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Neuropathy: Numbness only, no pain
Neuropathy | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (508)Comment receiving replies
Hi, Tom (@tomkipp)
I read your post with special interest. I have sensory-motor PN: poor balance, and gait problems, but no pain. I do experience leg weakness and the trace of drop-foot I had some 15 years ago. You mention in your post that as a result of your triple laminectomy, your " … major issues of leg muscle atrophy and drop foot stopped." Reading that made my eyes pop! I have cervical stenosis, but the neurosurgeon pronounced it "borderline" (surgery was up to me) but warned that if I opted for surgery, the surgery might have no effect on my PN. But your post has me thinking. May I ask what sort of stenosis you had? The surgeon seemed to be of the opinion that my cervical discs were too remote from my lower body issues to be the PN villain. But now I'm wondering …
Ray (@ray666)
Replies to "Hi, Tom (@tomkipp) I read your post with special interest. I have sensory-motor PN: poor balance,..."
@ray666 I had a 4-level laminectomy in November 2022. Four months later I was still experiencing balance issues and the spine doc sent me for an MRI of my Cervical spine. The MRI showed disc at C4-5 was pressing against my spinal cord. Surgery was recommended and in May I had one level fusion and that did improve my balance issues. Not totally gone because I still deal with numbness/tingling in my feet, but the cervical fusion made a difference immediately. I was having moments when my spatial perception would become confused. Those moments were brief... but left me really anxious. I don't have those episodes since the fusion in my neck. It was as I was waiting for the cervical surgery that I read and researched and learned that YES, cervical spine issues can affect balance and gait.
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Hi Ray
Sorry, but that’s above my pay grade. They only described it as stenosis. I too had a “back” doctor assess the mri and he laid out a very elaborate surgery plan. I was not happy about his assessment . The laminectomy surgeon was much more straight forward about what he saw and how removal of the lamin would provide relief.