“Muscle pain lingering after severe leg cramp?”
Almost 2 weeks ago, severe nocturnal leg cramp. The leg is still painful whenever I move it now. Like a very sore calf muscle. Numbness (from peripheral neuropathy?) spreading up the leg from ankle to hip on the outside. It wasn't doing this before. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen haven't helped. What can I do, if anything?
Female | 79 years old
Complaint duration: 14 days
Medications: levothyroxine
Conditions: sciatica & neuropathy
4 Answers
You should see your doctor and have him take the details of your history and perform an examination. Peripheral Neuropathy does not progress rapidly and rarely extends up as far as the knee and virtually never above the knee. Peripheral Neuropathy is usually described as a stocking and glove kind of numbness. Referral to a neurologist may also be necessary but I recommend starting with your primary care doctor.
While this could still be due to the Sciatica, it could also be associated with small vessel ischemia due to the diabetes. Also to consider it could be imbalances of calcium magnesium. You might want to talk to your primary or Neurologist and run some tests to try and determine the specific problem.
First of all, if the complaint is a real cramp (in the technical sense), in my opinion, the most likely cause in this case is a lumbosacral radiculopathy (usually L5 or S1) by disk protrusion or osteoarthritis of the intervertebral disks (L4-L5 or L5-S1). I think that a careful clinical neurological examination is mandatory. Should it be positive, Electromyography (EMG) and Neuroimaging (MRI) would the next steps to document the origin of these symptoms.
Sincerely,
Jose M. Fernandez, MD, PhD
Sincerely,
Jose M. Fernandez, MD, PhD
There’s not much you can do without seeing your Primary Care Physician. A typical neuropathy isn’t on just 1 side, and doesn’t come on suddenly. The treatment may be as simple as a muscle relaxer, but an assessment looking for the cause should come first.
