Les Bonnes Choses

I think the guys from Amabile may appreciate the following complaint:
Oh, my sciatica!
I somehow managed to get something that I think is a pinched nerve. At some point on Saturday, I started to get some kind of radiating numbness/tightness that starts in my lower left back somewhere around my tailbone that seems to travel along my left hamstring into the calf and down to the foot -- I assume that it's nerve related. For those of you who aren't really limber, it kind of feels like that unpleasantness you feel when you sit with your legs flat to the floor and lean forward to touch your toes without bending your knees. Except, it's correlated with movements that are nothing like that action. It sucks. I suck. Good thing I'm not a horse. I'd be in a bottle of Aylmer's by now. I just googled sciatica, and this is what I found:

Sciatica occurs most frequently in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Often a particular event or injury does not cause sciatica, but rather it tends to develop as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine.

Awesome. I'm just entering into that demographic, so I guess I have another couple decades of this to look forward to. And know what else I can look forward to? Read on gentle reader!

Sciatica symptoms that may constitute a medical emergency include:

• Progressive weakness in the leg

• Bladder/bowel incontinence or dysfunction
  

Granted, that would be an extreme that constitutes a medical emergency, but at least now I have a good excuse to buy adult diapers for those long trips.