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What Causes Numbness, Stiffness And Shocks In Right Foot?
Question: hi
I am currently age 34. In 2008 my right feet got a little numb, I went to the doctor and he said it is a disc problem and it might go away. I went to Physical therapy and it did not help. It did not bother me much until oct 2014. It got numb to the point it was hard to feel the pedals in the car. I went and saw a neurologist who did 3 MRI, top middle and lower back. He found a tumor at T9, T10, and T11.
In Nov of 2014 I did a surgery to remove the tumor. The day of the surgery I was 100% normal except for a slight numbness in the right feet. After I woke up from surgery I was numb in both feet, butt,
entire right leg, lower part of the left leg. Doctor said it will get better.
Over the course of almost 9 months the numbness has not got much better In december I started having electrical shocks in both my left and most right feet. I still have them today. Are these shocks part of the healing process? My muscles in the entire right leg are very tight and nothing seems to make them notmal. I tried physical therapy. Are stiff muscles also part of the healing process?
I did an MRI about 3 week ago and they say it is normal. I also did an EMG that also came back normal about 3 monts ago. Also blood test all came back normal. The numbness, stiffness and shocks are really brothering me do you think these will get better. also I am not taking any meds for nothing
Thanks XXXXXXX
I am currently age 34. In 2008 my right feet got a little numb, I went to the doctor and he said it is a disc problem and it might go away. I went to Physical therapy and it did not help. It did not bother me much until oct 2014. It got numb to the point it was hard to feel the pedals in the car. I went and saw a neurologist who did 3 MRI, top middle and lower back. He found a tumor at T9, T10, and T11.
In Nov of 2014 I did a surgery to remove the tumor. The day of the surgery I was 100% normal except for a slight numbness in the right feet. After I woke up from surgery I was numb in both feet, butt,
entire right leg, lower part of the left leg. Doctor said it will get better.
Over the course of almost 9 months the numbness has not got much better In december I started having electrical shocks in both my left and most right feet. I still have them today. Are these shocks part of the healing process? My muscles in the entire right leg are very tight and nothing seems to make them notmal. I tried physical therapy. Are stiff muscles also part of the healing process?
I did an MRI about 3 week ago and they say it is normal. I also did an EMG that also came back normal about 3 monts ago. Also blood test all came back normal. The numbness, stiffness and shocks are really brothering me do you think these will get better. also I am not taking any meds for nothing
Thanks XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Improvement can still occur but some symptoms may remain.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Recovery times for spinal cord tumor vary, according to literature they can go from a couple of months up to a year, but I have seen improvement beyond that time frame as well, up to two years. It depends on the size and location of the tumor and what irreversible damage he had already caused before the surgery.
The surgery itself while removing the tumor (necessary or it would progress) can cause some additional injury due to the local trauma from the procedure and the swelling occurring in the first days. Other factors coming into play are also patient age and physical therapy, which are in your favour. Some sensory symptoms like electrical shocks are present at times as your spine nerve fibers try to make new synapses (connections).
If the tumor was of a considerable size and had already damaged a lot of nerve fibers though, you must be prepared that some damage may remain eventually, nerve cells are the ones with less regeneration potential and the new connections which are created are not always precise, so the healing process is not perfect unfortunately .
The surgery's job was to remove the tumor, up to now seems to have done it effectively judging by the last MRI, now the only means at our disposal is physical therapy, it's not a question of a healing drug.
The only medication I might suggest is one to relieve the spasticity (muscle weakness), the most appropriate is a drug called Baclofen, if spasticity is marked as you say it should help and facilitate physical therapy as well. If the electrical sensations persist in the future medication for neuropathic pain might be added, but since you are not eager to take drugs I won't push in that direction for now.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
Improvement can still occur but some symptoms may remain.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Recovery times for spinal cord tumor vary, according to literature they can go from a couple of months up to a year, but I have seen improvement beyond that time frame as well, up to two years. It depends on the size and location of the tumor and what irreversible damage he had already caused before the surgery.
The surgery itself while removing the tumor (necessary or it would progress) can cause some additional injury due to the local trauma from the procedure and the swelling occurring in the first days. Other factors coming into play are also patient age and physical therapy, which are in your favour. Some sensory symptoms like electrical shocks are present at times as your spine nerve fibers try to make new synapses (connections).
If the tumor was of a considerable size and had already damaged a lot of nerve fibers though, you must be prepared that some damage may remain eventually, nerve cells are the ones with less regeneration potential and the new connections which are created are not always precise, so the healing process is not perfect unfortunately .
The surgery's job was to remove the tumor, up to now seems to have done it effectively judging by the last MRI, now the only means at our disposal is physical therapy, it's not a question of a healing drug.
The only medication I might suggest is one to relieve the spasticity (muscle weakness), the most appropriate is a drug called Baclofen, if spasticity is marked as you say it should help and facilitate physical therapy as well. If the electrical sensations persist in the future medication for neuropathic pain might be added, but since you are not eager to take drugs I won't push in that direction for now.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Do you think I can get worst or only better?
Brief Answer:
Better.
Detailed Answer:
If the tumor does not reoccur and physical therapy is continued, there is no reason to get worse you should get only better. To what degree it's tough to predict as I haven't seen the imaging and every patient is different anyway, but I do expect improvement, not worsening.
Better.
Detailed Answer:
If the tumor does not reoccur and physical therapy is continued, there is no reason to get worse you should get only better. To what degree it's tough to predict as I haven't seen the imaging and every patient is different anyway, but I do expect improvement, not worsening.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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