THE PRIMARY Treatment was regular and high dosing of 'Ibuprofen'. At that time it was ont OTC and could only be had by prescription. He had me do an ongoing regimen of 1200 to 1600 mg daily (and also lots of water intake to reduce risk of Kidney damage - which I had none).
After about 3 weeks I started to experience sizeable relief (my case was very severe).
What I had may not be your issue - so Best to get it Well Defined....
Until that time, 'stretching/abducting/rotating the leg or forward bend stretching may NOT be a solution and rather may exacerbate the issue.
These days, when I feel a 'ting', I know I'm falling down on keeping my core strong... and I do some shortterm use of regular doses of Ibuprofen - has always gotten me back to where I can place attention again to my back strength an core.
Get a good definition of what your form of Sciatica might be - and then apply the suggested therapy for it.
Ride On
Yuri

Might be time to see your doctor if the pain meds aren’t doing making the pain any more tolerable. I have herniated a disc in my lower back, I have stenosis in my lower back and have had sciatica on the left side of my back (not all at the same time!) I have been evaluated by a doctor…the X-rays, and MRI’s confirmed it. It took some time and PT to get through it, but I did. Occasionally, the stenosis can still be a problem, but not near like it used to be before I started riding my bike.

I've had it a couple times. Hard to say exactly what brought it on. Probably too much of some one thing. The cure which worked for me was to walk with a weird gait where no one who knew me could see. As I walked, I'd rotate each hip is a circular pattern with each step. The first mile hurt like the devil but then the pain gradually went away, so I'd walk like 2 miles.

A few days of that and it went away, didn't come back for a long time. A riding buddy of mine tried that, worked for him too, so not totally nuts. It seemed to me that it was the Piriformis syndrome thing, which led me to do what I did. My WAG is that it was too much riding, not enough other work. Plus age, duh.

I first had it around 1975. Caused by a congenital spine issue. It was correct by a chiropractor. These days when I have any kind of structural issues I head to my chiropractor and all is well. At almost 80 I ride pain free.

Make sure you drink enough fluids.

My B-I-L has a inversion table. I've used it once. And it provided some temporary relief for a strained back I got that day when the pain was at it's zenith. So of the many exercise and therapeutic equipment shams out there, this is something that actually does seem to work and provides at least some temporary relief. But everyone is different. So your results might not be the same.

I expect OP will find that herniated disc(s) in the lumbar spine are the cause.

I suffered rather persistent and painful sciatica for years. My Primary at the time, a great doc in every way except one. He did not like to refer to specialists. Doc 1 left the practice, I got a new Primary. First visit, he sent me to either an Ortho doc or Neurology, been too long to remember.

MRI shows herniated discs at L5-S1 and L4-5. I was 35 at the time and the news crushed me. Seriously I felt like my active, athletic lifestyle had just been stolen from me.

What helped? Terrific Physical Therapists and a double-crap-load of PT.
I usually stay on top of it with stretching and CORE STRENGTH!

See a doc, get the MRI, get diagnosed and GET AFTER IT.

Luck,
fat biker

P.S. This is no miracle cure. I takes effort and time. I take Naproxen 2/day.

Feeling a bit better today. Massage gun, 800 mg ibuprofen, and 750 mg Methocarbamol. I did pick up an inversion table today for just $20. It's a dual inversion therapy and core body workout. Can use it to do leg lifts to work the abs.
I'll still be heading to my primary to get x-rays and MRI's. She may also perscribe some PT..

I have dealt with sciatic issues for 30 plus years. To shorten a long story, I had 3 surgeries at L5-S1, with the third being a total disc replacement as part of a clinical study, in 2004.

My experience is that there many differences between patients with similar sciatic issues. A professional with a lot of experience is where and how to get knowledge of, and relief from, spinal problems. Anything posted here is opinion based on others experience, which may be helpful, but unlikely to be the solution for an individual.

My experience for pain relief calls for nsaids, excersises and stretches prescribed by a professional, and, I love ice packs.

