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Increasing tingling and weakness following lumbar stenosis

Posted by gbeb @gbeb, May 11 3:24pm

Hi all:

I'm very grateful this group is here.

I'm 16 days out of a lumbar stenosis surgery to eliminate a synovial cyst (affecting L5/S1) which had been causing excruciating pain. The surgery was miraculous. The sciatic pain was gone and there was only marginal pain from the surgery. And that's how I left the hospital.

In the last week, however, a strong tingling has developed, almost like an off/on electric current running through different parts of the affected foot including around my ankle. Sometimes strong and moderately painful. Mostly just annoying. Along with this came a kind of numbness which I had experienced prior to surgery and was subsequently accompanied by immobility in two of my toes (again, prior to surgery).

A week ago, the expanded numbness/tingling led to two more toes became immobile. Today, I became concerned when I discovered my right ankle has weakened greatly

I'm wondering a few things:

1. Is there anything that can stem the progress this is making? I was on a six day regimen of steroids which I understood should reduce swelling around the point of surgery and reduce these symptoms. It has yet to do so. Xrays were also taken and they indicated everything is in place.

2. Is the nine-day delay in symptoms a sign of anything regarding the cause? Nerve irritation? Damage? My leg was in better shape after the surgery than it is today.

3. Anything else I should think about? I have great faith in my surgeon. He's one of the best at a top hospital. But, I have learned from other family medical crises that it is best to be as well informed as I can be.

Thanks much,

Gary

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gently | @gently | May 11 9:19pm

gheb, I'm happy you are having such great pain relief. I suspect the nine day delay is because of the cessation of steroids. Three days after stopping sounds about right. I'm responding only to mention that nerves are not reflected on x-ray. MRI sequenced to image nerves called an MRN is the way to determine problems with nerves. I don't know that an MRN would advantage you, You should, though, make sure that the surgeon knows the status of your tingling. It could be a sign of restored circulation.
It is important to be well informed and to keep the providing physician informed. His nursing staff probably know all of the things a patient experiences after this surgery. And your input helps the next patient.

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windyshores | @windyshores | May 11 11:11pm

Just from my experience, could be inflammation after the surgery that will settle down, could be nerves coming back. I am just speculating but have had both happen.

I have numbness and tingling a lot- if I lift something I shouldn't. Yesterday I twisted around to turn off a lamp and have had prickly tingly numb sensations in hands and feet. So far, these episodes have calmed down.

I hope they do for you !

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Phil, Alumni Mentor | @upstatephil | May 12 8:23am

@gbeb - First of all, 16 days post surgery is a pretty short time to draw too many conclusions. The great news is the pain related to your stenosis is mostly mitigated. Congratulations!

I had a four-level lumbar procedure a year ago and a few weeks later I started to experience significant pain in both thighs. Plus I was on hyper-alert for any new pains or post-surgical changes (for the worse) in my body. I asked my neurosurgeon about the thigh pain. That pain was very uncomfortable often waking me at night. He explained that when he "fixed" my stenosis and spondy in the lumbar region, the nerves there began to fire normally after many years of suppressed activity (suppressed by the stenosis, etc). He described it would take a while (with a not very predictable time frame) for those nerves to fully re-awaken. He was right. I am 12 months post now, and the thigh pain has continued to decline but is still lingering. I no longer wake up at night from that.

There are nerve drugs to help manage through that pain if that is what you're experiencing. I stayed away from those and managed with NSAIDs.

Have you talked to your neurosurgeon? And remember - I think 16 days is way too short to draw many permanent conclusions.

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1 reply
backincontrol | @backincontrol | May 12 9:24pm

Blessings to you gbeb! Congratulations on making it 16 days post-op. Those are tough days & many things do & will occur for quite a while. I have had 3 fusion surgeries and am now 11 months post-op from my last surgery. I concur with Phil that many aches & pains occur during the recovery & healing process. Stay the course & do EVERYTHING that your surgeon prescribed. When reading your post I recalled that I too had strange tingling, numbness, swelling, pain in my right foot which all correlated with the right leg 10+ zingers that I had pre-surgery. Thankfully, the electric zinger pain was immediately relieved from surgery but there have been numerous phases in the healing process. My neurosurgeon, nurses & physical therapist were all concerned about the swelling since it could have been a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). Thankfully, imaging showed there was no DVT and it was probably all related to the nerves regenerating & healing. As Phil mentioned there are nerve drugs that can help. I was prescribed Lyrica and it has helped me tremendously and I am grateful to no longer need the medication. Please know you are not alone & I will be praying for you. Last tip, make sure you are wearing good shoes as you walk around your house. Walking is so important to keep your body moving but your feet will thank you for wearing good shoes.
Onward & upward to getting your life back in control!
God's richest blessings!

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marymargaret0501 | @marymargaret0501 | May 19 4:21pm
In reply to @upstatephil "@gbeb - First of all, 16 days post surgery is a pretty short time to draw..." + (show)
@upstatephil

@gbeb - First of all, 16 days post surgery is a pretty short time to draw too many conclusions. The great news is the pain related to your stenosis is mostly mitigated. Congratulations!

I had a four-level lumbar procedure a year ago and a few weeks later I started to experience significant pain in both thighs. Plus I was on hyper-alert for any new pains or post-surgical changes (for the worse) in my body. I asked my neurosurgeon about the thigh pain. That pain was very uncomfortable often waking me at night. He explained that when he "fixed" my stenosis and spondy in the lumbar region, the nerves there began to fire normally after many years of suppressed activity (suppressed by the stenosis, etc). He described it would take a while (with a not very predictable time frame) for those nerves to fully re-awaken. He was right. I am 12 months post now, and the thigh pain has continued to decline but is still lingering. I no longer wake up at night from that.

There are nerve drugs to help manage through that pain if that is what you're experiencing. I stayed away from those and managed with NSAIDs.

Have you talked to your neurosurgeon? And remember - I think 16 days is way too short to draw many permanent conclusions.

Jump to this post

@upstatephil I had a very similar experience to what you described, with a similar explanation from my physical therapist, to what your doctor said. My PT reported directly to my mayo surgeon and was a go-between for myself and the Surgical Team. The issue is pretty much resolved. The pain is 100% gone, but, I am still working on reenforcing and creating the proper nerve firing and strengthening pathways, which, in my case anyways, we think is requiring I build more new nerve pathways than previously thought, which is one of those "slow and steady wins the race," sortof thing. My best congrats to everyone!

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elizadolittle | @elizadolittle | May 20 1:27pm

I had my surgery for spinal stenosis over a year ago. I've noticed lately that I'm experiencing strange feelings in my right leg. I suspect that nerves are starting to wake up. I'm starting to do some driving as well. I'm going for acupuncture. One of the things that used to help me before surgery was having my leg stretched and my leg and foot slowly turned outward by my chiropractor. I'm back to having a monthly treatment. He doesn't do anything to the centre of my spine. I've had more days pain-free since I started going back to him. When I'm in the shower, I turn on the hot water as hot as I can stand. Then I slowly touch my toes. I'm going to see if I can find something to attach to my bedroom door that will help me stretch my back.

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