Meralgia Parasthetica

Stheno

Hello

After fracturing my hip in 2005, I have had Meralgia Parasthetica since, and tend to have attacks of it every few months (usually need chiropractic treamtment and several days on crutches)

I'm just wondering if anyone else here also has this and how you deal with it?

(It's a trapped nerve in the thigh essentially for those wondering)

Thanks

dollydishmop

I've had M-P for years, since at least the mid-90's. Its a lot less troublesome and painful nowadays, but it was a nightmare in the early years.

Its my understanding that it is caused by actual damage to the lateral subcutaneous femoral nerve, rather than the more simplistic trapped nerve. But maybe its a trapped nerve in your case, and hopefully only a temporary problem for you.

In the early days I would get an extremely intense burning sensation, all the way down the side of my thigh. This would be triggered by almost anything I did....standing still, walking, sitting. It was agony, as if someone was placing a red hot poker down my thigh. When it wasn't burning, it was totally numb.
Occasionally it would develop into almost sciatica-like symptoms.

Nowadays the pain flares up only very rarely...if I stand still for a very long time, or sit awkwardly in a chair for a long time.....but my thigh has been totally numb all the way through the years and is the only remining *constant* symptom. Its a curiously odd sensation...top (front) of my thigh is ok, bottom (underneath) of the thigh is ok, and there's a huge patch in between that's totally numb. I can run my hand across, and if I didn't watch my hand move over that area my brain would swear blind that I lifted my hand off...I can (and have) stabbed a fork into it...(for experimental purposes of course) in the past, and felt absolutely nothing....very odd and a bit of a strange party-trick.

Management...well for me, I try to avoid doing stuff that triggers it....easier nowadays, virtually impossible in the early days. Wear loose clothing. Avoid tight belts. The doctor that diagnosed it all those years ago told me it was extremely common in the days when ladies wore tight corsets for hours on end, so I've always kept that image in my mind.
Oddly...might not help you, but I find if the pain flares up, when I'm standing or walking, the simple act of pulling my tummy in tight and straightening my back right up (like a soldier standing to attention) can offer some quick relief.

I never found an over-the-counter pain killer that touched it, and never had any success with visits to a chiro or osteo...so I stopped bothering, and instead I just learnt to live with it. If chiro *does* help you, then the nerve may indeed just be trapped rather than properly damaged, so fingers crossed its only a temporary problem for you...you have my heartfelt sympathies, when its being painful there's nothing worse!