Leg Numbness

Is the numb area over the lateral aspect of your thigh? If so, you've probably irritated/entrapped the lateral femoral cutaneous branch of your femoral nerve. No big deal, just irritating and annoying, not dangerous.

I did the exact same thing and it's been numb for a 1.5 years. I'm a little nervous but I can run fine but the lingering numbness has me really worried.

Anyone else have input?

TLW wrote:

I did the exact same thing and it's been numb for a 1.5 years. I'm a little nervous but I can run fine but the lingering numbness has me really worried.

I was talking to a friend who is a pharmacisct and also a runner and she said I'm lucky that all I have is numbness because the alternative is pain, which would be a lot worse and you wouldn't be able to run through that. Have you ever had your symtoms looked at by a doctor or p.t.? I am going to a drop-in clinic this morning, then my p.t. and then my family doctor during the week. I will keep you posted about what feedback I get.

Also, when you say you can still run fine, does that mean you haven't had to adjust your training in any way because of this? You can still race etc? (I'm hoping to do a marathon at the end of December. Don't care about being fast, just want to do it for fun.)

I can still run without pain. I actually have achilles tendonitis right now that causes me more pain (not sure if that's related to the numbness) and some minor hip pain that has lingered along time.

These injuries are all in the same leg.

The numbness has no pain associated with it and I actually ran a marathon with the numb leg and trained well on it.

I hurt my achilles doing a tempo run so it's not associated with the numbness.

One thing I know for sure is the numbness in my leg was caused when I did the hip flexor stretch and went too far with the stretch I felt a sharp pain and numbness set in all on the side of my quad. This was a year and a half ago.

I saw a doctor that told me I probably did something to the femoral nerve and had meralgia paresthetica which is when the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve in one of your legs is being compressed. That might explain the pain in my hip area and the numbness on my quad.

I stretch, foam roll, took 5 weeks off from running and nothing went away. I reduced my mileage from 100 down to about 40 and the level of numbness and pain has not gone away.

I have no idea what to do. I stretch everyday, foam roll, etc. Nothing takes it away.

PLEASE let me know what the doctor says. I'll have this thread bookmarked.

Just got back from the drop-in clinic (I went there because I wanted to make sure I didn't have a stroke or something because there is also a slight bit of numbness in my face). He said it could be a million things, so I am getting blood work done tomorrow and by the time I see my family doctor on Thursday, she will have the results of the blood work. The guy I saw this morning said that if my symtoms don't go away by Thursday, that my family doctor should send me for a "full investigation".

My pharmacist friend said that my p.t. will likely give me exercises to "un-pinch" the nerve.

My p.t. asked me to call him first thing on Monday after I've seen a doctor to tell him what the doctor said and to update him on my symptoms. I started going to the p.t. in the first place about a month ago because of really harsh pain in my hip/groin that caused me to DNS both St. George and NYC. When I talked to him on the phone yesterday he said that any time I feel "pins and needles" when I am stretching my hip flexor, to STOP stretching it. (And for now he told me to stop stretching it altogether which makes me really worried about running because running seems to make it super tight and I cannot handle that hip/groin pain coming back because I could barely walk with it.)

I will keep you updated.

Thanks for the update. I also have a pain in my groin/area and numbness so it definitely seems like we are experiencing the same thing.

Bump.

Yes let's keep this thread going, I seem to be having the same thing.

For the record I'm extremely tight in the quads most likely from my daily newspaper jog involving cycling, and more so from really neglecting stretching - day starts early in the am, then a 20 -25 min. run (I'm past competing these days due to osteoarthritis in knees & one ankle but still want to run for fitness etc.). Also lower back is quite tight.

T_Rex going off what you said, I am also really tight in my quad that has the numbness especially tight around the side of the knee right and have a small lump there.

I stretch religiously but doesn't help the problem.

I remember this sorta happened to me after I had some problems with my hip flexor too, whole left side of my left thigh went numb. Slowly over maybe 2 weeks sensation came back.

Bump.

(same poster, a typo with my handle).

I did a short 5-miler today and felt Ok (almost all of the feeling has come back in my leg) but as soon as I tried to stretch my hip flexor, I got that "pins and needles" feeling, so I stopped. I hope my p.t. can show me different ways to stretch it so this doesn't happen, but I don't see him until Wednesday.

I had this for a bit. It went away when I became a hobby jogger.

Any updates?

My leg numbness went away about 1.5 days after I quit stretching my hip flexor, which had caused that pins-and-needles sensation. (It still does, so I don't stretch it any more.) I saw my p.t. today and he spent a lot of time examining the hip flexor, my back, and my reflexes and leg strength. He said my hip flexor is very loose because I've been stretching it so much, and I have taken the stretches too far and compressed the femoral nerve. He said not to stretch the hip flexor again until I can do so without pins and needles. He also said not to run again until that happens.

I told him about Let's Run and that someone here had similar symptoms but hasn't had the feeling come back in their leg for 1.5 years. He said that when the axon in the nerve is damaged, it takes a long time to regenerate, in fact the nerve only grows back at a rate of one inch per month. However he said that depending on the damage to the nerve, it doesn't always regenerate.

This experience has scared the heck out of me, because I've never had nerve-issues, and when it first happened I thought I was having a stroke or something. This is the 4th running-related issue I've been in physical therapy for in the last 10 months; as of now I am taking 2 months off (been running marathons for 15 years and never taken extended time off) but hopefully the break from running will help me get back to normal and start running like I want to/used to.

Bump

I have exactly the conditions described in this thread. I had a major back spasm one month ago, and when my back settled down, I had shooting pain in my thigh, aching pain in the groin, and then later numbness of the skin of the thigh from the knee to the center.

I saw my family doctor who had an x-ray taken to check for lumbar vertebral stenosis or disk degeneration. He said I could run as much as I can tolerate, but I can't see how the situation can improve if I run since running likely was the cause of the injury.

I am very tight in the hamstrings and was having hamstring pain (upper hamstring tendonosis) prior to this episode.

I'd like to hear if anyone has had successful treatment for this and what that consisted of.

Very depressed.

I am still having this issue. Any other information regarding this. I've seen doctors and no one knows anything.

My own opinion is that I permanently damaged the nerve.

wow, this is me!! I have tight hip flexors and went to the orthopedic surgeon and he sent me to PT. I had groin painfor a yr. Ive run for 30 yrs but like 15 mi wk. Im 58. Ive had 5 sessions. When i sit indian style my legs dont budge down at all. Im calling them tmrw!