Leg numbness

[Crivens]

A possibly trivial complaint, but I can't see my quack for a month or so. I'm hoping some of my fellow flyers will have had some experience.

A couple of years ago I noticed a small patch of skin above my knee had gone numb. It was quite weird to press down on it and not feel anything. It stayed like that for 2 years. However, in the last couple of weeks, it has spread up my leg and now covers most of the outside of my thigh. Parts of it are numb, parts are very sensitive (Eg I can't put coins in my trouser pocket now). The skin looks perfectly normal.

Any ideas? Leprosy?

[QDMQDMQDM]

Internet diagnosis of peripheral nerve syndromes is always a bit hit and miss, but this sounds like it could be a condition called meralgia paraesthetica, aka entrapment of the lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh.

Tends to be a bit higher in the thigh and more lateral, though, than you are describing. Generally resolves over time, no clear cause found.

Or it could be something else entirely, although definitely not leprosy.

Go see a quack.

QDM

[Crivens]

Thank you very much QDM3

(And I of course use the term quack in the nicest possible sense!)

[Old Smokey]

Crivens,

I can't offer any suggestions for the cause of your main problem, but you can put your mind at rest regarding the possibility of leprosy.

I spent a number of years in the Flying Doctor service, and saw hundreds of people suffering from, and being treated for leprosy. Whilst medical opinion varies, it is most commonly held that it is usually spread in respiratory droplets from long term contact with another person. The transmission rate is very low, and the "incubation" period is generally believed to be of the order of 7 years.

So, unless you've been sleeping with a leper for 7 years, you have little to worry about.

Some medical opinion will dispute that, but what is indisputable is that it is easily cured with the use of antibiotics.

Regards,

Old Smokey

[Crivens]

So, unless you've been sleeping with a leper for 7 years, you have little to worry about

The ex had her faults but that would be a little harsh!

Thanks for the replies.

What did we do before the internet?

I've googled 'meralgia paraesthetica' and it does seem to describe my symptons to a tee. It is also often bought about by an increase in weight, which as I've become a bit of a lardarse over the last couple of months, is the most likely cause.

However, being a hypochondriac, I've also noticed that it can be the first sympton of a lumbar metastatis, which as my father and all his brothers died of bone cancer has convinced me that I have the same!

Anyway, off to the docs soon.

PS Are self-diagnosing patients becoming the bane of the medical profession?

[got caught]

PS Are self-diagnosing patients becoming the bane of the medical profession?

No.

The medics are very good at sorting out the "wheat from the chaffe," the internet isn't

[strake]

Interesting topic. Last September, Mrs Strake and I were enjoying yet another well-earned break in Thailand when, upon leaving the swimming pool, my left thigh went into a very painful and permanent cramp. So painful, that I went to hospital where, to cut a very long story short, I ended up for 10 days following which I was medically repatriated to the UK. During the time in Thailand, I was on a morphine drip for 4 days and had all the scans, blood tests etc you can think of. None of which showed anything abnormal apart from some mumbo-jumbo about the muscle in my thigh reacting to some sort of electric impulse test. On the first day the result was 900 and on the last day it was 150. The norm should be 75. I still don't know what the measurement refers to but you get the idea. The result, my thigh and knee area completely numb..I agree, it feels very strange.

Anyway, saw two specialist when I returned to the UK. First, a Neurosurgeon. All he seemed interested in was whether I had had an erection since the incident. Despite, it seemed, being on every painkiller known to the medical profession, I was able to confirm that JT was alive and well. "In that case" said the great man, " you probably have leprosy".

Only kidding....

What he actually said was that I should probably see a "leg man".
The leg man suggested that I had trapped a nerve momentarily in my back and damaged it. It might recover with time but, if not..well, there were worse things that could happen to me than this.

At first, my left leg was weaker than the right, especially when going downstairs and the numbness was very weird. Today, the strength is back to 98% in my leg and I really don't notice the numbness although it is still there.

[sywell-flyer]

I've suffered from something similar in the past. A few years ago I managed to hurt my back which I then had quiet a bit of physio for.

Then, about two years ago I started getting numbness and tingling on my left leg, initially at the back, on the left side, just below the knee. Over a few weeks this got worse and spread to other parts of the leg and even at times felt very uncomfortable. My doctor referred me to an osteopath who thought that it was related to my back problem. Apparently the damage to my back now meant a nerve was being pressed by part of my lower back. I had a about 6 sessions of physio, doing different exercises and the problem went away with no sign of it since.

I've had physio for three things now with good results every time - they seem to work wonders!