Recovering from leg weakness after discectomy

mstikes · #1 (**permalink**) 05-08-2012, 12:46 AM

i'm now 5 weeks post discectomy on L4/L5 and both of my legs are extremely weak. My right leg has continued to weaken and is now as weak as my left one. I'm barely able to walk even with a cane. Dorsiflexion is now impossible on both feet. I was wondering if it can be considered like partial paralysis ?
I dont have loss of sensory feeling. I haven't been able to find much information about this kind of leg paralysis or extreme weakness from lumbar herniation.

I have atrophy in my left leg and my calf feels like jelly. This had started before surgery but has continued afterwards and I'm starting to have the same problems in my right leg although it's still bigger in size than my left one. I don't have numbness or a tingling sensation. It's just that my legs are so weak that I can't do basic movement like kicking my calf foward or foot dorsiflexion. I haven't found alot of threads of people experiencing such severe weakness after a discectomy to relieve a large L4 herniation

jsewell · #2 (**permalink**) 05-08-2012, 12:52 AM

mstikes, i am sorry to hear of your situation. I hope it does get better . I also hope that Mark can shed some light on the weakness.
judy

Maria · #3 (**permalink**) 05-11-2012, 04:31 PM

What has your surgeon said with regard to your increased weakness?
After my 2nd discectomy which was on L4 and it failed my legs were very weak for quite some time and shaky when I tried to walk. Maybe for the first two months. Then again I had severe burning pain in both legs and horrific back pain so I wasn't up and about much at all.

My disc bulge was small tho I was told a large amount of disc was removed during a percutaneous discectomy.

With time my legs felt stronger.

I too hope Mark can shed some light on your situation and hopefully your surgeon will have an explanation. Maybe further diagnostics are in order?

mstikes · #4 (**permalink**) 05-16-2012, 04:30 AM

I'm now 6 weeks post discectomy and both my legs remain very weak making it extremely hard to walk even with a cane. What's more worrying is that my right leg has started to shake significantly below the knee for the last few days.

I have am EMG scheduled in 10 days but I'm getting really worried seeing that my situation seems to be worsening daily now with the leg trembling and I don't see what my surgeon could do in the meantime ?

jsewell · #5 (**permalink**) 05-16-2012, 08:58 PM

For your safety , maybe you should use a walker for a little while, i know it is hard psychologically. I had to do it a few times after surgery. It is still early for you too , only 6 weeks. i hope you do see some improvement. I agree, i don't think there is anything your surgeon can do at this time before the EMG. so hang on i'll be thinking about you,.
I do remember it takes months to feel better after surgery too. Even when a painful disk is removed. At least that is what happened to me.
judy

mmglobal · #6 (**permalink**) 05-17-2012, 06:52 PM

mtsikes,

HAVE THEY RULED OUT OTHER POTENTIAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT CAUSE THE WEAKNESS???

Is it possible that they are focusing on the disc herniation which was causing SOME of your symptoms, but the weakness comes from something else? Thoracic MRI? Cervical? Brain? Hematoma at surgery site?

Even if the discectomy made things worse... It still could be coming from somewhere else and it was aggravated by moving you around. This is not very common, but I have seen it reported and have discussed the possibility with many spine surgeons... the risk of this is real. (Again, I'm not suggesting that I know what is happening or that this is a likely culprit, I'm just suggesting some possibilities that you might want to ask your surgeon about.)

Mark