Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 5/12/2008

Question
i had an epidural in july of 2007 with the birth of our 7th child. from that day on i have pain in both feet, which makes it very uncomfortable to walk. the strange thing is that the pain is different in each foot. my left foot has a pain that hurts when i stretch or extend my toes and my right foot is numb from my pinky toe down to my heel and feels like is has a big bruise down that whole area. sometimes my ankles ache too. do you think this is from the epidural and can it be fixed. i cant live like this.

Answer
It is impossible to say without a complete exam. You need to see a neurologist first to see if the pain you are feeling follows a specific nerve distribution or not. From the little information you give it doesn't seem like it but it really should be looked at. The problem with trying to associate it to the epidural is that it can be confused by other potential problems. When the baby's head comes down through the pelvis it can put pressure on some of the sacral nerves and this is often confused with epidural related complications. If you had a difficult labor this could be the reason. Did the anesthesiologist have trouble placing the epidural...did it work well...did you have tingling down the leg when he placed it? These are all questions that might help answer your question. In either case it should be more formally evaluated and a treatment plan developed.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston