tingling?

[abrooks311]

Ive had tingling in my legs from the sec I smacked the ground when I wrecked my dirt bike...but here lately it seems to be getting worse..kinda feels like im standing on a electric fence. I was wondering how many of you have this tingling feeling in your lower body? and if its getting worse/stronger is a good sign?

[dejerine]

I definitely have it. Tingling isn't painful so much, but it can drive you absolutely nuts.I don't really know but I believe getting worse is a bad sign. I say this only because early on I used to hope worse meant more nerve function, but it didn't. Maybe neutral sign. I have tingling in face as well. It seemed to subside a little, but when I used tens on neck for pain, it came on for the first time in the face with a vengeance. I stopped the tens and after about two months it was less but always more than before tens.

[abrooks311]

i had a doctor tell me the tingling was a ''phantom pain''

[metronycguy]

neuropathic pain is probably a better description

[David Berg]

Metro's right. Phantom pain applies more to cases where a limb has been amputated and you still feel pain as though it's there, or in much more unusual cases where the brain goes a little whacky and is tricked into thinking a part of the body that doesn't even exist is feeling pain, such as a third arm. I've heard of that sort of thing happening in a case where the brain's "map" of the body was accidently damaged in a surgery.

I'd guess that your doctor is calling it phantom pain because he doesn't think you should feel anything in that part of your body. First of all, you should know that it's not uncommon for people with SCI to feel neuropathic pain in areas of their body where they can't feel any normal sensations. Of course, when they tell someone that they "can't feel anything but it hurts" they just get strange looks. Also, remember that motor neurons and sensory neurons are seperate, so you might not have any motor function but you can still receive some bizarre pain signals through damaged sensory nerves. This isn't what's always going on, sometimes the damage to the sensory nerves really is complete and you're left with something related to phantom pain, but it happens in a lot of cases.

One word that might describe the tingling feeling you're having is paresthesia (or paraesthesia). I'm not a medical professional so I could be a little off with my definition, but that's the term I apply to neuropathic sensations that might come across as itching or tingling. It might or might not really qualify as what you'd describe as pain, but it is definitely annoying and uncomfortable. You might want to do a little research on paresthesia and see if that describes your symptom and perhaps even mention it to your doctor. It's a pretty vague term and a lot of people probably have slightly different ideas about what it means exactly.

[mike bauer]

Hummm. Well I have tingling that is PAIN, real heavy Pins and Needles type tingling. Im not sure from your description if your having a light buzzing that I also get (this is not painful... just annoying) or of you have what I call the heavy painful Pins and needles. Thanks, Mikey!

MSB.

[abrooks311]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mikey:

Hummm. Well I have tingling that is PAIN, real heavy Pins and Needles type tingling. Im not sure from your description if your having a light buzzing that I also get (this is not painful... just annoying) or of you have what I call the heavy painful Pins and needles. Thanks, Mikey!


I feel like in standing on a electric fence...it surges at times from what feels like the bottom of my feet up my legs...sometimes very painfull

[metronycguy]

yes there is a world of differnce from a light tingling which i beleive is called paresthesia and the much more intence and painful sensations..
in the spinal cord stimulator pain device the literature called the sensation you feel paresthesia, however when its up to high its extremelly painful , and feet would kick like i was electrocuted.
when dealing with doctorss you need to let them know its painful and not pleasant..
the TENS unit gives a parentsia feeling .
i also got another sensation that went from uncomfortable to painful.. my foot felt like it was defrosting from frost bite, at first it was somewhat uncomfortable , than turned to painful

[pash8605]

I had tingling feelings in my legs also but it wasn't painful. My doc called it Spinal Cord driven Dysissesia(no idea how to spell that!). He suggested Gabapenton.

[sissy]

My pain started about a month after my injury. It started out as a tingling in my feet. Then It slowly worked it's way up my body & it slowly got more intense with time. The pain is now everywhere but my neck & head. I feel as I'm burning from the inside out with that same electrical feeling also. For me now some days are better than others as far as how bad the pain is.

My doctor said this is Neuropathic pain. I've tried lots of medicine with no help so far.
Hope you can find something that will help you & it does get any worse.