It’s hard dealing with chronic pain at a young age of 30.
I thought that I’d be one of the lucky few who gets to an old age without any serious health complications. But that all came to an abrupt end at the age of 18 when I injured my back playing varsity soccer. During the following three years, I started using a heavy messenger bag each day at school that would put all of the weight on one single shoulder. All of these factors led to sciatic nerve damage at the base of my back on the left side of my body. For about a year I had so much chronic sciatic pain that I almost started using a cane. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that it could permanently affect the way I walk and get around. I didn’t want to become reliant on a walking aid too soon if I could manage without one. I’m glad because these issues improved slightly as time went on. But now that I’m a full time caregiver to a person who is completely disabled, I’m getting my sciatic nerve pain again. One of the only things that helps are lidocaine patches that I put directly over the spot on my lower back where the pain emanates from. I’m also a daily cannabis user. I have a medical marijuana card and shop at medical cannabis dispensaries that are located all around my county. Cannabis is one of the only things that helps relieve my sciatic nerve pain beyond the lidocaine patches. Using both together leads to a lot of relief and satisfaction. I just wish that I could get both for much cheaper, but I guess I can’t ask for everything.