Naproxen sodium is also a lot better, and is slightly safer than ibuprofen to take for extended periods. I had severe sciatica for the better part of a year, and the only thing that kept me somewhat functional was ~1000mg/day of naproxen, which isn’t great for you but would’ve been a lot worse if it had been ibuprofen (never mind opiates or something).

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opan 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Did your sciatica go away on its own or did you introduce some new exercises to your routine? I've had some pain in my left leg for a few months now that is likely sciatica. I did go to the doctor, but it wasn't a particularly helpful visit.

	▲	Analemma_ 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		I did physical therapy which mostly involved strengthening core muscles - if the cause is a herniated disc, which it usually is, this can slightly speed up the recovery process because a stronger core can push the disc back into place. But this is a speedup in the sense of "8-10 months instead of 10-12". Welcome, certainly, but not a silver bullet. The other thing the PT taught me was nerve glides (also called nerve flosses). These don't seem to make recovery any faster, but help a decent amount with pain and tightness . Sadly, that plus loading up on NSAIDs appears to be about all you can do for most cases of sciatica. I got a consult with a back surgeon who basically said, "I can operate if you want, but it probably won't help much, you just have to wait". Good luck: it can be a pretty miserable time, but the good news is that most cases of sciatica do in fact clear up on their own even without PT. It can just take a while and you'll be hurting in the meantime.

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__alexs 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have an emergency Naproxen stash for the occasional gout flare-up and it's so much more effective than Ibuprofen it's amazing.

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init2null 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's also even worse at gastrointestinal problems, for those affected. That's why it's less commonly used.

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propter_hoc 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That's fair, but naproxen is OTC or prescription-only in many jurisdictions.