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Scoliosis Now Causing Nerve Pain Down Leg

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  • Scoliosis Now Causing Nerve Pain Down Leg

    At age 46, I was diagnosed almost a year ago with severe curvature, 53 degrees at base of spine and 45 degrees at top. While shocked I've never had any problems with it (maybe ignorance really is bliss), the last few weeks I've had a lot of shooting pains down my right leg. My doctor yesterday said I need an MRI to verify the curvature is now pressing on my sciatica nerve. Discussed possible treatments would be either nerve blocks or neurosurgery to scrap the bone away from the nerve. Has anyone had either of these treatments or have any info about them? Thanks!

  • #2
    Wish I could help

    I am in almost the same boat as you. I am 49 with a 55 degree curve at the bottom and a 60 at the top now. My left leg and left arm are both effected. I am wearing a body jacket to help to support me now.

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    • #3
      some of those symptoms

      Hi I have no advice, just sympathy- I also have what seems to be nerve pain in my L hip, sometimes extending down my L leg. Usually- once the hip starts hurting, I stop whatever I'm doing so it doesn't progress to the leg.

      I've been trying to exercise and even when I'm just walking on the treadmill, my butt gets really sore! My co-workers chuckle, but it feels like deep nerve pain. So perhaps it's due to my curves, I don't know. Sorry I couldn't bemore helpful. Jamie
      57 years old.
      thoracic curve 68 degrees
      lumbar-sacral curve +/- 41 degrees
      Cspine C3- C7 fusion Nov. 2011 <done! success!!>, then scoli surgery T2- L4 or maybe to sacrum.
      Discogram/ myelogram pending. Surgery to be scheduled, maybe fall 2015. <scared but I know this is not going to get better>
      THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR SHARING EXPERIENCES AND KNOWLEDGE!

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      • #4
        To those of you with this sciatic pain:

        I had this type of pain before my surgery (8 mos. ago). I also had a double curve and the sciatic pain got worse and worse to the point that I could barely walk and had to quit working. It also went down one arm. My curves were worsening--one degree per year and were up to 75 degrees each.

        Since my scoliosis surgery, the sciatica has gradually faded away. I could not tell at first because of the lower back healing, but it is gone. Nothing else special was done to nerves or vertebra except straighten my double curves out about 50%. There are other post surgical patients on this forum who have had the same experience.

        I would encourage to have the problem looked into, but also see a scoliosis specialist to see if your curves are worsening and if they recommend surgery. If they are increasing, most likely the sciatica also will. Good luck.

        Deb
        age 48
        posterior surgery 7/24/06
        T5-L5

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        • #5
          The only thing that ever helped my sciatica was a Medrol dose pack. I had a nerve at L4-L5 which became compressed by bone and caused horrific pain down my right leg. I had selective nerve root blocks and epidural steroid injections and they were unsuccessful in treating that pain. Doesn't mean they won't work for you, though. I wish you the best of luck.

          Brandi
          Brandi
          Congenital Scoliosis, 58* lumbar curve
          Combined Anterior/Posterior Spinal Fusion w/Laminectomy May 22, 2006
          L1-S1
          Dr. William Lauerman
          Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
          Pedicle Subtraction Osteotomy @ L3, Posterior Spinal Fusion L2-L4, rod removal with re-instrumentation T10-S1 and Laminectomy February 5, 2009 to correct flatback
          http://brandi816.wordpress.com/

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          • #6
            Nerve Block

            I had a nerve block injection in my lumbar spine on Tuesday at Oxford Nuffield Hospital, it has helped at the moment, the pain hasn't gone completely, it was a nerve pain going from the bottom of my spine to down my leg, they said it was a nerve problem.

            How long do these injections last for, if anyone has had one? Will the pain improve and go?

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            • #7
              Chasing the pain

              With scoliosis of significant magnitude only a scoliosis specialist can really figure out what is happening in the big picture.
              In my case where my right thoracic curve switched over to left lumbar the vertebrae started to slip, crushed a spinal nerve and-the curves were increasing! Now supposing I went to a neurosurgeon and he chipped away at that one spot(called laminectomy and decompression)? But the spine kept curving and other nerves along the spine got squished. It would never end. The same with pain injections; unless the causes are removed then it's endless.

              A scoliosis specialist will determine whether your curves are stable or progressing. He can recommend appropriate therapy. Not everyone needs surgery. Any other type of doctor is a waste of time and money.
              If you are from the UK others here can recommend someone good.
              Original scoliosis surgery 1956 T-4 to L-2 ~100 degree thoracic (triple)curves at age 14. NO hardware-lost correction.
              Anterior/posterior revision T-4 to Sacrum in 2002, age 60, by Dr. Boachie-Adjei @Hospital for Special Surgery, NY = 50% correction

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