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What Causes Back Pain In An Elderly Person?

Posted on Sat, 24 Feb 2018

Question: My 63 year old son has developed painful feet. It started in middle of back several years ago, & worked itself down to his legs. Now, he cannot walk or climb stairs. I asked my Dr. about it & he gave the name gabapentin', I looked it up, but XXXXXXX does not have seizures or anything such like. I'm wondering if the nerves in his legs are involved, & Maybe you can give some understanding to me. Can he get help, do you think?.

Answered by Dr. Lekshmi Rita Venugopal (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Advice to undergo MRI spine

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
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Back pain radiating down to legs with associated weakness is indicative of spinal problems leading to nerbmve compression. Arthritis, disc prolapse, etc can result in such nerve compression. MRI scan of spine is required to identify the underlying cause.
Gabapentin is not only for seizures, but also for the treatment of nerve pain. Please be advised to continue gabapentin as prescribed and follow up with an orthopedician to undergo the MRI scan. If nerve compression is confirmed, then surgical procedures to decompress the nerves can greatly relieve the pain and difficulty walking .

Hope this answers your question
Please address further questions here
Regards
Dr.Lekshmi

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T