need advice asap - sciatica nerve damage/surgery issue
 

Hi, I am 40 years old, always had eposides of back pain, but 2 months ago I woke up with unbearable pain (25 on the scale on 1-10) in the leg/foot, could not step on it, could not work etc. Ended up in ER. They performed neroexam and said that everything is fine, it is sciatica and will get better. Well, next day I had big toe totally not moving. Long story short, saw neuro, he said to go conservarive route but see neurisergeom nevetheless (who I aslo saw and he gave me steroid and said that I should try conservative route too). MRI result l4-l5 disk protrusion with l5 nerve root impingement. Anyway, today is 2 months since that episode, I am definitly better, I still have back pain and calf pain but I am not even using vicodin on most days. However, my foot strenth is not coming back completly, it is better , but still pretty weak. Today I saw neuro again for follow up and he refered me to neurosergent again saying that I should consider surgery. I am in total shock since he is very conservative doctor. He said that I still have limp and in his opinion the strenth will not return unless I do a surgery. Anyone was in my shoes? I see a lot of posts about sciatica pain, but not much about sciatica nerve damage in foot from disk herniation. My pain today is bearable, it is the nerve damage that consernes me. I am going to see surgent nexy week but in a mean time I am looking for simular situation. Thanks!

Can anyone comment? Am I the only one with nerve damage from sciatica?

It's the weekend metoo, the forum is a bit slower then. Don't give up. It might be a day or 2.

:hug:

What kind of surgery are they recommending? I had 360 fusion (ALIF) in September because of leg pain caused by a slipping vertebra at L5 S1. Four months after the surgery my leg and foot nerve pain is as bad as before. My surgeon thinks there is a 3 out of 4 chance removing the hardware will solve my problem. I hope he is right and will have surgery February 3.

I think they recommended microdisketomy, I will find out for sure next week when I am talking to surgeon.

Surgery is not always the answer. Most of the time people's pain does come back to some extent. It seem for a while to get better, then if you need fusions, the pain either goes up or down your spine. Most of the time surgeons don't operate until everything else has failed.:hug:Good Luck!
Fancy:)

I ended up with foot pain and numbing after my first microdiskectomy. The sciatic nerve is comprised of many individual nerve roots and since it is your Big Toe involved it should be your L4/L5 nerve root. I do not have feeling in most of my foot and have no push off motion because of L5/S1 nerve damage. I also have constant pain in the foot. Remember that it takes a long time for these nerves to heal. Something like and inch a month and if a fiber is damaged within the nerve root it must heal the whole length of the leg then. Have patience and just keep working on it. I would have the consult and hear what the surgeon had to say, but I had three surgeries including a fusion after my first conservative surgery where I lost a lot of feeling from my butt to my foot and have yet to gain anything back. However, the surgeries did fix my back pain so now I wait to see what comes back in my foot. No one knows that answer. Good luck.
julie

ANYONE with input?
 

I know I'm responding to an older posting. I'd be curious to know what the outcome of the situation was. I'm in the midst of a very similar affliction. Was diagnosed in May with 2 herniated discs (l4-l5/l5-s1). I had subsequent sciatica, which was treated with MacKenzie technique PT, and a spinal cortisone injection. The cortisone took care of the pain, but not the numbness in my middle 2 toes, nor the limp caused by a debilitated calf muscle. Just had an electrode test by a neurologist. He said there's obvious nerve impingement by compression of l5-s1. The muscle in the top of my foot and in my calf is now less than 20% of what it should be. There is significant atrophy. The neurologist is one of NYC's finest, and implies time is of the essence. He'll look at my MRIs today, and then recommend a surgeon. He thinks I'll be a good candidate for laproscopic surgery (laminectomy? discectomy?). I've always thought back surgery should be avoided at all costs, but I don't want to walk with a limp for the rest of my life. I'm an otherwise healthy and active 40 year old.

Response to metoo
 

Upon reading your account of the l4-l5 disk protrusion with l5 nerve root impingement, I don't see where you have attempted any consultation with chiropractic or acupuncturist. Before you do attempt any surgical repair, take
some time to investigate those options. You may be surprised and grateful you did.

I have experience what you are going through on 3 separate occasions in my life, in 1975, '83, and in 2006. I only had surgery once, in 1983, and I was completely "normal" within a few days after the surgery, yet I have seen people go very "sour" after having back surgery, so it makes a difference as to who the Surgeon is, and how many procedures he/she has done, or is doing. The surgeon I had in 1983 performed about 6-8 diskectomies a day, and he was "flawless". The other 2 times with a herniated disk I let nature take its course, and it's a slow course of about 6-7 months for the herniation to heal on its own, but it will given no recourse.