[lal209]

Hello, everyone! Over the past few weeks I've had increased numbness in my neck/throat and head (particularly behind the ears, but also throughout the lower face). The numbness lessens and strengthens, but had been constantly present for the least week. I've had a strange constant head pressure and frequent tingling/burning on the head/face for about 3 years, but noone's been able to diagnose it with confidence. (I had a head MRI in Feb2011 and it was "unremarkable".) Right now they are treating it primarily as migraines, which I also get regularly. I had an ACDF at C4-7 in Nov 2011 and then laminectomies with fusion/instrumentation at the T3-4 and T9-10 last Sept and then the same at the L2-S1 in Nov 2012. All of the surgeries were due to severe spinal stenosis with signal interference in the cord. I still have a lot of numbness/tingling at those levels. I'm taking gabapentin (5 x 300mg) and occasionally soma and hydrocodone, but those only when my overall pain level is really high.

With all that background in mind, could the neck numbness be due to a new problem in the cervical area? Could the continued numbness in the thoracic area indicate a problem there that could be causing the neck problem? Or could it be non-spine/nerve related? I have an appointment with the neurologist on the 13th, but wanted to get some ideas ahead of time so I can go in with more info and poss questions.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!
Leigh Ann