SonomaS2K

Hi,
I recently bought a 2006 S2k, and developed sciatica and pretty bad low back pain after two days of steady driving. Now I'm two months into ownership, and really feeling stuck ... With treatment and not driving the car the sciatica goes down... and if I drive it for more than 20-30 minutes, I flare it up. Having the seat far back feels much worse and it seems to be easier to drive with the seat closer to the pedals, but even with that, it still flares up my back.

After 2 months of driving it, with some treatment, and letting it go down, I then retested, and driving the S2k recreated the sciatica flare up, a few times.

For those of you who suffer from sciatica and low back pain, have you found any seat modifications or other ways of improving the ergonomics of your S2k?

Other than selling it (which I'm in the process of looking at), I'm curious what folks have done to help their backs, and enjoy their S2k.

Thanks

hkspwrsche

welcome, location, pics? what have doctors recommended?

SonomaS2K

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm located in the Sonoma wine country, an hour north of San Francisco.

I've had back surgery before, after a fully ruptured L5/S1, and have a full fusion at L5/S1.. But that was 5 years ago, and this is the first big flare up I've had. Didnt show up during my test drive. But the day after I bought the car, we drove up Hiway 1, and about 3 hrs into driving, I started feeling it. Once it inflamed, driving to and from work, kept it inflamed rather than it resolving.

Current treatment is muscle relaxants/pain meds - epidural coming up... the standard conservative treatment.. Combined with I'm doing acupuncture, deep tissue massage and some chiropractic care - which I backed off until I see the MRI a week from now.

Hope that answers your question but if you need more info, please let me know.


I'm not sure how to post pics.. I can email though!

Lice Locket

I doubt its from the car. As far as I know, lower back problems are from long-term stature, and the fact that you just the car shouldn't have caused the problem.

How do you seat your car? REcommended is that the seat is far back enough that when you extend your foot, the clutch is all the way in exactly (w/o you leaning in your butt). And your seat should be leaned back so that when you extend your arms to the steering wheel, your wrist touches the steering wheel and your elbow is bent.

jbotstein1

My mom puts a small pillow or a rolled up t-shirt in between her lower back and the seat. Try that, it supposedly relieves any stress that your seating position seems to cause.

JerryIII

Saki GT

http://www.relaxtheback.com/super-lumbar-r...oduct-1823-1878
maybe?

I do find that reclining the seat back more helps me on long drives.

ImportSport

There are a number of threads that address putting lower back support inside the OEM seats.

The middle perforated leather section actually pulls away from the seat itself. I would not have believed it either, until I tried it. You can put any number of things in the seat for support I have read of anything from a rolled up tshirt to an inflatable lumbar support.

SonomaS2K

Thanks everyone for the helpful ideas, and suggestions!

When you're in the middle of a flare up, it can be overwhelming because there's so many ideas and products for sale for "low back" support. So personal experience is always welcome!

I broke my own rule wrt to doing a search first - thanks for the headsup it's been addressed and also letting me know about what you found out!

Not sure if because of the changes in my spine because of the fusion I got done, and that's there's a fair amount of instruments/titanium rods and stuff in my spine, if it's a little more tricky than a lumbar support issue. So far what I've noticed is that something in my core feels off, when I need to balance my midsection in between taking my left foot off the footrest to prepare to hit the clutch, and bringing my right foot temporarily off the gas. Ie, everything's good when I have feet firmly planted on pedals or the floor, but when I have to make the transitions during shifting, something in my sacrum/L5 area, is not stabilizing correctly.

Anyways, I truly appreciate all of the help, and I will proceed with reviewing the existing threads.

Thanks

vtec9

I purchased my S2K from a gentleman that couldn't drive it anymore due to a sciatica I do not believe it was from the seating position though.. something about pain when operating the clutch. He was unable to find a way to relieve the pain, so he sold the car and bought a manual slk