After a recent injury I was forced to live with excruciating back pain, legs that felt like electricity was running through them, and throbbing that caused a toothache feeling in legs. Im still not completely healed but I have gotten much better. The problem was - and is - a pinched sciatic nerve. Since I did not opt for surgery Ive searched for other forms of relief from my pain.
Over the past several months Ive spent weeks on heating pads, endless hours dazed from pain medications, and even resorted to visiting a chiropractor. Although some things I tried did ease my pain somewhat nothing made the pain just go away. I was to the point where I did consider the surgery which can sometimes leave the patient in worse shape than they were previously. Before I finally opted for that surgery, though, a friend suggested I take a good look at my bed.
I immediately dismissed the bed idea because I had recently purchased a brand new box springs and mattress. Naturally I thought a brand new set would be perfectly fine and there couldnt possibly be any connection between it and my troubles. The subject of the bed came up several times, over the course of my ordeal, and one day I finally decided to run some tests on the bed to see if there was any validity to what she was saying. Her suggestion was to place a level on the mattress to ensure the bed was sitting level. We did just that, and lo and behold, the bed actually wasnt level! The problem wasnt with my new box springs and mattress. The problem was actually the floor. Seems the floor was slightly down hill at one corner of the bed. Sitting the level on the bed, first vertically then horizontally, allowed me to see that with my own eyes. Homes have a settling process that takes place over many years. This settling can cause everything from weakening supports to causing un-level floors. The floor could be braced up again, but in the meanwhile, we created a temporary wedge for the corner of the bed. Im here to tell you that I began to improve almost immediately! I started sleeping better, with less tossing and turning, and the back pain has almost completely disappeared. Within the month I was walking better and the electrical feeling in my legs had diminished considerably. Although Im not completely healed and still have some pain, some tingling and some restless nights, my condition has improved to the point where I rarely have back pain and I can walk much better than before. Im not suggesting that anyone with sciatic nerve problems has an issue with their bed, or that leveling your bed will instantly make your health improve. It is a good idea, though, to check your bed just in case it really is un-level. Because of the design of some mattresses it may be necessary to first lay a board on the bed before positioning the level on the board. Check the level both vertically and horizontally on the mattress. There are many different ways to level a bed including floor repair, placing a wedge under a particular area of the bed, or even the placing of boards between the box springs and mattress. If your bed turns out to be un-level try one of these methods for leveling it. A pinched sciatic nerve is a serious matter. It can cause extreme pain in the back and legs, tingling, loss of feeling in the extremities, throbbing of the extremities, and other serious pain. Although you might not get instantly better after leveling your bed you may very well be surprised to find yourself in less pain and feeling much better very soon!
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