Hey, nice to meet you all! I'm new to this forum and in a bit of a jam right now. I'm about 3/4 of the way through a flip flop thru-hike of the AT. I flipped up to Maine from Peekskill, NY about two weeks ago. And I just hit Katahdin and the 100 MW harder than I should have with heavy ibuprofen use. Right now I'm in Monson with sciatic inflammation. And I think how I handle this could potentially be the difference between finishing my hike or having it end before I get out of Maine.
In 2008, I had an L5-S1 fusion in my lower back. So I'm familiar with this pain. It tends to flares up occasionally when I hit intense uphill climbs harder than I ought to. I actually had to get off trail for a few days in Tennessee for a similar flare up. But I did it to myself a bit worse this time.
Today was a zero day for me. And I have another one scheduled tomorrow. I've spent this whole day resting, stretching, and decompressing my spine on an inversion table. I'm thinking of doing some heavy icing too. Has anybody else experienced a similar problem? If so, what's the best way to get an acute sciatic flare-up to calm down? I'm willing to do whatever I can to get through this. I've got about 650 miles left to go. And I don't care if it takes me until the middle of November to finish this thing.😂Thanks for any advice you can give!