[john1960]

So with my neuropathy injury in the genital area, it feels like any kind of cardio or movement with my legs (swimming, jogging, elliptical, biking,) seems to irritate the area and make the numbness worse. I am very much attached to my elliptical and swimming as it reall yhelps with depression and I dont know how I could give that up. But I much rather not make things worse. I dont know what to do and its driving me crazy.


Looking for advice from any vets out there.

[john1960]

Could anyone possibly chime in on their thoughts with this?

[glenntaj]

--line something in your sacral spine, where the nerve roots that give rise to the pudendal and penile nerves originate (at the S2/S3/S4 levels), may move when you do, and compress/irritate the nerves and produce symptoms.

Or, you may have compression further down the pubis--one site that is prone to this is Alcock's canal, which the pudendal nerve passes through (between the ischial spine and the bones you sit on) on the way to splitting into **** and penile branches.

Do you do a lot of sitting with bad posture? A lot of cycling? There is an entity known informally as "bicycle seat neuropathy" that involves pudendal nerve compression:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/91896-overview

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11531032

And, have you had imaging studies of the pelvis/pudendal area?

[nide44]

John....,
I'd seriously consider what Glenn has to say.
Don't know of anyone on this BB that could
offer better advice.

[john1960]

glenn thanks for the feedback.

I try not to do much cardio that involves using my lower body. I try to stick to swimming while using a hind flotation device and just using my upper body.

I do sit for good periods of time and I guess my posture isnt great so I will try and improve that.

Whats frustrating is that the situation seems to keep getting worse. Even the most feather light touch stimulation of any place on the genital makes the numbness worse and doesnt come back. Even getting an erection for too long seems to make things worse. It seems like my nerves are barely hanging on for life waiting for that 1 little thing to push them over the edge to die off completely. Best way I can describe it.


Could you reccomend the imaging studies I would need for the pudendal/pelvic area? MRI/CT? Would that be able to find compressed nerves?

[mrsD]

John...

Have you had a glucose tolerance test...the long one?

Diabetic problems can show up where you are having difficulties long before the severe blood sugars are found.

Also, I don't know if you know we have a sister forum that has a "men's only forum" room, to discuss men's issues.
Your problem is complex, some physical and then there is the stress it is causing you. Perhaps some of the men over at our sister forum have some experience/insight for you?

http://forums.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=41

[john1960]

I highly doubt it is diabetes as everything happened mainly after injury. It is definitely trauma related neuropathy and one of the main nerves just hasnt healed right causing a cascade down to all the small periphery branches. That is my best guess right now.

I have been tested for diabetes and it has come back neg. Not the kind you are talking about but I really dont think its the case. I might go in to rule it out at a later time though.

In terms of posting at the other thread, I have tried that but I seem to get a lot more useful information here. Not to much activity over at the other thread.

[john1960]

Also another kind of random question, but could the chlorine in the pool water be effecting the nerves somehow? Probably unlikely but just thought Id ask..

[mrsD]

John,

The link I gave you is not to the men's forum HERE.

It is a distinct other place, where men discuss private issues. No women posters allowed. There are TWO forums run by PsychCentral...this one (where you have visited the NT mens' forum--which is not busy, I agree) and the link I gave you which is to our sister site and very different. That site has more activity and I suggest you try it out. You will have to register there again, because the two are not connected for ID transfer.

I haven't read alot there but I do see many posts on various subjects.

Regarding your injury... it may be additive to a condition that was slowly and silently progressing on its own. That is why I suggest a more detailed look at your potential for impaired glucose tolerance.
Another issue which shows up in the male genitalia, is elevated homocysteine, and/or elevated C-reactive protein. Homocysteine can damage the blood vessels, in the body, including the eye, and sensitive genitalia. Blood flow to that area changes, and then the tissues suffer as a result.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ere...SECTION=causes

This link gives detailed description of how injury can scar inside the penis:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pey...isease/DS00427

This link gives supplements and drugs tried to reduce this scarring tissue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyronie%27s_disease

pentoxifylline has been discussed on our TOS forum here in the matter of reducing fibrosis to damaged tissue:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...pentoxifylline

I would not expect many doctors know about pentoxifylline's potential, as it is thought to be an older drug to improve circulation and has fallen out of favor with current Plavix in the mix.
But I think it is worth your time to look over posts at TOS discussing it.

You can type in that word into the search at TOS and find many posts that mention it.

Also I hope you look over the PsychCentral link I gave you, at least for its support potential.

[glenntaj]

--an MRI of the pelvic area--with specific instructions from the requesting doctor to look for the sacral nerve roots and pathways--would be a start.

A magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) would likely be even more specific in looking at the smaller nerves down there--it is an advancement of MRI technology that is designed to enhance softer structure images--but most insurances still seem to treat it as experimental and won't pay for it.

The pudendal nerve sites I've listed also have information about nerve conduction tests that can be done on the nerves in that area--but these are not well-known (only really specialized doctors/practices do them) and are not always that accurate--it's very hard to isolate particular nerve branches in the perineal areas.