Nerve damage to foot area, advise required

[Amdrew]

I had a decompreshion procedure carried out at the end of January this year, after a few failed diskectomy procedures. since coming out of hospital in January I've had nerve damage to my left foot, heel area, left outside edge 3 small toes, ball of foot area.

All are ultra sensitive and I get spasms in these area when I walk for a short while, IE, grocers shop, after writing to the orthopedic consultant they say this is because of scaring tissue damage I have previously had and there is nothing that can be done in the future.

The long term back pain at the L5/L4 & S1 area has returned as is the sciatica to my left hip to knee area but not as severe as previously (so far). I have the same medication as before I was admitted which is opioid patches, nerve supresent medication and paracetamol

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Hidden]

Hi there , sorry you have nerve damage I to have the same through a compression in c3c4c5 which I have had fused . The early it is picked up the better chance to reverse it the longer the chances are very slim which can only be helped by medication .

[Amdrew in reply to Hidden]

Cheers, as I was informed they can't do anything anymore because of previous operations. So I'm stuck just now.

[Hidden in reply to Amdrew]

Have you tried pregablin or gabepentin for the nerve pain.

[Amdrew in reply to Hidden]

I was prescribed them a few years back and am now on venaphaxaline they seem stronger but leave me feeling spaced out sometimes and get intermittent tinnitus in one ear as a side affect.

[Hidden in reply to Amdrew]

I have nerve damage all over body which is worst now in my buttocks all down my legs since my second operation in January . I have major sensory disturbance , can't feel my teeth or ends of fingers and mostly in bed my hands go numb all down to cervical myelopathy , I just have to live with my problems also have a neurological disorders in bladder and bowel .

[Amdrew in reply to Hidden]

Sorry to read your in so much pain, have you looked into CBT oil, I was reading information about it myself but was concerned but the pain clinic advised me to keep away from it as it is unregulated.

[Hidden in reply to Amdrew]

Hi there, my problem is I was misdiagnosed and when I was told different it was to late , like I said I have had two operations and I feel just the same so I made a decision that I would not have another operation as I had problems from last one . You seem to have similar problems like Emma and she knows more about those issues than me but I would say nerve damage is hard to reverse, good luck.

[LesE62]

Hi, I have similar problems to you after a L4/L5 decompression and spinal fusion 3 years ago.

I had to wait almost 2 years for surgery and tbh have more pain now....chronic pain, nerve damage and pain in more areas of my body.

As Longsider also mentions, I too have so many sensations of nerve damage from neck issues too. Also neurological probs with bladder and bowel.

I completed a pain management program just before lockdown thankfully and now concentrate on managing my pain better using mindfulness, pacing, breathing etc.

In addition to trying to minimise painkillers as much as I can, I use a Lidocaine patch and take Duloxetine.

Take care

[Hidden in reply to LesE62]

Hi Les, it's a minefield the spine I call it a ladder you can have a problem in neck and hardly any pain but elsewhere it's everywhere and it causes problems with your bladder and bowel if you get cervical myelopathy , at the moment I have so much pain and stiffness and tingling sensation in both my legs but scan says that the lumbar region is ok it's coming down from your neck .

[LesE62 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Longsider,

Yep I know what you mean.

I genuinely feel there's not much part of me that doesn't hurt or have "weird" feelings or sensations now.

My lower back really hurts more than anything else but from head to toes, there's not much not affected but hey ho just have to try and manage things. Today's been a bad day but it's good to be able to sound off here with people who understand the frustration.

Take care...

[Emma2017]

Hi there, I have had 3 discectomies at the L5/S1 level, had little choice due to slow onset CE. But to no avail and just before lockdown it was fused while having a laminectomy a few levels higher up. Same area you seem to have your problems in it seems. The fusion did make things better but left me with a very sore back and still patchy nerve pain in my leg especially in my heel and thigh. I had a telephone conversation after an MRI. The surgeon was happy with the fusion but said the facet joints were badly deteriorated (due to hammering they have had after all this ops). So he wants me to have facet joint injections and an injection (all by X-ray)to help with the pain of the scar tissue (this causes all the nerve pain down my leg still). They really want me to get on with exercises so these injections should help me able to do that , also if they help but the pain returns a denervation will be carried out. It sounds to me that you suffer from scar tissue which is irritating the sciatic nerve, maybe an injection at the L5/S1 level might help. Also myofascial therapy and Alexander technique is helpful.

