Is an MRI the only way that spinal disc damage, sciatica, etc, can be diagnosed or are there other, albeit perhaps less definitive diagnostic scans that can be used, such as X-ray and ultrasound? The reason I ask is...
At the end of July I noticed a very mild twinge sensation in my upper left buttock when I was sitting at a certain angle, a sensation I hadn't experienced before. I tried to correct the problem myself by improving my posture by sitting more upright with my back firmly tucked into the back of my chair, and sitting on a foam wedge to encourage my posture to tilt forward with my hips slightly higher than my knees (things a cerebral palsy physio recommended to me years ago but I never kept up with).
This did not help, the pain increased in intensity and spread a little more each day, and by the end of August I was in a lot of pain and struggling to find standing and sitting positions that minimised it.
I'm not good with anatomy but my pain is confined to below my hip line. I do not experience any pain higher up in my back.
The pain is difficult to describe, it's like a combination of a trapped nerve, feeling like someone is pinching your flesh very aggressively, and the kind of aching numbness you get in your buttocks and leg when you've been sat on a hard surface too long. Also, it doesn't always remain in the same place. What's a comfortable seating position one day may be excruciating the next, it can even vary from one hour to the next, and sometimes leaning forward or back just a degree or two can find a new sweetspot where the pain is much less.
I called my GP at the end of August, I didn't bother doing so before as the NHS website says that back issues like sciatica usually resolve within 4 to 6 weeks and recommends seeking help after this timeframe or if it's affecting your bladder and bowel control etc.
As expected, GP was useless. Prescribed amitriptyline hydrochloride and paracetamol** and instructed to take these for the next 6 to 8 weeks and arranged a home-visit from a physio subject to the usual waiting list. I haven't started either medication yet. I don't like the idea of taking a painkiller to mask pain unless it's absolutely unbearable and I certainly don't fancy subjecting my organs to 6 weeks of paracetamol. From the research I've done on amitriptyline, it doesn't appear to be a med that you can suddenly just stop taking. This is a concern for me because of my acid reflux which can flare up bad if a med doesn't agree with me.
Ideally I want a scan to determine the cause of the pain but my cerebral palsy and acid reflux complicates matters. My CP makes it impossible for me to hold my body still any longer than a few seconds, so any scans/tests that require staying still for longer periods would need to be done under general anaesthetic. However, due to my reflux, I am unable to lay flat (I haven't lay flat for the last 9 years or so, - I sleep on a 45-degree incline), and I am unable to undergo a GA unless I am simultaneously intubated to ensure there is no reflux into my respiratory system, so it's something I'd want to avoid unless absolutely necessary!
** GP initially wanted to prescribe either ibuprofen or co-codamol instead of paracetamol but I can't take the former due to my acid reflux and I declined the latter as the last time I took that for an excruciating rhomboid injury it barely touched the pain but made me feel properly weird.