Neuropathy with back pain exercise

@steveinmontana - This is really frustrating and has always been hard for me to understand. The sciatic nerve runs through the spinal canal, all the way down into our feet. If the nerves in the spine are being compressed, and they're producing low back pain, sciatic pain, calf and foot pain, why on earth don't doctors see the connection with neuropathy! When I had my first MRI in 2021, it showed a "slight disc bulge at L4-L5" that was pressing on a nerve, but because I had "no back pain" at that time, the concensus was that it wasn't causing my neuropathy. Instead, I was told I had "textbook idiopathic peripheral neuropathy" - to me, that just meant no one was willing to get to the bottom of it because they could simply prescribe drugs like Gabapentin and Lyrica. Now, after the recent MRI that shows ALL the nerves in the spinal canal are compressed, to the extent it's now the cauda equina compression, the current spine doctor is saying, "Hmmm ... I wonder is this is all related? You need to see a neurosurgeon right away." SMH!! Well DUH! It's what makes me soooo doubtful of what we're told, and are we just being duped into going along with the system that puts money in their pockets and very little relief for us. Sorry to rant - I wish you well on your journey. I can't stand more than 5-10 minutes at present. Can't take any pain meds either until I get the shot - no anti inflammatories 5 days prior. Ugh - not that they were doing much good anyway. < sigh>

@steveinmontana - This is really frustrating and has always been hard for me to understand. The sciatic nerve runs through the spinal canal, all the way down into our feet. If the nerves in the spine are being compressed, and they're producing low back pain, sciatic pain, calf and foot pain, why on earth don't doctors see the connection with neuropathy! When I had my first MRI in 2021, it showed a "slight disc bulge at L4-L5" that was pressing on a nerve, but because I had "no back pain" at that time, the concensus was that it wasn't causing my neuropathy. Instead, I was told I had "textbook idiopathic peripheral neuropathy" - to me, that just meant no one was willing to get to the bottom of it because they could simply prescribe drugs like Gabapentin and Lyrica. Now, after the recent MRI that shows ALL the nerves in the spinal canal are compressed, to the extent it's now the cauda equina compression, the current spine doctor is saying, "Hmmm ... I wonder is this is all related? You need to see a neurosurgeon right away." SMH!! Well DUH! It's what makes me soooo doubtful of what we're told, and are we just being duped into going along with the system that puts money in their pockets and very little relief for us. Sorry to rant - I wish you well on your journey. I can't stand more than 5-10 minutes at present. Can't take any pain meds either until I get the shot - no anti inflammatories 5 days prior. Ugh - not that they were doing much good anyway. < sigh>

@brennankb55 your understanding of sciatica is incorrect so it’s hard to tackle the rest of what is woven here. The sciatic nerve starts in the lower back in the buttock area and the pain may or may not travel down your leg to your foot. It’s a lot more complicated. A visit back to the doctor to ask a more questions would be helpful. If pain is showing up in your leg or foot and it’s beginning in your spine from disc compression, it is called radiculopathy (referred pain) and not neuropathy (local pain). Neuropathy is when the pain is local and its cause is local. So sciatic pain in your foot or lower leg is radiculopathy not neuropathy. Neuropathy can be caused by nutritional insufficiencies and may be able to be treated by supplementation, exercise, and topical treatments. Radiculopathy on the other hand is caused by nerve impingement at your spine, sacroiliac, hip or knee nerve impingement. My sciatic pain is due to nerves which run through my piriformis and buttocks muscles that are in trapped, and when I sit too much my buttocks, muscle muscles squeeze the trapped nerves that run through there and caused pain in my SI joint area. You can go for painful nerve tests and they will tell you where your pain is originating; you can have MRIs done and they will tell you if you have compression in your spine which may cause referred pain to your legs and feet; it all can be related or it all can be different or a mix of both. My suggestion is to continue getting tested and acquiring more specific information. One way you can tell the difference is by rubbing the area in question and seeing if it makes a difference. If you scratch and itch and it doesn’t stop itching then it’s not a local issue. Neuropathies can be numbed easily by top topical ointment, radiculopathies are much harder to relieve by local treatments.
We do get cheated out of good doctrine these days that is for sure!

@loriesco I don't mean to be rude here, but I believe that this site is for sharing experiences, not diagnosing or explaining physiology. By sharing experiences, we can learn from one another and then take that to our doctors for further discussion and research. My kind suggestion would be to share an experience that you've had and allow the person to educate themselves. For instance, I learned that a neurosurgeon did back surgeries from a comment that you and another mentioned, and that my doctors never advised me of! From that little tidbit, I hope to speak to one in the coming weeks to see if I might be a candidate for a minimally invasive laminectomy procedure. I am so grateful for that shared experience!

I hope you have a great day!

@brennankb55 your understanding of sciatica is incorrect so it’s hard to tackle the rest of what is woven here. The sciatic nerve starts in the lower back in the buttock area and the pain may or may not travel down your leg to your foot. It’s a lot more complicated. A visit back to the doctor to ask a more questions would be helpful. If pain is showing up in your leg or foot and it’s beginning in your spine from disc compression, it is called radiculopathy (referred pain) and not neuropathy (local pain). Neuropathy is when the pain is local and its cause is local. So sciatic pain in your foot or lower leg is radiculopathy not neuropathy. Neuropathy can be caused by nutritional insufficiencies and may be able to be treated by supplementation, exercise, and topical treatments. Radiculopathy on the other hand is caused by nerve impingement at your spine, sacroiliac, hip or knee nerve impingement. My sciatic pain is due to nerves which run through my piriformis and buttocks muscles that are in trapped, and when I sit too much my buttocks, muscle muscles squeeze the trapped nerves that run through there and caused pain in my SI joint area. You can go for painful nerve tests and they will tell you where your pain is originating; you can have MRIs done and they will tell you if you have compression in your spine which may cause referred pain to your legs and feet; it all can be related or it all can be different or a mix of both. My suggestion is to continue getting tested and acquiring more specific information. One way you can tell the difference is by rubbing the area in question and seeing if it makes a difference. If you scratch and itch and it doesn’t stop itching then it’s not a local issue. Neuropathies can be numbed easily by top topical ointment, radiculopathies are much harder to relieve by local treatments.
We do get cheated out of good doctrine these days that is for sure!

Actually, with everything you just wrote - it reconfirms what I was saying. But now we are on the same page.

@loriesco I don't mean to be rude here, but I believe that this site is for sharing experiences, not diagnosing or explaining physiology. By sharing experiences, we can learn from one another and then take that to our doctors for further discussion and research. My kind suggestion would be to share an experience that you've had and allow the person to educate themselves. For instance, I learned that a neurosurgeon did back surgeries from a comment that you and another mentioned, and that my doctors never advised me of! From that little tidbit, I hope to speak to one in the coming weeks to see if I might be a candidate for a minimally invasive laminectomy procedure. I am so grateful for that shared experience!

I hope you have a great day!

@brennankb55 At least I'm lucky enough to not have that stabbing pain but once in a while for a few seconds! That would be awful if anyone experienced that all the time!

Hey, I've learned that neurosurgeons do back surgeries! I thought they only worked with the brain! And that orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeon are different and treat back issues differently! I'm seeing someone in neuroscience to have a nerve conduction test next month. I'm going to see if I can have a surgeon look at my MRI and see if a minimally invasive procedure would work for me!