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You are here: Experts > Health/Fitness > Women's Health > Family, Internal Medicine, General Medical Questions > Pintch nerve
Expert: Maggie Smith, RN, MSN - 10/29/2009
Question
My Mom is 84 in good health but is really suffering from bad burning sensation in her legs finding it impossible to stand & walk. Doctor say it is a pinched nerve in her back & cant do an op cause of her age. Please can you suggest any pain killers that will work.. She has tried varous pills but no help. Its really bad. Please help, thank you.
Answer
I am not an expert in this area, but I would suggest the following:
Find out her potassium level and B-12 level. (low potassium or B-12 can cause muscle pain)
Insist on a hip xray. (hip joint deterioration can be misinterpreted as pinched nerve/leg pain)
Check blood circulation in the legs with ultrasound, this would be step 1. (may be a clot!)
My personal experience is that my dad was wrongly diagnosed with a pinched back nerve causing excruciating pain in his legs, limping, difficulty walking and it turned out to be that he needed a hip replacement. No one bothered to xray his hip (hips are not included in xrays of the back!)
It is a true danger to your mom if she becomes sedentary due to the pain (blood clots, death)--therefore, it is critical that you push the doctors for a better treatment plan, i.e., xray of hip, checking labs for abnormalities that would cause muscle pain. There is not an excuse for a doctor to not get her out of pain so she can walk! Lastly, yes, there are other meds that help with leg pain, if they find no other cause. (These are in the anti-convulsant family and require monitoring, so they are a last resort).
-Maggie, RN, MSN
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