[Amdrew]

Help, and thanks for the advice, and yes we do seem to have similar complaints, the facet joint injections I've had a few time under local anesthesia with the live x-ray and they gave relief for about six months at a time, unfortunately we are only allowed to receive a certain amount of them I was informed, the Alexander technique I tried year's ago and the doctors from the pain clinic had never even heard of it, I attended an NHS keep fit group for eight weeks at a time which is very mild exercise, but said the class was making the pain more severe, just prior to my last operation I had a number of root nerve injections and 2 MRI scans.

At the time of the 3rd root nerve injection the consultant advised me of my MRI results and said, (oh yes, I forgot to say but your hip MRI showed ball and hip displacement problems), so the exercise is limited for me.

Thanks again.

[Emma2017 in reply to Amdrew]

Alexander technique I would only recommend doing on a one to one base and only with a very experienced and very good one. There are a lot of them about but not all of them are brilliant. Same for the myofascial therapy. I have had the facet joint injections before too. If you have had them and they worked then you could ask for a denervation. Same possibility for the SI joint which gives kind of hip problems. However a hip displacement as you mentioned might be helped by the Myo and AT. It may not be necessary to go straight for an operation. It’s hard though when you pin your hopes on an op but then pain continues.

[LesE62 in reply to Emma2017]

Hi Emma,

Yes I have to agree....I had pinned all my hopes on my spinal fusion getting me back to work, gym, swimming, socialising etc although I never expected to be totally pain free.

Unfortunately none of that happened for me and my life now is not what I envisaged but things could be so much worse. However it took me a long agonising and stressful time to accept that and I think for me it was/is the hardest thing to accept.

It's funny you mentioning facet joints/SI joints in your post....my surgeon tells me some of the issues in my L4/L5 spine have been sorted but it appears after all this, some of my issues are with the SI joints and he has recommended me speaking to his colleague who does this surgery (it's not his area) to consider SI fusion. I was put on this surgeon's list but obv due to covid this hasn't happened yet but have to say....that def seem worse after surgery than before it and I very wary of having more surgery done. Having said that I can hardly walk unaided for more than 10 mins and really missing being able to be active or at least more active than now.

I am 58 and feel am still young to be like this and want to be able to do more physically.

Anyway, sorry I have gone on a bit....take care.

[Emma2017 in reply to LesE62]

Hi yes Les, often it’s not just the lower spine but also the SI joint and sometimes because of the operations this joint gets affected. But I would certainly not jump straight into a fusion of that joint, you cannot put guarantee anything as you saw. I have heard mixed reports about these fusions. Also if you are not sure if it is this joint or not it certainly is worth first to have the injection and then denervation which helped me a lot. Good luck.

[LesE62 in reply to Emma2017]

Thanks for that. Yeah I'm very wary of it tbh but my Spinal Cons has done xrays, mri and it showed sclerosis? He then got CT guided injects done which helped a lot for a time and then later got them done again as it seems they need 2 positive CT guided injs to confirm the prob. To be fair I couldn't believe the difference after them....almost felt normal lol.

That's the only bit that's causing me to waver and if they could guarantee that's how I'd feel after op, I would most likely consider it but I know there's no certainty.

Thanks for your helpful reply....

[Emma2017 in reply to LesE62]

Yes I needed 2 positive injections before they did the denervation. I would ask if that is a possibility before considering an operation. Just a thought. I have not had any bother since the SI denervation with the SI joint (just other probs instead haha). Had that denervation about 1 and a half years ago (unpleasant hour but worth it).

[LesE62 in reply to Emma2017]

Thanks so much for that and will def bear it in mind when /if I ever get to see this other cons lol. Certainly would consider that before more surgery if there's a possibility it'll help.

Thanks again and take care.

[Emma2017 in reply to LesE62]

Did you get to see this other consultant? Btw these denervations only get done by pain specialists and not surgeons. Hope you got an answer either way?

[LesE62 in reply to Emma2017]

Hi Emma,No I haven't seen the other consultant yet - not even heard anything other than receiving a letter a couple of months ago asking if I still needed to see him.

However, I have had to get another MRI a few weeks ago due to worsening neck issues and have to speak to my spinal consultant in 2 weeks time so maybe he will be able to give me an idea of how much longer to see his colleague.

Hope things are OK with you.

[Emma2017 in reply to LesE62]

Oh it’s terrible all this waiting. Hope you get some answers soon and that your neck is nothing to worry about. I got a date through for my denervation (4 levels in my lumbar spine). Hopefully it will be as successful as the last time and that not another load of ops will foul it up this time round. Keep us updated.

[LesE62 in reply to Emma2017]

Hi Emma,Thanks for that.

That's good you've got a date through and truly hope all goes well. Please update me once you've had it done.

Take care