[Hanshan]

Please let me recount my story.

From the months of August 2013 through December 2013, I had a series of traumatic injuries to my lower back. Previous tot his period, I had issues with my lumbar region, namely a mild bulge at l4-l5 that resolved itself. In August I was riding an exercise bike when my crotch went numb. This precipitated a bout of low back pain, sciatica and sharp pain in my front left thigh that had me bed ridden for a month. In September I carried a heavy mail parcel to my dorm, which precipitated low back pain and pain in my front left thigh. In October I carried an acoustic guitar two city blocks to my work place, which precipitated more of the same. In December I had a sexual encounter that precipitated more of the same. In January I attempted to hold a stretching position for a minute where my back was arched – this precipitated low back pain and mild sciatica. One evening I attempted to do the “superman” exercise – this precipitated a vibrating sensation in my crotch that went away by the next day.

In December I got an MRI that showed nothing but mild desiccation of the L5-S1, no nerve root impingement. Around this time, one day I was standing up doing work and I noticed that a certain part of my inner thigh had gone numb. It went away by the next day. In February 2014, I begin to get tingling in my toes. This was a high stress period in my life for various reasons. Strangely, the numbness moved around several times. For a stretch of several days my front left thigh was numb (this, perhaps significantly, was the very site where I was having much pain in my previous episodes). I also noticed a few times that I was having sensations of “numbness supernovas” in my spine – it felt like explosions of numbness, a very strange sensation. They went away.

Since then, the tingling in my toes has become numbness overlaid with neuropathic pain that is slowly spreading through my feet. In addition, I have noticed that I am getting intermittent weakness in both legs: I have a weak right leg and an occasionally weak right ankle. Moreover, I am beginning to have weakness in my left hand, specifically the thumb and index finger.

The neuro surgeon brushed off the possibility that the numbness in my feet was related to the L5-S1 disc – he said that the locations of my numbness didn’t neatly correspond to that disc. I am currently working with a neurologist who is in the early stages of trying to get a diagnosis.

In the light of all the above, I can’t help but feel that those early traumas to my lower back from August through December are somehow related to the neuropathic symptoms that I am experiencing. Does anyone out there have any ideas as to whether or not my bad lower back could be involved in causing these symptoms? It seems like too much of a coincidence that my toes started tingling after all of those traumas to my lower back.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Hanshan]

Sorry, I meant to say that I had a weak left leg and intermittent weakness in my right ankle.

[jenng]

Welcome,

I am sorry you are experiencing this, frustrating to be sure. Front of thigh pain wouldn't be indicative of L5-S1 injury. It's possible you have 2 different processes going on. Did your neurologist say anything about an EMG/nerve conduction study?

I hope you get some more insight and find the cause.

[Hanshan]

Yes, nerve conduction study and EMG came back normal, though the weakness issues didn't really start until after the test.