It still flares up ocassionally, sometimes, seemingly, for no reason. I know I have to give it rest, nsaids as needed, and an ice pack numerous times in a day, including sometimes when pain is at a low level or not present. I try to be proactive keeping the pain to a minimum.

Yes, me too. Went through the whole progression of PT, meds, shots and finally surgery. Only 6 years later and I am doing pretty well.

You don't want all the details, but I am very careful of lifting, posture, regular back and core exercises etc. And I outsource really tough chores, 'cause I can afford it now. These things do tend to ebb and flow, so hang in there.

BTW, IMO docs are very much hammer-and-nail for back pain. PT's think that is the answer. Physical med guy says injections, surgeons like to do their thing. PCP like to prescribe. Do you own research but be careful about whack-o claims and discoveries. Be skeptical.

Had it as a consequence of a bulging disc. A shot of cortisone into the nerve in my hip fortunately fixed it once and for all. Long needle guided by ultrasound. A bit unnerving but would do it again if I needed to.

In 1993 (I was 23 at the time) I had Micro-laminectomy / Diskectomy was performed on my lower back due to a fragmented lumbar disk and spine pieces that caused debilitating back pain, removing disk fragments and smooth out the lumbar disk to function normal, and over the years I've had varying degrees of sciatic incidents, at one point in 2011 where my leg muscle mass and strength was deteriorate from my left leg. When I was finally able to an orthopedic doctor that specialized in sports medicine injuries, he was inclined to put me under the knife immediately. I strongly requested physical therapy, not to rebut the doctor's diagnosis, just for the fact the strength and muscle mass and function to that leg was considerably better and improving from when I had made the appointment. My doctor listened and put me into physical therapy for 6 weeks with the warning if it didn't improve, I would be at the end of my rope where surgery may not be effective at that time, but I insisted. I must say though the therapy was very effective in stabilizing and strengthening my core where I didn't need surgery, but I do find that if I neglect the gym/core exercises for too long my back will let me know, and it will be this way for me for the rest of my life.
From my experience I would suggest physical therapy to strengthen your core, to provide instructional exercises to increase stability and on how to deal with sciatic flair ups. I felt like a million bucks and fully mobile after I completed my physical therapy.

And I do hit the mountain bike trails mostly in the fall winter too.

There are also inflamations like colitis and sacroiliitis that cause back pain. Took way too much ibuprofen for a herniated disc and found that out.

Yes, apparently many cases diagnosed as “sciatica” are actually caused by sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction...

This might be easier to heal with basic exercises, although not all practicians agree on this, some prescribe hip flexor stretches, other say you should "stabilize" it, i.e. reinforce the muscles in this area (by doing bridges for example), and not stretches!

Sciatica hit me at age 61. Tried everything with little to moderate success. Finally decided to work with my PT to find methods to strengthen hips, glutes and core without pissing off the back. After a little trial and error came up with a program that keeps the big pain away IF I do it regularly. That and keeping the sugars away from my mouth. Inflammation is nasty and just magnifies the problem. Working my way back, as 2025 was my highest mileage year since the sciatic pain began. Still strengthening and mostly improving at age 68.

Got somewhat better then came back. I guess the new year will bring a doctor visit. Hopefully I'll get a definite diagnosis.
The inversion table seems to temporarily give some relief

Definitely recommend a spinal doctor visit. X-ray didn't show anything, but the MRI found unilateral stenosis caused my sciatica. Stretching helped some, as did an inversion table. But for me, the big difference was refraining from stomach sleeping and using a pillow under my knees when sleeping on my back.

My big question now is: Should I reconfigure my indoor training bike with upright handlebars to avoid a long crouched position?

Same - riding is the cure for me...

I have bulging L3/4 discs, a cracked facet joint in the area that can impinge a root nerve - sending me into spasms from my knee up to my shoulder blade - which at its worst lasted for 6 months.

I never thought I could ride a bike again, but it turns out to be the best therapy. And if I don't ride - pain and spasms. Well, I should say more pain because there is always pain...