pinched nerve or pulled muscle?

[Ms_Lilith]

Okay. This morning, I was putting on a skort, which requires standing on one leg while you put your other leg through the hole, etc.

At that point, my left leg suddenly went numb, and then the numbness was replaced by blinding pain that slowly brought me literally to my knees, bawling like a baby. I was unable to move, the pain was so excruciatingly bad.

I've spent the morning in bed, crying, cus painkillers have done nothing, and it took me 20 minutes of shuffling with a walking stick and my wonderful boyfriend's help, to get to the bathroom. He's had to help me sit and stand, he had to dress me, etc...

It's so painful..

HELP! Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Topher]

Uh - hospital? I can undertstand if you want to avoid that because I just lost my medical insurancemyself, but it sounds like it's worth a trip to the ER (and a long wait, since I am sure you will be triaged to next week) if you can afford it.

 

[SweetErika]

If it's muscular, heat and ice therapy should help a little bit. Apply some heat for about 30 minutes, try to stretch it out (depending on where it is), and if it feels a little better, it's probably a muscle. It kind of sounds like a muscle cramp to me.

If that doesn't work, get to the doctor right away.

 

[TNRkitect2b]

based on your description of the numbness then pain, it sounds to me like a pinched nerve. I can commiserate with you on it, as I have had one before.

My suggestion is to bite the bullet and go to the doc. Pinched nerves are often not something that can be easily treated without medical help unfortunately.

Good luck ,and I hope you feel better soon!


Edited to remove reference to military and cost, as I had a lapse in momory and mixed you up with another vixen on the boards

 

[UnseenChagrin]

I vote for seeing the Doc. It will clear away the suspiscion and then you can get on to treating it ASAP. good luck

 

[chango]

subluxation

have you thought of a chiropractor?
could be a pinched nerve and alot of times that kind of Doctor can help unless it a serous disc problem.

 

[cyberski]

Just a guess, but from my past 13-15 years of having to deal with it, you've probably pinched your sciatic nerve and now are dealing with Sciatica.
I don't know about your feeling towards Chiropractors, but they are my choice for dealing with it. They are way cheaper (?) than medical Doctors.

Read Me and see if this sounds about right

 

[pampermint]

If you don't want to get to a doctor or a chiropractor, you can always get to a massage therapist. You could have a pinched nerve because of the muscles spasming around that nerve.

 

[houston32M]

Advise

Trust someone with PhD on their business card, that works in a hospital.. More so then someone on this board - lol

 

[skme]

HNP...... Herniated nucleus propulsa..... Better know as a herniated disc...... trust me...... go see a Neurologist not a chiropractor...... In the mean time try to rest.... no bending lifting ect..... the symptoms may subside in a few days but still see a Dr.... i promise It will rear its ugly head again.! For more info check out.... WWW. BACK.COM Hope you feel better soon!! Pm me if you have other questions!

 

[sphy2]

Get ye to a doctor. I'd suspect a chiropractor is in order. Nerve issues unlike most other health issues DO NOT CURE THEMSELVES. That said it doesn't mean there is too much wrong. I had a car accident and two months later began having numbness. The numbness persisted for a month as I saw physical therapists (doctor said it was tendonitis) In the end it was one trip to a chiropracter that fixed me up!

 

[cyberski]

...... trust me...... go see a Neurologist not a chiropractor......

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

When my troubles first started with Sciatica back in the mid/late 80's, I first went to a Neurologist for my diagnosis, and his cure?? Surgery...No other way around it no matter what. It was gonna cost 14-15k to get in there and dig around and do whatever the hell he wanted to do and fix it. Well, believe it or not, I didn't have that kind of cake laying around, even with insurance, so I opted for the Chiropractor route, and within 6 or 7 visits I was doing ok, and after awhile it was pretty much completely gone. In the years since it has reared it's ugly-ass head a few times again, but I go back in and I go through a series of adjustments and i'm ok, but still, it's a long way away from that knee jerk reaction of that Neurologist that just wanted to get in and cut away right away instead of letting the body heal itself.

