two questions for a nurse or Dr. Young

[beelady]

My son is at PW now for 4 months and doing very well, I believe. He is a C7 level and the accident was 10 months ago. He has feelings in his legs ever since the accident but no pain. However, he ended up having an ingrown toe nail and his doctor had to cut half of the toe nail off and Jess said the pain was terrible. Why is it that he can feel that kind of pain but not the pain of the ingrown actually starting to give him trouble?

My second question pertains to recovery of muscles below his injury. He has abs, back, and recently has started crawling and has his hip flexors doing alot of good work. At PW they stood him up with one trainer at his knees and one if not two at his side but Jess said he could tell in the hips he was doing some of work. What does it take to lock the knees in place in order for him to do more of the standing without someone holding his knees? Is it muscles in the knees or just the ability to lock them?

[Wise Young]

Beelady,

The difference between growing an ingrown toenail and removing it is that the former is slow while the latter is fast. To remove the toenail, they have to cut the tissue around the nail. I am a little surprised that they did not use lidocaine (a local anesthetic) to numb the toe once he started hurting.

The muscle that causes the knee to lock is the one in the front of the thighs, called the quadriceps. That muscle is innervated by the L3 cord. That muscle is what straightens (extends) the leg at the knee.

Wise.

[beelady]

Thanks for your answers to my questions, however I was actually wondering why Jess didnt feel the PAIN of the ingrown but could feel the pain of the actual removal. Jess has never been able to feel any kind of pain until this toenail. Why did he feel that pain but not any other pain?

[Wise Young]

I don't know but perhaps it is a combination of two factors, the greater severity of pain associated with the procedure and sensory recovery over time.

Wise.