I second Mrs D's advice on PT and salt. I have experienced tingling & numbness (at different times) from both a back injury and PN while stretching large nerves. Whatever caused my small fibre sensory PN also caused some of the large nerves in my legs to become very sensitive to stretching. I think it was B12 deficiency but none of the neurologists I have seen agree. I have been taking B12 now for about 20 months and my large nerves have recovered almost 100%

You need to find a good physiotherapist (physical therapist in the USA?)to advise you on exercise & stretching for your back problem. Some stretching & exercises can make your back worse so it is important to find a good PT. I saw two physiotherapists before I found one who I think has the right approach - he advises Pilates-type exercises and very careful stretches which are modified specially for me. I think I now have my back problem under control. I would avoid surgery if at all possible.

I found a difference in the opinions of physiotherapists (even the good one) and the sports medicine doctors who I saw for my back regarding stretching nerves. The PT thinks it is OK to stretch nerves gently until they just tingle but the doctors advise that stretching nerves is not good. I agree with the doctors and I don't stretch nerves that tingle. Every time you feel tingling or numbness from stretching a large nerve you might be damaging that nerve. Large nerves might eventually not recover from repeated injury.

Restricting salt intake is good for lots of reasons. If you eat a 'normal' diet you are probably eating about 5 times more salt than you need and your body carries about 2 litres of extra water to dilute the excess salt. That water has to be stored somewhere. Too much salt increases blood pressure and causes or exacerbates a host of other problems. My simple philosophy is that nerves work by moving sodium and potassium around, so normalizing my sodium intake can only help my PN. I follow the guidelines in http://www.saltmatters.org. There is also good info at http://www.awash.org.au and http://www.worldactiononsalt.com. A simple way to avoid eating too much salt is to avoid processed foods which almost all have about 5 times too much salt.

Martin