 

[NaiveOne]

How are ya feelin' vixenshe???


Any updates?



We hope you are feeling better girl!

 

[Ms_Lilith]

Okay, so the ordeal happened at 7:30 yesterday morning. I immediately took 1200 mgs (6 tablets) of ibuprofin when it happened, and as I had had pulled muscle pain like it before, just waited for the anti-inflammatories to kick in. At 11, there had been no relief, so I sent honey to get me a stronger one, at a pharmacist's okay. Pharmacist chose extra strength robaxacet. Took two of them, and by 1:00, STILL no pain had gone down. It was as bad as ever. I tried walking to the washroom (15 feet away) and it took me 20 minutes and many tears, etc.

Finally, honey called the nurse's hotline, and they punched in all my symptoms into their computer, and said "well, all your symptoms point to nerve damage or interference, and those things are definitely 911 calls". So we called 911, I got to ride in an ambulance (with very funny paramedics, though laughing hurt), and then I laid in a bed, in the middle of the hallway in the hospital for 2 hours or so. In lots of pain. And they wouldn't let me go pee. But offered a bed pan, right there in the hallway. I decided to hold it.

Finally, I got seen by a doctor (after some really bitchy-ass nurse dealt with me), and he says that it doesn't sound like a pinched nerve, it sounds like I've pulled the nerve, at the root. I had X-rays, just to make sure it wasn't a bone thing, and I have to get a CT scan this week. I've been ordered a week of bedrest, before we go to any treatment (I have a fantastic chiropractor and physiotherapist, folks), and he was very VERY strict on the bedrest. He said that if I move too much, I'll aggravate it more, and each movement could pull a little more and a little more, and if that happens, they'll have to operate on it.

But I still have to move.. I'm told to get up to go to the washroom, to get the blood flowing, to do muscle contractions in my legs and feet while lying in bed, and to have honey help me with stretches, mild ones. I have to take 2 T3's every 4 hours, and I have to take aspirin, to keep my blood thin so no clots form while I'm off my feet (as blood clots do run in my family). So that was yesterday.

I was admitted to the hospital at 2:20, and I left at 8:15. Last night, (oh yeah, I was injected with demerol/gravol mixture, and was stoned off my gourd), was a different story... I laid in bed, pumped full of T3's, and was still in so much pain, I couldn't sleep. I finished my book somewhere around 3 in the morning. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself.. my sweetie has to help me walk,a nd he actually has to SIT ME DOWN on the toilet, and PULL ME UP off of it. Same with bed.. I can't sit on my own, as it's a low bed, and same with my couch (that I'm sitting on).

I have to say, he won boyfriend of the year yesterday. Starting at 7:30 am, he didn't leave my side once.. he put up with tears, both of pain and frustration, he put up with long waits at the hospital, driving everywhere to get medication, catching me as I almost fainted in the hospital (switching from bed to wheelchair so I could leave... they didn't let me leave for an hour after that, as the heart-rate machine thingy didn't even register my heart rate, it was so low, and I had turned beet red with white white lips, and was covered in an instant sweat, and fever).

Today is his birthday dinner. It's here, at home, but I don't think I can make it.. he's going to drive me up from the back of the house to the front, so I can skip the stairs, and then I can shower, and hang out in the guest bedroom all day.. but sitting for that long on a hard chair? Don't think I can do it. *grumble*

Anywho, that's the update. Oh, forgot to mention, my left thigh was numb a good part of the night, but if you touched it, while I didn't feel the touch, I got this sensation that all my nerve endings were on fire. Very painful. It sucked. And my right foot was going numb. So I spent my night contracting my muscles to keep the blood flowing, and staring at the ceiling.

 

[chango]

adjustment

what did the x ray show?
If the origion was non traumatic, still a chance the Chiropractor can help. I would do that before condsidering surgery - there is no turning back after that.
wishing you well
from a biased source
check the links below:

http://www.chiroweb.com/find/tellmeabout/disc.html

Traction of the lumbar spine might help