muscle pain from nerve damage?

[ReachtheSummit]

To all of you post ADR people who had the so called "distraction pains." I have heard and felt the often described nerve pains post-op such as burning, aching etc. I am wondering if any of you have had extreme muscle soreness in the affected dermatome. Since I woke up from surgery I have had horrible muscle pain in my right quadriceps on the middle to outside of the leg. At first I thought it was from my gait changing, but after almost 9 weeks and no improvement I think it might be nerve related, although am not sure how this works. My quads ,only on this leg which coincidently was the one that lost function after surgery, feel like I have been doing squats or heavy weight training. The muscles are very painful to touch. I have had massages, ice, heat rest, etc. but have seen absolutley no change. Having massage is excruciting and even a light object sitting on my lap causes pain. It almost feels like a deep bruising or charley horse. Have any of you experienced anything like this? If so what helped and how long did it last?y?

[Harrison]

Jenny, I dunno if this helps...but as a result of my L5-S1 injury, my body mechanics changed a lot! My quads, glutes (etc.!) were atrophied from the over-compensation of my other muscles, so they were all working a little harder after ADR!

Perhaps this is your body's way of saying, "What's Up!?" At least, I hope it's this simple...try to be patient with your body -- I know it's hard since your experiencing pain and want answers.

I wish that we could have a 1 on 1 with a PT or muscular therapist that is very familiar with these kinds of post-op issues. We do have a new member who is a massage expert -- are you there newbie?!

[Poncho]

Hi RTS,

Hard to say at this point. My own experience with distraction pain is more less just the traveling sciatic pain and muscle twitching - which I had throughout spineyhood. However, both improved immensely about 2 - 3 months post ADR.

[Wayne]

I have had similar problems with muscle (distraction pain). I'll be 10 weeks post op this Friday and have just spent the last 3 days in a state of remarkable discomfort considering how well I was doing prior. (I have two Charites L4-5, L5-S1 by Dr. Zeegers)

I've had the burning sensations, sore muscles in the calves, hips, ankles and this last 3 days a tremendous fatigue. I've been sleeping at all the wrong times (most of the day) and staying awake at night, sleeping between waking from discomfort.

I had a rough start after the procedure and it took me about two weeks before I could be vertical for more than 2 hours and about 6 weeks to be on my feet all day without regular resting sessions. I was taking pain medication regularly, but not excessively and committed to being off of them as soon as possible. I've been walking about 3 miles a day most ever day except this week. All of the discomfort I've experienced has been tolerable, and from the information I gathered here and at the BPSG Website, presumed all this was normal and the discomfort would go away soon.

At the end of 6 weeks I began very light weight workouts with cardiovascular and down to taking Vicodin only at night to get a good night sleep. On Sunday I stopped taking V totally and have more or less guessed that the fatigue was my body adjusting to getting off of the pain meds.

Tonight, I'm feeling better but not great. The muscle pain is getting better, but I've stopped working out and have been laying around a lot. So it's hard to say if my workouts made things worse. I'll know when I start again (and I will) once I feel better.

Most of what I've gathered is that the pain generally goes away within a few moths for most people and up to 6 months for others.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[Mariaa]

Jenny,
Have you talked w/Dr.Hu re this pain? It sounds so much like a RSD like symptom which is now complex regional pain syndrome I believe altho I doubt this is what you have just sounding somewhat like a symptom. I'm just wondering if some of the treatment utilized in this syndrome might be helpful to boost the involved quad muscle along, help it out...
My burning gnawing nerve like pain after 2nd spine surgery did not involve pain to touch just deep deep pain that felt like heavy muscular aching gnawing burning pain (which was all bad enough).. Elavil helped to mute the pain and Neurontin would have likely done much better if it had been prescribed back then. Activity made it way worse tho, especially any exercise. It went away, too a long time but you had a very different surgery so I'm sure you're pain is from something else.
Good luck, prayers for relief/full recovery~

[Dale S]

Hi RTS,

I woke up from surgery with a dead left leg. I was on crutches for over 3 months. Though most of my leg has returned and the burning to the touch has lessened to a discomfort, my thigh is still pretty useless and the muscle is atrofied. I can do about 5 minutes on the treadmill and sometimes up to 3 minutes on the bike. The big thing I've learned is if I push it too far, my quad will ache most of the day. If it starts to hurt at 1 minute, I can't push it to 2. When I take the advise 'listen to your body', I'm better off.

I'm taking neurontin and dilaudid. I started on a muscle relaxer in hopes of getting off the dilaudid and just started an anti-inflammatory as well. I fear that I still need a pain reducer when I'm successfully off the dilaudid which should be next month. I hate drugs, but I hate pain more! My distraction pain was severe and it sounds like yours was pretty bad too. How long will this last is anybody's guess but we're all different.

I wish you every good fortune,
Dale

[andromeda1111]

I had something IDENTICAL to the same pain sensations you mention.... in my psoas and into my medial glute when I squatted down onto the floor to pick something up, I bent further than normal since surgery and did have a severe burning, it hurt even to the slightest touch, I do not associate mine with distraction pain though...it was more due to an additional movement taken beyong what I had not done since surgery, it finally went away in about a month and it was really bad.

[Mariaa]

I didn't have ADR but what you're describing is exactly what I had after my failed percutaneous discectomy, altho it was bilateral and last nearly 5 years (plus severe gnawing burning pain with the muscle pain)...

Probably not the same animal you're talking about tho the pain sounds just the same as I felt like my quad muscles had been doing crunches forever..

I also used to have this feeling before my first discectomy whenever my back would go out, or I sneezed too much/coughed with a cold so it's a feeling I had episodically for 7 years, and then chronic for nearly 5 years post 2nd surgery.

Believe it or not, first discectomy on L5S1 relieved the pain until L4 bulged nearly 2 years later..

Are you on Neurontin or a medicine of this nature .. Topamax or the newer medicine Lyrica?

Neurontin has helped me very much with this type of pain~ in fact, it's been muted since 1998...

I had surgery November 21st 2005. I had the deep achy pain in my left calf, the top of my left thigh and knee and the top of my left foot. And my middle toe hurt too. They said it was because they freed up some nerves that had been crunched.

It did not get much better until I started taking nortryptilyn 50mg again. It is a tricyclic antidepressent used for nerve root pain.

I'm doing well now just a little weakness in my left leg and middle toe. It is still a little tender to the touch but much better!

I had a fusion at L4/5 and a ADR at S1.

[Mariaa]

I've just seen Dr.Bae at the Spine Center in Santa Monica (Dr.Delamarter's office) and since I've had the prolonged episode of the bilat burning pain after my last surgery, Dr.Bae feels I will have it again.

What he has said that he recommends for my now very collapsed L5S1 space (which I don't think is as collapsed as some others I've heard about) is that in his opinion (also my current OSS's) it would be best to do a fusion as the Pro disc is too big for this space and the disc height would have to be jacked up too much, causing too much stretch on the nerve...which he thinks will give me some distraction pain, altho not as much as with a Pro disc implant.

I also have moderate facet degeneration at this level...

BTW, like silveryflox, right after my failed percutaneous discectomy started giving me that terrible burning pain, I was started on Elavil 50mg/day and that helped. Not like Neurontin, but enough to make the pain bearable.. eventually the burning pain wore off and I couldn't actually believe it after nearly 5 years with it.

I did however still have a bit of this pain in certain areas that was aggravating enough, and esp. when walking or trying to be active..hence the start of Neurontin back in '98.

Please let us know what you are trying, have you received any new referrals and how you are doing...

take care~ Maria