Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 11/26/2006

Question
I was scheduled for a c-section delivery for my second pregnancy at age 28. Before then, i never had any serious back problems. After the delivery, i started having severe lower back pain. They tried 6 different times to insert the epidural before success. I am not an overweight person. In fact, you can see every bone of my back and ribs too(even when pregnant.)The pain is so severe, that every time I take a step with my right foot, there is sharp shooting pain that radiates across my hips and down my leg. Sometimes I can not sit, stand, or even lie down. Now, 8 months later,it is getting worse and the right side of my neck feels like electricity going thru it and my lips go numb.  Could this be from the epidural? Will it ever go away?  

Answer
I can't say if it's from the epidural or from your last pregnancy (you don't say if you had any back paimn during your pregnancy. Whatever the case, it does not sound like it is getting better and if you are having neurologic symptoms, you should definitely see either a neurosurgeon or a neurologist to be evaluated. At the least you should have a CT (or MRI) and nerve conduction studies. Don't wait too long to be seen or you may end up with muscle atrophy and permanent nerve damage. At this point it does not matter if it was the epidural or not (and there is no way to say for sure), the important thing is to get evaluated and treated.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston