Pinched/Damaged Nerve - Does It Get Better?

[Ceylon_Star]

When I took my fall off my pony October 2013, I landed full force on my left hip, pinching nerves. Initially they caused excruciating pain, but now, more than a year later, I still have no feeling in my left thigh.

OS who repaired my trashed ankle refuses to believe there are any nerve issues, GP says it would be better by the 12 month mark if it got better at all, and physio worries that one of the nerves (the one that picks up touch on the skin) may have been pinched to the point of severing.

The numbness is isolated to the thigh. I can feel the point of my hip and my kneecap, but I cannot feel anything on tge skin of the thigh and can sort of feel if I poke hard enough to reach the inner fleshy parts. I take weekly shots of hormones with a 1.5 inch needle in my quad, and don’t feel anything. No poke, no pressure, nothing.

So from the sounds of what doctors have said, I shouldn’t expect to get feeling back? Physio helped relieve the pain, but didn’t do anything for the numbness.

Has nyone had similar issues? Did it ever get better?

[Where_sMyWhite]

Hard to know if it will get better without knowing what the problem really is.

Has anyone suggested further diagnostics such as MRI to address the diagnosis?

Nerves can heal but they are very slow in healing.

[charismaryllis]

i apparently pinched a nerve in my foot (new paddock boots, too stiff, should have taken them off and re-laced 'em but i was too lazy), resulting in skin numbness over the last two metatarsals and phalanges (no motor issues at all). it took a year for feeling to come back.

i was launched off a little @%# of a hony in september; landed on my sacrum and iliac crest. no fractures, contusions looking like something out of The Walking Dead makeup department, serious pain, and various numb areas of skin. the numbness is verrrrrrrrrry slooooooowly going away. still have numb spots above the left gluteus and the outside of my left thigh. but based on what you’re saying the feeling may never come back at all…?

do you have any motor impairments?

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Have you seen a neuro? There’s a possibility that the nerves were damaged so much that they can’t regenerate or you might have some scar tissue still compressing those nerves. It took a long time for my nerves to heal after I was kicked but my arm is still NQR.

[ClassyRide]

Watching this thread with interest and jingling for you, Ceylon. I am only 1 month “further along” than you (had a massive surgery in Sept '13, they took out the entire fibula in my left leg), but apparently I am not as good as you are. I still have pain most days – sometimes severe – that the surgeon refuses to believe is real. A portion of my leg is numb, and I have some motor skill issues with the foot/ankle.

If you don’t mind me asking, who did you see and what did they do to get the pain to go away?? I was planning to go to my GP since the surgeon doesn’t want to treat it. Not sure if that’s the right direction. Sorry - not wanting to hijack. Just curious as to your experience.

[Ceylon_Star]

I supposedly have a referral in to a neuro, but based on my doctor’s craptastic track record I HIGHLY doubt she actually made the referral. Unfortunately walk-in clinic doctors won’t make those sorts of referrals, so unless my family doctor does, i am hooped. I was supposed to have an MRI shortly after the hardware removal surgery last February, but it was cancelled last minute (on their end, not mine) so never happened, and they won’t reschedule without a referral and as said, my GP sucks, and my OS has washed his hands of me now. Gah.

While i am grateful for our universal healthcare, the system is royally messed up…

[Ceylon_Star]

As for motor impairments, yes and no. The only issue I have is when riding. What happens is my hip tightens, pulling my leg up, and locking, but because I can’t feel the thigh, I don’t notice it right away. So far the only way I’ve found to get my hip to open again is to dismount and walk it off.

Other than that, no noticable issues apart from the numbness. And I drive stick shift, so i would think i would notice issues then too?

[walktrot]

I made a real mess of my brachial plexus a number of years ago and got quite an education in nerve regeneration from my neurologist. Nerves grow about 1 mm. per day. If you just have a problem with scuffing up the mylelin sheath (“insulation” around the nerve) it should recover relatively quickly. If the ends are close enough together or they are shredded it is likely that they will regenerate and you will see improvements. Also, they apparently will continue to branch out as they reconstitute themselves, so although I only have one “unit” to my deltoid and biceps I continue to see some improvement. The biggest frustration is that I cannot pull my arm backwards or hold it overhead. And I have to eat left handed as I cannot reach my mouth with my right hand.

Remember when Chrisotpher Reeve got a little function in his pinky finger? I believe that was real – an indication that the body was able to repair that one circuit.

You may or may not get some feeling back. It may take years. But I waited 7 months before I got any indication that regeneration was happening. I won’t get the infraspinatus back… It should have come back first. But don’t give up hope. The body is an amazing organism, so give it some time.

Edited to add: I only had one MRI and that was to determine if the root of the nerve was pulled out, which it wasn’t. I had lots of EMG and related tests to figure out what was regenerating.

[2horseowner]

I blew out a disc which damaged my femoral nerve 5 years ago. The pain from the nerve was agonizing. I was put on Neurotin until it settled down. I have never had feeling return from the damage. I have no feeling from the hip down to my knee. I was lucky that’s all the damage I had because the herniated disc was huge. I do just fine, I just don’t feel a thing!

[Ceylon_Star]

[QUOTE=2horseowner;7940912]
I blew out a disc which damaged my femoral nerve 5 years ago. The pain from the nerve was agonizing. I was put on Neurotin until it settled down. I have never had feeling return from the damage. I have no feeling from the hip down to my knee. I was lucky that’s all the damage I had because the herniated disc was huge. I do just fine, I just don’t feel a thing![/QUOTE]

I actually take neurontin (gabapentin) for an entirely unrelated issue, and would not be surprised if it had anything to do with the pain dissipating. Physiotherapy did the most, i think, but i’m sure the meds played a role in it too.

Sounds like you damaged it just a few inches above where I did mine. Bummer!

[AppendixQHLover]

Do you have people that practice reikki there? Go see one of them…I have issues with my hip and my ankle. My ankle one day was so bad I could hardly walk. She did a treatment and two days later it was better. Not 100% but not walking like I am 90.

[GotGait]

I have several damaged nerves. They were all cut so I have several numb spots, but I have one that’s both numb and still hurts like hell. :mad:
None of them have grown back, and they are unlikely to. I would visit a neurosurgeon - they would probably prescribe Gabapentin, but sounds like you have that covered already.
In my case, I had to get a spinal stimulator, but I would only recommend one as an absolute last resort.

[Calamber]

I would find someone competent who practices the Jones Institute’s method of strain/counterstrain. It is phenomenal and helped me immensely. My practitioner, Timothy Hodges, has moved from Washington to Oregon, but you could contact him to see if there is someone local to you.

http://www.jiscs.com/Article.aspx?a=0

https://www.facebook.com/TheJonesInstitute

If you have a Facebook page, watch the visceral demo by Tim, second demo tape today from Westside Manual Therapy.

[Ceylon_Star]

I’ve started to lose feeling in the lower leg now I can feet my foot enough to walk safely, but I have to poke my calf/shin pretty freaking hard before I feel it (similar to my upper leg until it went completely numb). I can’t feel the water (pressure or temperature) when I shower either…

Physio is stumped, my GP isn’t making the referrals I have asked for/need, and accupuncture isn’t doing anything as far as I can tell. Going to ask my endocrinologist for a referral to a neuro because this is what eventually led to my mom’s diagnosis with MS (she lost feeling in one leg, and eventually in the arm on the same side. She can move both limbs fine, but she has burned herself on things because she couldn’t feel that she was touching the hot pot or w.h.y )