Extreme groin pain - help!

May 29, 2006

Hi there

I have PA in both my knees which I keep sort of under control with

daily voltaren. I have also just been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis

and am on the waiting list for an operation. To top this all off, at

the beginning of the year I started experiencing what I can only

describe as a pinched nerve deep in my groin. Sometime the pain is so

bad it has me in tears (which for me, with my knees, is pretty bad)

and it's also not confined to just one side.

It is much, much worse when I don't wear good shoes and gets to the

point where I can't walk.

I've been to see a doctor at my surgery ,but on the day, what do you

know - no pain at all, even when she poked, prodded and moved my leg

all around.

Does anyone have any ideas or experiences that are similar? Does this

sound like PA in my hip?

Hoping someone can help.

Stacey

May 29, 2006

Dear Stacey,

About 2 years ago before Christmas, I was placing a wrapped present under

the tree…it was a heavy package. Anyway, when I stood up, I thought I felt

something pop in my back, but it didn’t hurt too badly so I tried to ignore

it. By the next morning my upper thigh was on fire. I felt like I was

going crazy. I got to my pain doctor as soon as I could and he ordered an

MRI of my back. (I’m hoping your surgeon has already done this, because I

wouldn’t want someone operating on me without one.) Anyway, sure enough I

have a ruptured disc and it was pressing on the nerve that ran down the back

and around the groin area into the upper thigh. He put me on the table and

used an X-ray machine to locate the right spot and shot the disc full of

cortisone and painkillers. I ended up having that area treated 2 times, and

now my thigh is much better. I still walk with a cane and use a wheelchair

if I am going to be out very long, but otherwise my upper thigh doesn’t

drive me crazy anymore. I felt like ice helped when it happened, and

sometimes if I walk with out my cane or am on my feet too long it will start

back up again.

I’m scared to death of back surgery, and until the pain gets so bad I can’t

take it, I’m trying to go without it. Unfortunately, I have several other

spots that are in need of surgery as well due to PA. I am in a lot of pain

and seeing a pain specialist has saved my life. It’s given me the freedom

to research any surgery I might need, and given me time to decide if it’s

the right thing for me at all. I’m trying to lose some weight now hoping

that will help remove some pressure from my back and the rest of my joints.

It’s not easy though being on predinsone and not being able to exercise very

much at all.

I don’t know if we have the same problem, but I would talk to several

doctors before I decided to have surgery. You can always have surgery, but

you can’t change your mind once it’s done. And it seems like to me, so many

people have been worse off after surgery, so I’m waiting. If you look at a

map of the nerves in the body you can see the one that runs right around the

thigh. Maybe it will help you decide if that’s the same spot your pain is

in. Here are some good sites that I’ve used before. The last one is my

favorite.

http://www.drtouraj.com/nervechart.html

http://www.b2bchiro.com/humanbody.htm

www.back.com <http://www.back.com/>

http://www.spineuniverse.com <http://www.spineuniverse.com/>

I hope this helps you in some way. Good luck and take care. Fran

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