Thigh weakness/foot drop after spine surgery

Posted by luamiller @luamiller, Mar 27, 2023

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has had thigh weakness after lumbar fusion surgery which is creating foot drop. I had my surgery 1 1/2 ago and my leg weakness and foot drop are still persisting. Just curious if anyone else has experienced this and if you have has it resolved?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Spine Health Support Group.

Yes! It's horrible. My quality of life is so low and I can't go do things that I once could. I suffered from spinal stenosis L5 L4. After surgery July 2021 I now have a right foot drop and my right femur is so weak feels like 2ppl are playing tug a war while ringing a towel out. It's gotten worse and I don't know what to do. Surgeon seems to just say these things happen however he never told me he cut my Dura while operating. Rather that's the problem idk. Any as advice

REPLY

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Sorry you’ve had such problems. Hopefully you will connect with folks who can share their results.

REPLY
@sbrown293

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Sorry you’ve had such problems. Hopefully you will connect with folks who can share their results.

Jump to this post

Thank you. You're very kind. I love this Site because of people like you.
Best to you!

REPLY
@stashawedd

Yes! It's horrible. My quality of life is so low and I can't go do things that I once could. I suffered from spinal stenosis L5 L4. After surgery July 2021 I now have a right foot drop and my right femur is so weak feels like 2ppl are playing tug a war while ringing a towel out. It's gotten worse and I don't know what to do. Surgeon seems to just say these things happen however he never told me he cut my Dura while operating. Rather that's the problem idk. Any as advice

Jump to this post

I'm sorry. I totally feel for you. It seems some days are worse than others. Ate you wearing a brace? That will help you walk better. Physical Therapy is helpful too. Your Doctor doesn't sound helpful at all. Have you had any testing since surgery or second opinion on your condition? I guess I'm a bullhead and keep pursuing options. Best to you. Please post again with updates!

REPLY
@beedom

I'm sorry. I totally feel for you. It seems some days are worse than others. Ate you wearing a brace? That will help you walk better. Physical Therapy is helpful too. Your Doctor doesn't sound helpful at all. Have you had any testing since surgery or second opinion on your condition? I guess I'm a bullhead and keep pursuing options. Best to you. Please post again with updates!

Jump to this post

Hi Jennifer and all,
Yesterday I had my last PT appointment for awhile. A woman came in with foot drop. I talked with her and she gave me some good info. First, she had on a brace that is completely different than mine and seems like a better choice. She said it's been a gamechanger for her. She said there is a "club" for people with footdrop. I hope I can mention Turbomed. There are a number of places on Facebook with info from others with footdrop. Take from them what makes sense to you. I am loving learning from it. It's similar to this site but just for footdrop. I hope this helps someone! I think it's a God moment thst she came in when she did!

REPLY
@beedom

Hi Jennifer and all,
Yesterday I had my last PT appointment for awhile. A woman came in with foot drop. I talked with her and she gave me some good info. First, she had on a brace that is completely different than mine and seems like a better choice. She said it's been a gamechanger for her. She said there is a "club" for people with footdrop. I hope I can mention Turbomed. There are a number of places on Facebook with info from others with footdrop. Take from them what makes sense to you. I am loving learning from it. It's similar to this site but just for footdrop. I hope this helps someone! I think it's a God moment thst she came in when she did!

Jump to this post

@beedom I’m glad you found helpful information from another patient. You can share that information here as it is helpful health information based on user experience and is welcome. Connect is monitored for spam and if a company started posting advertisements, it would go against the community standards and the post would be removed. You may post a website with useful information to the foot brace or a patient forum or user group similar to Connect. I don’t speak for Mayo officially because I am a volunteer. My understanding is that Mayo considers patients to be good sources of knowledge about their conditions and the goal is to share this information for education and support of others.

Jennifer

REPLY
@jenniferhunter

@beedom I’m glad you found helpful information from another patient. You can share that information here as it is helpful health information based on user experience and is welcome. Connect is monitored for spam and if a company started posting advertisements, it would go against the community standards and the post would be removed. You may post a website with useful information to the foot brace or a patient forum or user group similar to Connect. I don’t speak for Mayo officially because I am a volunteer. My understanding is that Mayo considers patients to be good sources of knowledge about their conditions and the goal is to share this information for education and support of others.

Jennifer

Jump to this post

Thank you Jennifer! I hoped it would be allowed. Info has been good. Yes I really relish info from others experiencing a similar issue!

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.