Secondly, I have been suffering from on off radicular pain in the outside of my right calf (varies from a dull ache to more sharp stabbing like pains) and right side lb and top of glute (usually just mild aches and sensation of tightness). I first noticed them about 10 months ago, they come and go rarely being more than annoyance but recently they have flared up a bit more and I am noticing the calf pain particularly when training (olympic lifting) especially when bracing hard or quickly (like when receiving the bar in snatch) I am getting the painful stabbing sensation.
I did have a scan about 8 months ago (probably ill advisedly) showing a couple of LB disk bulges which I later learned can be very misleading.
I am not sure what really triggers it to flare up, currently extension with a bit of rotation can recreate the stabby pain but flexion just feels like tension on the nerve, a bit more than on the good leg.
So I am basically wondering if this is pain I can ignore and it will settle down at some point, from what I understand I don’t have any cauda equina symptoms. Also since I have had this issue I have a been a little nervous of end range extension so haven’t done things like hyper extensions. Should I perhaps be trying to introduce this moment to de sensitize to it?
Many thanks for any help you might be able to give, please let me know if there is any other info i can give?
Glad you are enjoying the forum!
Sorry to hear about this issue. How old are you?
Do you experience the calf and low back/glute pain at the same time typically? Anything in particular occur 10 months ago during onset of symptoms?
Are you experiencing symptoms outside of training?
I know you mentioned symptoms during the receiving position of the snatch - have you tried overhead squatting? Snatch balance work? Drop Snatches?
Ideally, if we are managing loading appropriately then symptoms should regress with time. We’d need to find a balance between dosing in loading without pushing above your tolerance for symptoms. You’d likely benefit from a consult with us.
Also - glad to hear you didn’t buy into the MRI narrative too much.
There was no specific event that triggered symptoms, I only got investigated (MRI etc) cause I wen to a physio about some lateral knee pain and mentioned the lower leg pain and he believed it was all sciatic pain. But the knee issue has since resolved and i think was unrelated.
The glute ache usually accompanies the lower leg pain.
When the symptoms are low:
The glute ache is often not there at all and the lower leg pain pain is just on off background ache both during training and outside.
When I have irritated it as I seem to have atm:
The upper glute aches a bit on and off and the lower leg pain becomes stronger, generally aching most of the time and getting some sharp pains during training as I described in first email and occasionally outside of training if I do a big sneeze or strain for the loo I get a quick sharp pain in the leg and a lesser but accompanied pain in the glute. I have mainly experienced the sharper pains in the last couple of weeks though.
Stuff that I notice in training, snatches on receiving as mentioned, so far this goes away after a few sets, back squats a little pain from tension at the bottom and then the sharper bracing pain when heavier. Overhead and FS seem fine, guess the nerve is on less of a stretch during those movements than BS? Feeling some tension pain in LL doing RDLS and good mornings so have cut the ROM on them.
I have been very careful with the loading since returning after the knee issue adding load and movements slowly over the last few months, i did re add split jerk a couple of weeks ago and practiced them a lot (not heavy) cause I am not great at them, maybe I was too aggressive and that has triggered worse symptoms, timing fits anyway?
I live in UK sadly, do you do online consults?
Ha yes after he MRI physio referred me to a chiro who recommended flexion distraction daily for 2 months, no thanks.
Sorry for the essay it’s quite a hard issue to describe.
Thanks for the additional information. I do think you’d benefit from a consultation with us. We do remote consultations and programming. Here is the link to our intake paperwork: Contact Us | Barbell Medicine. Let me know if you have any questions.
Dealing with leg and lower leg radicular pain can be incredibly frustrating. From my experience, exploring various treatment options and professional advice is key to managing this type of pain. Moreover, I recently prepared a paper on this topic. On a different note, for those in need of crafting compelling statements of purpose, I highly recommend the sop writing service. Their expertise can be incredibly valuable in making your application stand out. How have others managed their radicular pain? Any specific treatments or exercises that have worked well for you? Sharing our experiences could provide much-needed relief to fellow sufferers.