Herniated disc and numbness

[cristit14]

For those of you that have had a herniated disc, how long did the numbness in your leg/foot last? My pain is pretty much gone, just an occasional twinge from time to time, nothing like the excruciating pain in the beginning. I am working on the weakness with exercises and physical therapy, but the numbness is really annoying. It is coming up on two months now.

 

[Jeafl]

It's been about 13 years for me and I still have pain and numbness at times. I guess I have just learned to live with it. I am kind of an extreme case though, I have 2 discs that actually have large pieces missing, and another one that is herniated.

 

[Jennasis]

After the surgery (microdiscectomy) the pain was gone the second I woke up in recovery, and the numbness/weakness in my foot went away after about 4-5 months. My surgeon warned there was no way of knowing when or IF the numbness would go away...it depends entirely on how damaged the nerve is from being compressed by the herniated disc. It may be a few months, or it may never go away. Luckily my numbness started about a week before I had the surgery, so the damage was minimal. If you've have numbness for a long period of time, the nerve may be more damaged.

 

[HsvTeacher]

The pain went away immediately after surgery, but it took several months of rehab to help with the weakness/numbness. (I had severe nerve damage.) I still occasionally have problems with leg, especially when I'm really tired.

 

[disneymarie]

The compression makes the numbness, aggrivating. I have tried a variety of things to avoid surgery. PT was in a heated pool, streatching. Even hanging on a foam noddle in the therapy pool let gravity release the pressure on the disc. Trigger points to calm the nerve too.

I have herniations, lumbar and cervical from car accident.
The hip, leg numbness comes and goes. The early years nubness calmed down, now it is when I try to sleep the leg and butt will go numb.

I did have terrific relief from lumbar epidural in the L5, that nerve travels down the theigh and calf of the leg. That is the most aggressive I got, and best thing I did.

after 13 years it really has me in pain like a horse kicked me in the spine from pressure when I stand. I can walk and get around, but the minute I have to stand in a grocery or checkout line I am done. For this I have had trigger points in the tenderest of the hip/sacro illiac joint pain/spasms.

Stretching exersizes help, trigger points twice a year around travel times, and when in a flare I have toradol. If I over due and can't get up/right the toradol is an anti inflamatory, calms the nerve down. Like a kick butt Asprin.

The other thing is the epidural I mentioned. I did not do the series of three like some pain managament do, I did one in L5 or C5 if it is my neck. I had not done this in 6 years, but now the pain is getting much limiting so I will make the appointment for L5.

 

[Snoozan]

My DH had his micro diskectomy just over 5 months ago and is still experiencing numbness in the top half/toes on that side. Somedays it's a little better than others, but never goes away totally. Hopefully, it will fade away gradually. He had his herniated disk for 7 months before he finally got his surgery.

 

[cristit14]

Thanks for the replies. At this point we aren't talking surgery. The injection has been mentioned, but we aren't doing it now. The PT and traction helped tremendously with the pain. Now when I have pain, which isn't often, it is only about a 2 on the pain scale. Not like the10 +++++++ it was before. It seems like the numbness in my thigh and calf comes and goes, but the numbness in my heel and outer foot and toes hasn't gotten any better at all. I guess if I can get the strength back and the pain stays away I can live with numbness.

 

[jfulcer]

Had a herniated disc C4-C5 that was compressing my spinal cord pretty bad. By the time I had surgery, i hard tried all kinds of therapy to reduce the compression and nothing helped.

Then one appointment my surgeon told me "if you don't get this done I'm afraid it will sever your spinal cord. 1 week later I had it done and pain and numbness went away almost immediately. Legs still fall asleep really easy when I'm sitting Indian style and I've got permanent tingling in my hands now. Got a little better after the surgery but has never gone away.

I'm glad I had the surgery as numbness had robbed me of most feeling in my feet and hands. I was beginning to have trouble walking as the numbness was progressing up my legs.

I kick myself for waiting so long as I feel I damaged my nerves more severely by waiting. YMMV.

Good luck!

 

[cristit14]

I go back to PT tomorrow and we are possibly going to talk to my doc to to see if she thinks I need further testing or an injection or something

 

[jebobak]

A general rule - avoid anything more invasive than PT if you can.

Now that that's been said...if there is still direct pressure on the nerve causing the numbness, then it's not going away until that pressure is relieved. Your PT is to help get your spine aligned and the discs back into their proper place, along with rehab for the resulting weakness and numbness. Have you had an MRI? This should help determine if the disc is still crowding the nerve, or if there is additional swelling.

It doesn't sound like you would be a common candidate for surgery, as your 'symptoms' are relatively mild. The "spinal injection" typically mentioned is a steroid, which will reduce swelling and inflammation at the site and speed recovery. It's a relatively safe procedure, done under fluoroscopy (like an x-ray movie), so the doctor can maneuver the needle to the exact site of the inflammation and deliver the steroid for maximum effectiveness. It's a quick procedure performed with only a local anesthetic. In most patients, it gives moderate to significant relief of the pain and numbness caused by the direct pressure from swelling on the nerve. This does not fix or address the actual bulging or displacement of the disc, and will not help if there is no swelling or inflammation!

