Have a health question? Get reliable answers here.
Q: My left leg tinkles between the hip and knee. It feels like the leg is partially asleep. It does not hurt but the sensation is getting more common (used to happen only towards the end of the day) and widespread. I work out 5-10/week (weights, skate and walks) and the leg is strong but the knees are a little shot. I also damaged the leg in a bike crash 10 years ago.
A: Abnormal function of peripheral nerves can manifest itself in various possible symptoms, which are a reflection of the location and degree of damage to the nerve fibers and their sheaths. These symptoms may include numbness, tingling, or other spontaneous sensations in the absence of any applied stimulus. This type of symptoms is referred to as paresthesias. Other possible symptoms which may occur include painful, unpleasant distortions of actual sensation, referred to as dysesthesias; excessive reactions or persistence of sensation to a given stimulus, referred to as hyperesthesias; and reduced sensibility to a given stimulus, referred to as hypesthesia. Typically affected nerves for the upper leg are the sciatic nerve and the femoral nerve. The sciatic nerve is made up of various contributions arising from the lumbar spine. External trauma to this nerve is unusual, but local damage to it may, for example, result from a severe fall, prolongued sitting, etc. In addition to these local causes of nerve damage, the nerve may be affected due to a herniated disc of the lumbar spine, which accounts for the majority of the cases. In addition, many diseases affecting the entire organism, such as, for example, diabetes, can cause nerve symtoms in the upper thigh. Abnormal function with associated symptoms of the femoral nerve may occur with mass lesions such as abscesses or tumors, use of a tight pantie girdle, a complication of hysterectomy in women, metabolic causes such as diabetes, etc. In your particular case, the main possible causes to be considered are trauma, herniated discs, and metabolic causes. Of course, there could also be other possible causes, although less likely. I would recommend that you see your physician so that he/she does the corresponding tests to try to determine the cause in your case. Once determined, corresponding treatment may iumprove the symptoms. For example, if the cause is a herniated disc, treatment of this condition would remove the pressure on the nerve fibers and, hence, lead to an improvement in symptoms and possible complete cure.
Updated: 07/09/99
Click Here to ask a MDAdvice.com doctor your medical question.
