Question:
My Thigh Has Been DEAD, NUMB, PINS & NEEDLES FOR WEEKS
It is so painful, especially at night - when I woke up from surgery it was also black and blue - any suggestions on how I can get some relief from this pain? Or what caused it, (no one, even the doc. seems to know). — Surgery 2001 (posted on May 24, 2001)
May 24, 2001
I would first talk to my surgeon and let him/her know about what is going
on..Some things that come to mind are some side affects from an epidural of
possible blood clots either way your surgeon needs to know all about it
asap.. I'm sure he/she will make the determination for follow up tests on
either count..
— Victoria B.
May 24, 2001
Diane, from what you are describing it is called Meralgia Paresthetica. I
am going to forward some info to you about this. I to have this problem
and from what I have been told it only happens in a very small precentage
of the surgeries, we just happen to be the lucky ones. You definitely need
to be on medication, it helps tremendously. We can thank Katie B. for
bringing this to my attention. Congrats on the weight loss so far.
— Barry R.
May 24, 2001
Diane, I hope you follow up on this one. Barry's theory makes a lot of
sense, and you shouldn't be suffering needlessly. In your profile, you
mentioned that you had complications (a lost instrument and an infection to
one of the surgical wounds). Do you know how long you were under
anesthesia? It is quite possible - especially since you woke up with this
and hadn't experienced it before WLS - that this is a nerve compression
problem due to positioning and lenghth of time in the position during
surgery, not uncommon amongst obese patients. These things happen, but it
seems to me your doctor should be a little more educated on surgical
complications. If he doesn't know what it is, how is he treating it? Take
Barry's literature and print the following:
http://www.angelfire.com/mn/meralgia/description.html give it to your
doctor and ask him to investigate. If he doesn't check it out, seek a
second opinion. Good news is that its treatable and not permanent, nor
does it indicate further complications down the road. In the meantime, get
some relief, girl!
— [Anonymous]
May 25, 2001
Hi Diane,
I had this after Lap surgery in Aug. 2000 for Acid Reflux. The surgeon said
it was due to being strapped down too tight on the OR table and that it had
to do with the nerves and all. He advised me it would be annoying but all
was okay and in a few months it would go away. He was right! I remember
some tingling in Feb. but nothing beyond that. Everything is fine now. I
never needed anything for it. Again, just annoying! I didn't experience
this with my WLS surgery in April but I wonder if that was due to being
open not LAP.
— Linda M.
May 25, 2001
Diane,
I am ten days post op and am having a terrible problem with my left leg. I
have notified my surgeon's office, they didn't seem too concerned with it
so I went to another doctor. He sent me for a venus doppler test. It was
an ultrasound of my entire left leg to rule out blood clots; thanks
goodness I passed, no blood clots, so now he believes that I too was
strapped to the operating table too tight or that when strapped they
pinched a nerve in doing so. I find that using a heating pad on my leg at
night gives much relief and the more I walk during the day the less it
hurts at night. Check it out with a doc as it could be a blood clot.
GoodLuck
— Vicki M.
May 30, 2001
I had a hysterectomy last May, and aftrward have had a very large place on
my thigh that is completely numb. My surgeon said it may stay that way for
as long as 2 years. I am noticing lately that the numb area seems to be
getting a little smaller, so think with time I will recover at least some
feeling. If your leg gets to the point where there is no pins and needles,
you should adjust to the loss of feeling pretty easily.
— Angela T.
May 30, 2001
I agree with Barry, its meralgia paresthitica, I would be quite concerned
if your surgeon didn't at least know that. It's nerve damage and will
repair itself. It can take a few weeks to over 1 yr. Barry has it bad,
sorry barry. Mine is all but gone now, had my surgery 4-23-01.
Upon questioning my Dr. further, they were (the office) aware that it is
mainly caused by belts that are too wide and/or too tight. They said they
don't use them aroundthe hips at all now. Nor with me, so they don't know
what caused it. They changed the retractors they used too, opting for
smaller ones. They still have this problem in a fair amount of patients.
Good luck, I hope your nerve (and Barry's) heal sooner than later. -Katie
— KATIE B.
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