Hi vlboyer and welcome to neurotalk.

Sorry I can't help you with Arachnoiditis. I'm not real familiar with it.

You have quite a few questions. Have you talked to your doctor? I hope you get your answers soon.

Hi Vl,

I wouldn't THINK it is arachnoiditis since it is usually detected on an MRI. But I wanted to ask...what are your symptoms and what did the results of the tests actually say? The only thing I can add other than to speak to the doc again is that I have a friend with Arachnoiditis and is severely disabled with it. Then again, my husband's PM has it and is still working. So, I wouldn't worry too much yet...just talk with the doc some more. Oops, one more thing. I do have cervical and lumbar issues but at one time the pain in my leg was pretty bad. Come to find out, at that time, it was the Piriformis muscle compressing the sciatic nerve. It was decompressed with deep heat ultrasound and massage and the pain down my leg was gone. Also, google Spine Universe and read up on Arachnoiditis; may be helpful.

I did not go to WebMd...but I did find this link for you to look at.
http://www.arachnoiditis.com/disease.asp

Notice that this disorder is basically the result of previous medical interventions (these are called iatrogenic). The organic diseases that may cause it are pretty serious.

If you have not had injections, or drugs that cause bleeding, or any of the serious illnesses, your chances for this are small.

Many people have things that don't show up on tests.
One is that if one leg is shorter than the other, it throws off your whole gait, and leads to strains.

I'd get a referral to a good chiropractor and see if anything can be done. Also Physical therapy is good. I had PT for a serious tendon injury which took care of most of the pain...I still have some and stiffness, but it is not like it was.