Sciatica pain after PN block

[Voorheesl]

After the nerve block, I went to see my urologist with many concerns about my pain and new symptoms, but she denied seeing me in the future. She said that she is
Off of her limits. It was very shocking for me.

I found a very good urologist, K. Peters, through this site, who has worked with PN patients for more than 20 years. His office referred me to the anesthesiologist who performs the nerve block for his patients, and I saw her for the consultation. But I am not ready to do that again.

Now I am doing soft wave therapy (4 of 6) to reduce inflammation, and I have seen small improvements. I did physical therapy for almost 3 months and still do some exercises at home.

Additionally, I do stretching therapy once every 2 weeks. It’s very helpful for perineum pain.

I found a place that offers dry needle treatment, but they recommended finishing the soft wave therapy before I start a new treatment.

I did research on PEA supplements. They help reduce inflammation and pain. I will let people know if it provides me with any relief.

I hope we will all be well soon and start to enjoy our beautiful lives again!

I there! With us having such similar symptoms, I can say dry needling helps. Pelvic floor trigger points help, and I am getting botox to relax pelvic floor and piriformis muscle in a month or so with Dr Hibner. Maybe some of those things could help. It's hard to think that doing the same thing you have already done with bad results, will help a second time. I am not a doctor, but I would never do one into that muscle again.

Good luck and hugs to you on your decision! Keep me updated.

Lori

[Camelote28]

Hello Lori,

I just scheduled dry needling with PT to see if it will provide me with some relief. I also spoke with my doctor from the pain clinic to get the full picture of what is going on with me. She said that steroids have inflamed my muscles badly, making them stiff and painful. After 18 months, I have been confirmed that my pelvic floor is fully relaxed, with no more tight areas. However, I am still in pain, which could be due to my pudendal nerve irritating my muscles and the tissues around it.

To diagnose the problem, she still recommends (also my new urologist) doing a nerve block without steroids to determine whether the issue is with my nerve or my muscles. If the pain goes away, even for a day, then they will proceed with the nerve stimulator trial. I am not ready for it. I will wait for the urology appointment to make a plan. If it causes me this insane pain again, I want to be sure that I will have everything at home to manage that pain!

I asked about Botox for the pelvic floor and piriformis muscle, but she said in my case it would be more of an increased risk of pain than helpful. My doctor said that usually, they do a shot with steroids again to relax the muscle. Just be aware! I had a trigger point injection with the previous urologist at 3, 5, 7, and 9 o’clock to reduce muscle spasms, which I didn’t have, and now I have all those problems.

Please ask a doctor to check all your muscles internally before any injection. Maybe the doctor needs to find the muscle that needs to be released and do Botox specifically there.

Stay in touch, please.
Hanna.

[Violet M]

Please ask a doctor to check all your muscles internally before any injection. Maybe the doctor needs to find the muscle that needs to be released and do Botox specifically there.

Good advice Hanna.

I considered Botox at one point but my gynecologist discouraged it because the pain relief would be only temporary. And there are some risks involved.

Violet

[onlysams]

Hi there, I was doing some research regarding this, and I thought I should share my experience since I also had similarly situation. So steroids sometimes cause localized inflammation or fluid pressure that hits the sciatic nerve, which explains that leg heaviness.

I also had issue like yours, but my symptoms settled about a month in after I started doing physical therapy with Michael R. Wheeler to stabilize the area. It helped me a lot to get back to normal routine. And I'm always taking precautions not to do sudden movements, or avoid any adventures that can led me back.

[Carnation]

Yes I also have sciatica after nerve blocks that lasts for months.

[eraser]

Yes I also have sciatica after nerve blocks that lasts for months.

I very much though that it was actually caused by the block as that doesn't make sense. It was probably piriformis syndrome.

[Carnation]

Yes I also have sciatica after nerve blocks that lasts for months.

I very much though that it was actually caused by the block as that doesn't make sense. It was probably piriformis syndrome.

Hello Eraser!
Right it doesn’t make sense. I agree I think piriformis is mad over it. I’ve been to four pain management doctors so far and they don’t know Just want to stick a needle

[eraser]

Yes I also have sciatica after nerve blocks that lasts for months.

I very much though that it was actually caused by the block as that doesn't make sense. It was probably piriformis syndrome.

Hello Eraser!
Right it doesn’t make sense. I agree I think piriformis is mad over it. I’ve been to four pain management doctors so far and they don’t know Just want to stick a needle

If they relax the muscle though for you (i.e. paralyse it temporarily) at least you will know. In my case, piriformis syndrome was secondary to pudendal nerve entrapment. My gait was odd at that point so in my case it was obvious and didn't occur until a year into nerve entrapment. Good luck!

[Carnation]

Thank you for letting me know! I do that too plus very little massage on this area. Sometimes I feel relieved; sometimes it irritates me more. How is your sitting pain? Do you feel better? I got a call from a hospital to schedule another nerve block, and I cannot make a decision about it. I'm too scared.
How do you manage your pain?

Hanna

That's a tough call about getting another one. Surely they have other options to help than the block. Perhaps talk to a new doctor who has more options to choose from. Have you done dry needling for your piriformis? A PT dug her elbow into mine the other day and I had relief for hours.
In terms of the sitting pain, I sit on soft things , get up often, and walk about 8k steps a day. It seems to help the sitting.
I hope you feel better soon!

I very much though that it was actually caused by the block as that doesn't make sense. It was probably piriformis syndrome.

Hello Eraser!
Right it doesn’t make sense. I agree I think piriformis is mad over it. I’ve been to four pain management doctors so far and they don’t know Just want to stick a needle

If they relax the muscle though for you (i.e. paralyse it temporarily) at least you will know. In my case, piriformis syndrome was secondary to pudendal nerve entrapment. My gait was odd at that point so in my case it was obvious and didn't occur until a year into nerve entrapment. Good luck!

Thank you!
How are you doing with your recovery? Take care of yourself

[Violet M]

In my case, piriformis syndrome was secondary to pudendal nerve entrapment. My gait was odd at that point so in my case it was obvious and didn't occur until a year into nerve entrapment.

Sounds similar to what happened to me. I had PNE pain first and later developed piriformis syndrome.

It's unfortunate, Carnation, that you are still having problems this long after the nerve blocks. My piriformis syndrome didn't seem to be related to nerve blocks, but pudendal nerve blocks can affect the sciatic nerve and even cause temporary leg numbness in some cases. If it's muscle tension rather than nerve pain, you could try a TENS unit to relieve the pain. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether the nerve is the primary culprit or whether the muscles are impinging on the nerve causing nerve pain so you may have to experiment with different treatments a little to find out what the underlying cause is.

Violet