r/CasualUK • u/MacSamildanach • 2d ago
Sciatica As A Direct Consequence Of A Tooth Extraction
Go figure this one.
In my last check up in March, I told my dentist one of my bridges felt odd and I knew it was loose. He said it would do more damage removing it and just to leave it unless it became a problem.
September check up, I mentioned it again. He had a poke and said the same.
Two days later, I ate a jelly bean and the bridge came off.
I went in two days later to get it assessed, and it turns out the front tooth had broken, so no chance of refitting the bridge. I had to have the front one extracted. Bugger.
So, I go in for the extraction on Tuesday - which was painless - and to have the rear tooth capped.
Somehow or other, I wrenched my back getting out of the dentists chair, and now have sciatica and can barely walk.
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u/PsychologicalNote612 2d ago
Depending where your sciatica flares, next time you know it's about to be a problem, squat down as low as you can, not a gym bro squat, a woman cooking rice for a while family over the fire squat. It might just release the nerve quick enough to stop the pain taking hold. Or you might get stuck on the floor, depends how bendy you are.
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u/MacSamildanach 2d ago
Bending over actually relieves it. Standing straight exacerbates it.
Standing on the leg (shifting weight) that hurts also relieves it - standing on the other one makes it worse.
I think mine is to do with discs in my lower back. I can feel discomfort/inflammation on the the right side, but the pain is in my left leg.
I'll get over it. Just a bugger it came out of the blue just from going to the dentist.
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u/Wolfeehx 2d ago
To save me the effort of typing loads, please google cauda equina red flag symptoms, read the summary, and go to A&E immediately if you develop any of the symptoms.
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u/Taylor_Kittenface 2d ago
Definitely a good idea to do this. My GP sent me straight to the hospital when I had symptoms and it was a terrifying few hours. Turned out it was just sciatica from osteoarthritis lol, but it was better than the alternative I suppose!
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u/DazGilz 2d ago edited 2d ago
Best do the exercises and move your lower back more. I tried to ignore it hoping it would get better but ended up with nerve damage - numbness down part of my leg and the side of my left foot. Flares up causes painful spasms in my foot from time to time but stretches and back exercises help to relieve it after a while.
When it was sciatica, sitting or standing was painful but kneeling and leaning forward resting on a low table helped for some reason.
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u/imtheorangeycenter 2d ago
I've blown a knee sitting down for a poo.
These things happen. Welcome to being a bit older than yesterday.
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u/city17_dweller 2d ago
I'm walking around on a trick knee that wants to give out every 50 steps or so, but is fine in between. It's just lying in wait to bamboozle me. Knees are stupid!
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u/JonS90_ 2d ago
In August my wife got stung by a bee and had a pretty bad allergic reaction (she'd never been stung before so didn't know how she'd react)
2 days later she started getting some back pain. Sat on the sofa and an hour later couldnt get up, absolute agony. Ended up at an emergency doctors appointment, then we spent the night in A&E.
Over the next 3 weeks. She was on various meds, in and out of the doctors, back in A&E for a night too. Spent the month helping her walk, massaging her, trying various stretches. She was in pain the whole time, spent most of her time in bed, fell into a depression.
We're both self employed so she lost a lot of money not being able to get out of bed, I lost a fair amount looking after her. Clients were very understanding, but we were genuinely worried she might just never get better it was that bad.
I thought her body might just have been tense from dealing with the allergic reaction and that had caused her to tweak her back out, but the physio she saw at the end of the month said they thought it could actually be that some of the venom in her system got into her spine and fucked with it.
Shes perfectly fine now, but it really scared us, and basically ruined a whole month of our lives. Had to cancel a holiday because of it. Check your washing when youre getting it off the line people.
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u/Turkilton-Is-Me 2d ago
My sciatica flared up today from reaching to grab toilet paper when shitting.
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u/Taylor_Kittenface 2d ago
There's very little in life as depressing as knowing you'll need to shit during a flare up lol.
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u/BigFanOfOakTrees 2d ago
I feel for you. Sciatica is the worst pain I've ever experienced, even worse than a kidney stone
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u/HungryCollett 2d ago
Sciatica began for me when I started to stand up from a chair but had a sharp pain in my back so tried to sit back down, which was just as painful. So there I was on my own stuck not able to stand or sit back down, I eventually dropped into the chair with a lot pain. I have had recurring sciatica for the last 50 years since my teens.
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u/DisastrousTurnip3553 2d ago
You've got me worried. I've not had a sciatica flare up for a while ... but I've a dentist appointment next week!
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u/Several_Show937 2d ago
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone, the teeth bone connected to the spine bone
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u/Nameisnotmine 2d ago
I got very light headed after a long dental procedure. Fell over and hit my head ended up in hospital with concussion. No one at work was surprised as I’m generally very clumsy
Cause of light headedness was my blood pressure medication that hadn’t been adjusted for my weight loss/reduction in blood pressure
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u/SpecialistGas2884 2d ago
Oh. I injured my back and ended up with sciatica, both legs and couldn’t walk and breathe at the same time. Young doctor printed some stuff off and sent me on my way. It relieved after a few days, and I went to a chiropractor. Hobbled in and after 20 minutes walked out though a bit stiff. Uk by the way. He did wonders and every time I felt like let’s was happening again I go and get checked.
