So I went to my orthopedist this afternoon. As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I have a herniated lumbar disc, which has been causing me discomfort and pain, mostly in my left leg, since this past spring. Lately, I’ve been noticing more a pins-and-needles sensation, mostly in the left foot, and mostly when I stand after having been seated for any length of time. It’s like the sensation you get when your foot’s just falling asleep or just about to wake back up.
I’ve also been noticing more occasional twinges in my lower back, which has been relatively pain-free until very recently — to the extent that I first mistook my original symptoms for a pulled hamstring or something less serious like that. There’s still enough pain to go around, and plenty of it still in the leg, but overall the sciatica has definitely improved, I think.
This new sensation isn’t painful — and it’s usually, if not always, fleeting — but it is a little disconcerting, and I am worried about it getting worse. (Ever tried walking on a fully asleep leg?) I’m worried also about possible nerve damage that the still-herniated disc might be causing.
So I had a chat with my orthopedist, along with a quick test of my reflexes, and then he wrote me a scrip for a new MRI. I’m not exactly looking forward to that — I’m not claustrophobic by nature, but a closed MRI seems designed for the sole purpose of making people claustrophobic — but it will give us a sense of how I’m healing (or not) and what to do next. I was reassured that this might very well be the condition getting better — a centralization of the pain and the nerve itself waking back up. We’ll take a look at the new MRI and try to figure out if that’s the case — or, I guess, what to do if it’s not.
I try not to complain too much about all of this. I have at least a couple of friends with similar back problems, but whose symptoms and pain have been much more severe than my own. Even in New Orleans last March, which is presumably where I first truly injured my back, and where I could barely get in and out of bed, the fact remains that I could get in and out of bed. This has inconvenienced me and made many simple things difficult, but I haven’t been confined to my bed or incapacitated. by the pain. I’ve been relatively lucky.
I’m just hoping my luck continues to hold. In the meantime, I’ll keep doing my stretches and icing my back as needed.
Best of luck with it!
Yeah, if you can put on your pants, you’re doing all right! 😉
Here’s hoping it IS getting better. Chronic pain, whether minor or severe – is no fun and exhausting and depressing in the long run. Good luck with the MRI. I’m about due for another myself soon. For me, the worst part was listening to the horrible lite FM radio in the headphones. I think I’d rather have listened to the clanging of the machine…
Oh, I’m sorry. I can relate with the numbness – it’s a decidedly weird sensation, and although not painful, it’s definitely not pleasant. Plus I always feel like poking my affected bits. Still numb? Yes. Still numb? Yes. Still numb? Yes. Still numb? Uh. Yes.
I’d like to talk to the people that decided that little tubes like the inside of a refrigerator were a good thing to use as the model for MRIs. Not spacious at all. Nor especially comfortable.
Best wishes (best fishes?) your way.