Sharp pain lower lumbar and also shooting down left leg

[jvand2010]

Last month in February i went to the er and had it looked at they thought i sprained my lumbar, I was too weak to walk for a few days on my own accord and i needed assistance with use of a caine, Well the symptoms have returned and feel just as severe, and with a vengeance  as they have now persisted for 3 days straight i feel weak when i stand or walk and comfy when i lay in fettle position or with my legs bent whilst on my back. when this first happened I thought it may of been from over exercising at the local gym although i always stretched be4 the initial exercise now i am wondering if there may be a different underlining cause as this time all i did was get out of bed and have not done anything remotely strainuose since before this originally occurred So here are the symptoms exactly pain shooting in my lower back,my left buttocks feels like I have someone giving me a charlie from hell every 5 minutes only in my left cheek and it stops around my upper thigh it hurts to stand,bend or walk every now and again i hear and feel a click in the same area of my back pain the spasms are severe it feels like someone slicing into my back with a hot knife they do not go away with compress,tiger balm or motrin.

[squirtatious]

Jvand...sounds familiar, and reminds me of my loyal friends called l5/s1 radiculopathy lol. I agree with jw...do everything possible b4 attempting to get any kind of surgery!!!! There's a lot of options for u out there...take care

[JW2486]

deff sounds like sciatica which is what I have lived with for almost a year now.... 2 surgeries later and still the pain continues. Did the ER do a MRI? I would go see a Dr and have a MRI done, maybe even a myelogram( inject die into spine and xray ). Surgery is not something to take lightly, trust me....

[ewilliamson7]

The pain sounds like sciatica, or radiculopathy.  The question is, what is causing the sciatica?  The nerve could be pinched from a bulging or herniated disc, or an annular tear, or you could be severely out of alignment.  It could even be something to do with your sacroiliac joints (I have SI dysfunction, which we learned after the MRI to confirm a herniated disc came back clean).  Whatever it is, you need a doctor to diagnose it.  I strongly recommend a physiatrist, a doctor within Pain Management and Rehabilitation (PM&R).  I've been with one for two years this month and he's made more progress than anyone else.  Their specialization is to diagnose pain and treat it non-invasively.  They do not perform surgery, but can perform surgical procedures such as injections and nerve cauterizations and work with physical therapists to manage pain.  They particularly work on spinal pain.  Visit http://www.spine-health.com and type "physiatry" into the search box.  This is the site my doctor recommended so that I could learn more about the procedures I've had done, ranging from facet joint injections to sacroiliac injections to cervical radiofrequency ablation.  The only way you can figure this out is by seeing a doctor, and this is your quickest route!  Good luck :)