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Considering Laminectomy for Spinal Stenosis to relieve neuropathy pain
I've recently determined with help from a Nurse Practitioner that I likely have neuropathy in both feet due to Spinal Stenosis. 12 years ago I sought treatment separately for both conditions. The Orthopedic Surgeon simply said too bad your back pain is stenosis and you have no surgical options, lose weight (20 lbs overweight) and follow his stretching plan. I did both religiously for 19 years with no relief. I did begin facet injections 5 years ago and that helps immensely for a few months. Duloxetine and Lyrica mask about 30% of the problem with my feet. The NP tied these two timelines together and offered an Epidural Injection test to see if the Lidocaine offered immediate relief of foot neuropathy (yes for about 3 hours). It addresses pain, tingling, fire, pins but not numbness and I think that is what it is supposed to do. I'm on day three after that injection. The neuropathy is back and I'll report her feedback after my April 25 2025 appointment.
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UPDATE: two weeks after laminectomy, cautiously I believe that I have reduced pain in both feet. Both feet are still very numb but some of the associated feelings have gone away or are reduced. They don't feel normal but have much less negative sensation than before surgery. I've gained strength in my right foot (per doctor visit this week). I do have visible foot drop in the right foot. I also have nighttime sciatica that we are treating with ibuprofen 3x / day. I'm feeling positive, walking some barefooted indoors which I never did before. Very little pain from the surgery area, just a little odd feeling that I think I have after any operation.
My numbness in my feet never really changed much after laminectomy. The biggest bummer was the return of a corn on my right foot starting about 2 weeks after surgery. My foot drop is largely due to nerve damage from being pre-diabetic. Also have hypercortisolism which can lead to diabetes, high BP, osteoporosis among other things. Have you looked into having your cortisol level checked. Mine was found by accident when a serendiptous MRI showed growths on both adrenal glands.
I've had 7 back surgeries and I've have neuropathy pain in my feet for 15 years!
I go to my neurosurgeon tomorrow, the 30th of October with the results from an M R I and C-Scan on my lower back so he can determine if there are some nerves ( which had a recent E M G done and my doctor will go over the results of the testing with me and hopefully he can do some kind of surgery to relieve the neuropathy pain in my feet!? Fingers crossed!
@seniordon09
I’ve got sciatica symptoms along with some numbness in both feet. Also talking to a neurosurgeon. Let me know what yours says. Good luck.
I had back surgery eight years ago in order to correct numbness in my feet and balance problems. My surgeon performed a laminectomy. The surgery well well, but my PN issues were not improved. There's a syndrome called Failed Spinal Surgery - a fairly high percentage of back surgeries do not improve the symptoms.
@jillb329
Could you please elaborate on this syndrome?
Thanks.
I also had Laminectomy I don't thing it will help,it didn't for me, The problem is further down the line towards feet,I did therapy that received my pain from a 10-0 in 5 days, is was great why it lasted,but because I now have spinal stenosis and that causes the therapy to only last for me for about 7 days ,The major signal never made it pass the stenosis, Check out Axon Therapy in Augusta Georgia VA they have about 87 % success rate ,there a lot of clients now outside the VA system that are now opening.
Good luck
Update Nov 2, 2025. I believe that the laminectomy results are still good. Much of the original foot pain is improved. I am getting pain in my left big toe. This was one area of pain from before the surgery. That is still considerably less than pre surgery when both feet hurt up through my ankles. I don't have a 6 month follow up scheduled but I do plan on making an appointment to discuss this issue. It's aggravating but not debilitating. I can walk up to one mile and stand for 30 minutes which are both much better than before surgery. I am exploring stem cell treatment. I fully realize that it is at best experimental. If I can fully understand the risks and don't think it will harm me I'll try it.
@bttpe1961
I had this surgery 13 years ago. If I had not had it, I would not be able to move my legs or arms. That was accomplished, however the resulting neck pain and stiffness is intense requiring strong muscle relaxants and daily narcotics. It’s a toss up that I wish I had known. I still would have done the surgery. I have a lot of feet neuropathy but I also have MS and wanted to be independent for as long as I can.