After the issues causing the pressure are resolved, you now have to deal with whatever actual damage was done to the nerve. There will be damage to the nerve sheath (like the outer cover on a power cord), which will heal fairly quickly. The damage to the nerve itself, however, heals much more slowly. The nerve will have regenerate from the point of injury to the site of the numbness. Nerves generally grow around an inch a month.

Again, that being said...your issues might not ever completely go away. There are a lot of factors that determine the amount of recovery...only time will tell. Continue your PT and consulting with your doctors, and good luck.

 

[jfulcer]

A general rule - avoid anything more invasive than PT if you can.

Now that that's been said...if there is still direct pressure on the nerve causing the numbness, then it's not going away until that pressure is relieved.

Exactly what my doctor said. We tried a number of things before it became too serious and I needed the surgery.

I just think I waited too long. It's a fine line.

 

[Jennasis]

I agree, to a point, with the "avoid surgery if possible" crowd...keeping in mind that I had surgery and I very much believe it saved my life (or at least my functionality). If you have a discectomy, the recovery time is MUCH quicker than say fusion or disc replacement. They do not cut through muscle or bone (at least for the lumbar region).

Regardless of what you choose for treatment, follow your doctor's orders TO THE LETTER. I also fully believe that my sterling recovery was due to me following every recommendation/order like my life depended on it. This meant NO bending/lifting/twisting AT ALL for 8 weeks post-surgery and following every direction my PT made and never ever skipping a thing.

I tried PT, epidural (lasted 2 weeks) and chiro (which is what finally ruined my back and made surgery necessary)

 

[Jeafl]

I tried PT, epidural (lasted 2 weeks) and chiro (which is what finally ruined my back and made surgery necessary)

Me too! I went in to the chiro with back pain, and left with BACK PAIN, plus numbness and tingling in my foot. Be very careful with a chiropractor, especially if they don't do x-rays or look at your MRI first.

I don't think there is any worse pain in the world than disc pain, so I sympathize with all of you. My kidney stones and childbirth had nothing on the pain I had (have) because of ruptured and herniated discs.

 

[Jennasis]

Me too! I went in to the chiro with back pain, and left with BACK PAIN, plus numbness and tingling in my foot. Be very careful with a chiropractor, especially if they don't do x-rays or look at your MRI first.

I don't think there is any worse pain in the world than disc pain, so I sympathize with all of you. My kidney stones and childbirth had nothing on the pain I had (have) because of ruptured and herniated discs.

I could kick myself for going to the chiro! I brought current X-rays to him and he said my spine "looked terrific". He never ordered an MRI. When he adjusted me he did this thing where he grabbed my leg, one at a time, and yanked on them. I left his office in more pain than I went in with and 1/2 hour later my leg went numb and I lost power in my foot. I called him in a panic and was told that the numbness and weakness "was normal" and that "it's just your nerves waking up"!

 

[Tomader]

I had a herniated disc and the surgery last year. I still have lower back pain and numbness in my lower calf and foot. Before the surgery I dealt with the pain for months. When I finally went to the emergency room and they did a MRI showing that I had a herniated disc I asked the surgeon if I could try all methods before having to have the surgery. I felt okay for a month and then in January I had to call 911 because I could not get out of bed. The pain in my right leg was horrible. No amount of medication would touch it. I'm glad I had the surgery but I hope this lower back pain I get goes away in time?

 

[Jennasis]

I had a herniated disc and the surgery last year. I still have lower back pain and numbness in my lower calf and foot. Before the surgery I dealt with the pain for months. When I finally went to the emergency room and they did a MRI showing that I had a herniated disc I asked the surgeon if I could try all methods before having to have the surgery. I felt okay for a month and then in January I had to call 911 because I could not get out of bed. The pain in my right leg was horrible. No amount of medication would touch it. I'm glad I had the surgery but I hope this lower back pain I get goes away in time?

The pain in my lower back before surgery was so bad that I know that had it lasted a DAY beyond the surgery I may have honestly contemplated suicide. The only thing keeping me sane and going on was the HOPE that surgery would help. I woke up in recovery after surgery 95% pain free, with only the usual post surgical pain. It's been 2 years since my surgery and I am better than I've EVER been. I ride horses, I play sports. I'm completely functional.

Like I mentioned earlier, the length of time the nerve was compressed will greatly affect the healing process. While I've had back pain since I was 17 (35 now), the crippling pain began about 2 months before I had surgery, with the week prior to surgery being the worst pain I've ever felt. It was a friend (a pain doctor who had done my epidural) who made me go for the MRI and called me that same day begging me not to move at all while he arranged the surgical consult, after he saw how messed up my disc was.