Question:

Hi, I have been suffering from lower back pain for a couple of weeks. I think hurt myself while doing abs on an incline abs table. I always felt tightness and stretch in my right leg, which are the same areas where I am experiencing pain right now. I went for physiotherapy and was diagnosed with sciatica since initially I had pain in my buttock and knee area without any pain in my back. Pain in buttock is gone but now I have been feeling tightness and dull pain in my lower back and on the left side of my right leg, in the knee area, which comes and goes. My physiotherapist checked me again, after couple of weeks of physio, and said that the damage to my back is permanent and I would not be able to bend backward. What do you suggest I should do to get proper diagnosis and be pain free?

Answer:

Hello,

Thank you for your question. I am always a little hesitant to dispute what a physiotherapist has suggested to people who email us as I, of course, have very little information about your injury. That being said, I would question the idea of suggesting permanent impairment after such a short course of therapy.

From what you have written it does sound possible that the sciatic nerve was irritated as a result of your abdominal work. Further, it is not uncommon to have the pain centralize (i.e. move from the leg to the lower back) as this type of injury resolves. Depending on the extent of damage and a few other factors that I cannot assess via email, your recovery time could be as long as 4-6 months.

It sounds as though you are not confident in what your Physiotherapist has suggested and therefore I would indeed recommend another opinion. It would be to your benefit to set up an appointment with another Physiotherapist and have them see what else can be done. If they truly agree that there might be permanent damage, you should have some further testing (x-ray, MRI) to confirm such findings.

As mentioned I cannot comment directly on your Physiotherapists diagnosis as I don’t know their level of training, etc. I would suggest that if there is a PT Health Clinic in your area I know and would trust that they could give you an accurate and trusted opinion of your injury and its prognosis.

Be patient! Get a second opinion and I am sure there is something that can be done to rehabilitate your injury successfully!

Thank you for considering our amazing company.

Andy
Registered Physiotherapist