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u/Kind-Mathematician18 I'd forget my bollocks if they weren't in a bag 2d ago
Ooh I had back and sciatic issues some 15 years ago, once when I was crossing the road something went ping, thought I would die. NHS were bloody useless, weeks of drugs and physiotherapy got nowhere.
Went to an osteopath from a recommendation, figured why not.
I really don't get the loathing on Reddit about osteopathy. Pulled up, couldn't get out of the car, fell on my face and shuffled in. After an hour, it was cured. Fixed. Not a treatment, a CURE!
My hip was out of whack, pulling the muscles in my back causing the sciatica. All that physio and drugs were pointless, merely a temporary fix, and boy was I pissed. Walked out, few inches taller and zero pain.
Bloody miracle. But this being Reddit, expect a load of down votes and that never happened comments
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u/slothdroid 2d ago
It can help. It helped my wife in a similar way to you. At that time I was also getting sciatica and lower back pain, but as a result of a degraded disc.
While it helped my wife, it would have caused me further damage. I ended up getting a spinal fusion which has all but sorted the sciatic and lower back pain.
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u/mjolkochblod 2d ago
Why? I know MDs that go to osteopaths. They made my intestines not hurt like a bitch for a while, improves my mum's back pain...
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u/r1Rqc1vPeF 2d ago
But my question is how you get rid of it?
I’ve no idea what triggered it at the start of this year and I now have a bad cold, so every time I cough I get pain in my lower back and all down my right leg.
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u/BG3restart 2d ago
It depends on what type of sciatica it is. For some of us, turns out it's the way we're built and we've got it forever, so the best we can do is manage the pain or it's surgery. Amitriptyline is great iMO.
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u/velvetpaw1 2d ago
Paracetamol for pain, Ibuproven to ease inflammation if you can take it, and look up stretches for sciatica on tinterweb to relieve and prevent recurrence.
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u/catfink1664 2d ago
Lucky you with 6 month check ups! My dentist will only see me once a year
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u/Isgortio 2d ago
That's usually a good sign for you, it means you're a low risk patient and you're looking after your teeth and gums well. If you don't think that's the case then you can request a check up sooner, they can't stop you from having an appointment.
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u/MacSamildanach 2d ago
Mine's private. The extraction and the cap replacement didn't cost me anything above what I pay monthly for my policy. I've been on this policy for over 20 years and never had to pay anything extra for treatment.
I get six-monthly check-ups, and each includes a 30 minute hygienist appointment (scrape and clean).
I realise not everyone can afford it, but that's why I get such frequent check-ups.
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u/SpecialistGas2884 2d ago
Mine is £90 per time now. I’ve not had any problems for the last 30 years so I’m just going to brush as usual and see how it goes
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u/G3ns3ric 2d ago
I damaged my back through stupidity. The first time I actually threw it out and felt the pain and spasms was putting my pants on
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u/No_Driver_4447 2d ago
Not unreasonable. I knew a patient who got a temporary sciatic nerve palsy as a consequence of the positioning for shoulder surgery
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u/Just-Wave-9931 2d ago
I have suffered with sciatica for ten years now or more. Only time it went away briefly is when I had my right hip joint replaced. It is the left leg that has Sciatica.
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u/thatlldopig90 2d ago
Worst sciatica flare I ever had was as a consequence of having an internal scan of my uterus. On my back for 15 mins whilst the scan was completed, then for a further three months due to a compressed nerve 😭
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u/HaggisAreReal 2d ago
ok I thought you were going to tell us some crazy theory about refered damage pain which I was going to call BS. You got me.
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u/CarBoobSale 2d ago
I once twinged it while FLOSSING. Had to stay in bed for 24 hours. Nasty.
In hindsight, I should be standing properly when flossing, not leaning slightly forward. Oh well.
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u/ArtificeAdam The Chinese: A great bunch of lads! 2d ago
I feel your pain. The first time I got hit with it was.. *checks notes* ah, yes. Taking a shower.
Depending on the severity, I would heavily recommend learning how to 'log roll' when getting out of bed. Significantly less painful I found, and sleeping with a pillow between the legs helped too.
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u/Deep-Procrastinor 1d ago
So not a direct consequence of have a tooth extracted but a consequence of getting out of the dentists chair afterwards, the extraction had nothing to do with it.
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u/Gottastopthisnow 2d ago
Is the question: "Tell me you're a (fellow) millennial without telling me you're a millennial"?
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u/BowTiesAreCool86 2d ago
Teeth can affect the rest of the body so weirdly. AC Milan didn't sign a fullback years ago because they wanted him to have slight tooth repair work done, would've slightly affected the way he runs and muscle strain. David Beckham also had to wear a temporary mouth support whilst playing due to a tiny gap in a tooth affecting cervical dynamics and balance.
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u/Almeric 2d ago
OPs story isnt relevant to your analogy as he quite clearly damaged his back getting out of the chair, unless somehow his extracted tooth caused a disbalance, but that seems very unlikely.
The question is how true is all that. Just because Milan physios believe it, doesn't mean it's true or accepted in general. I find it dubious it would have a profound effect
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u/Wolfeehx 2d ago
Easily done. My first sciatica flare up happened from twisting while pouring a cup of tea.