I really don't think MP goes away by itself. I had it for over 15 yrs before the Lidoderms came out. It got worse each year!
Now it is just a light numbness... I rarely get the 100 bee sting pain anymore. (Heat and over-extending the leg can bring back twinges). I have to wonder at the definitions of MP..on some sites.. tingling... ppppfffffftttttt. I never had tingling. It started with a feeling of hot water running down my leg while standing, and progressed from there to PAIN.

Of course reading forums like this, for over a decade only brings those who are hurting still. But I have NEVER seen a person come back and say --its all gone by itself!

In fact I've seen some who did surgery and it came back even then!

About 7-8 yrs ago, there was a wonderful site on the net from a university, that gave all the medical papers published on the causes of MP.... it was a fabulous site! You wouldn't imagine all the causes! But they ran into cost and maintenance issues, and whoever maintained the site, moved on, so it was closed.
Surgeries, biopsies, diabetes, falls, blood clots, tight clothing, leg length disparities, sitting on a wallet in the back hip pocket, sports injuries, car accidents, harvesting ilium bone for bone grafts, etc etc etc.

Thank you so much for your quick reply. It's wonderful that you help so many people in this forum.
MP can definitly go away by itself. I've found a person in a German forum which reported that after 9 month it disappeared over night. My pain doctor told me the same. Nearly every doctor I've seen told me that I don't have to worry - it will disappear by itself. That's the reason why the doctors don't think that MP is a real disablling problem. All doctors tell me that I sould just wait. Nobody prescribed the lidoderm patches - I get them on a private prescription and must pay for them by myself. Thats frustrating!!!

Hi penny.
I would be grateful if you update about your condition.
I had a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair surgery 18 days ago,
and the moment i woke up after the surgery i had a terrible burning pain in my left thigh above the knee.
I went to a neurologist and was diagnosed with MP but he says it will go by itself.
He prescribed Lyrica but i still have the shooting pain when i bend my knee in a certain position.
Now i saw a neurosurgeon and he asked for an MRI.
He says it may go by itself and it may not, so it may need a nerve decompression surgery if it does not get better in one or two months.

Can you please belp me?

Yes, this is probably THE question on the minds of all Meralgia sufferers! Perhaps there is a poll somewhere? I'd like to hear from folks who are now pain-free. Especially if they have tips to pass on.

I answered you on the other thread.

I find it odd that you placed the patch on the nerve like that. My neuro told me to place the patch on the painful area, so I place it on the side of my leg, close to my knee. This helps me the most, as it blocks the pain at the point of pain, not at the source.

I'll have to try your method.

The MP pain in most people, is generated not where you feel it.
Many people have compression of the nerve as it exits the abdomen...or at the back near the L4-L5 exit. (varies anatomically for people genetically).

Using Lidoderms on the bottom of the feet, for peripheral neuropathy is less effective than on the instep, where the nerves are, even though felt at the bottoms.

I found Lidoderms ineffective for my MP pain, where felt in the thigh muscle.

So it depends on what your MP is from. Mine was from abdominal surgery. (C-section with exploratory).

Numbing the tips of the nerves therefore is useless because the lidocaine in the patch does not move far from that location.

I would wonder if you have MP at all...but some other pain condition?
I never had side pain at all, only front thigh pain. Some people call any thigh pain MP... and there are other causes. Such as trochanteric bursitis or myofascial pain of the thigh.

I went to 3 back surgeons and 1 neuro to get the diagnosis confirmed, so yeah, I have it.

My pain is down the outer front of my thigh, from the hip to the knee, but right above the knee is the worst. Some days I can't have anything light such as slacks touch me, but I can lie in bed on my side. Firm pressure is much less painful than light.

The nerve is probably pinched in my back. I have a confirmed diagnosis of a bulge in L4/L5. I've been for nerve block shots, PT, acupuncture... you name it, I've done it.

I sleep on a heating pad every night either on my lower back, or on my thigh, and that really helps me I think.

Heat makes it worse! It inflames the nerve and makes for overfiring! I cannot do steam rooms or hot tubs... much much worse.

So if you suspect a back compression, that is where to put your patch. It took 2 weeks of everyday patching on my upper thigh, where the nerve exits the abdomen to block the excessive firing of that nerve. After almost a decade of pain, I was in a remission, which continues today. But HEAT -- that is a big no no. Some rare times if I over extend the leg, I will get twingey reminders of what used to be...I consider that a warning and back off that activity right away!

Some people who have bone marrow grafts taken from the iliac crest get MP from damage there. But you can have it from compression in the spine as well, and damage in the abdomen from surgeries there.

Heat is the one thing that makes mine feel better. I've tried ice, compression, you name it, but heat works for me. Granted, I'm quite sensitive to it, but it seems to calm everything down for me.

I tried putting the patch on the back, and I'm paying dearly for it this morning. So much pain!