The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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I am 27 and work at a big box grocery store, so I stoop, crouch, and kneel a lot. I've slowly developed a shooting pain that begins in my right lower back and extends to my outer right thigh. There is no obvious activity that aggravates it, but today I woke up and it had graduated from "noticeable" to "annoying", so it's time to do something about it. I plan to start a yoga routine because I suspect it has to do with inflexibility. I also think my crappy desk chair is contributing. Any recommendations for better desk chairs? I typically sit cross legged. Beyond that, does anyone have advice for potential causes, fixes, or preventative measures?
Shooting pain is most commonly associated with neuropathic pain, and in this context I'd suspect a back issue. Could even be a slipped disc, either from repetitive straining or lifting something heavy.
You could try exercise for a bit, but if you can afford it, a visit to a doctor or a physiotherapist is probably not the worst idea.
I typically lift ~30 pounds frequently, up to hundreds of times a day, and sometimes at awkward angles. Occasionally lift more than 50 lbs, but always with proper form. It's almost certainly not bad enough to be a slipped disc, but repetitive stress is likely. I'm trying to fix it on my own before I try a doctor, not out of financial concerns but just because I dislike dealing with doctors. If I don't see fairly rapid improvement I'll see a doctor.
Out of curiosity, why do you suggest a doctor? My priors are that they would either recommend what I'm already doing, or recommend a medical intervention that would arguably be worse than what I'm dealing with (like back surgery). Is that inaccurate? It took 15+ years for the pain to get to that point, aggravated by a NEET phase where I was sitting in a slouched chair aggravating back pain for 14 hours a day and in bed the other 10. Working through pain would be better than enforced sloth.
The additional context you provided makes an outright slipped disc somewhat less unlikely, but it's perfectly possible that you have a slower/progressive degenerative disc disease.
Shooting pain of the kind you described, especially going from the back to your legs, is a very common presentation of the same. It strongly suggests pressure or damage on some nerve or the other.
But if it's cheaper for you, see a physiotherapist first, or if your exercise plan works out. If it makes a difference, I am a doctor myself, but this isn't my speciality.
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