Referred pain????

[LH78]

This first started about 2 years ago. I started to get short, sharp shooting pains in my left shin, about 4” under my kneecap. This would happen once or twice and then go away. Well as time has gone on this has become more and more frequent in the last year, happening on a very regular basis (can be every day). The pain has also got a lot more intense. The pain is very difficult to describe, but if I had to I would say that it is like a hot poker stabbing down the shin. When the pain happens I can feel a little bubble under the skin. The pain mostly happens when I am sitting or lying down, but has also happened whilst walking.

I visited my GP who referred me to and Orthopaedic surgeon who put me in for an MRI scan (on the leg) and a bone scan, he thought that it was some kind of bone tumour, but these tests showed nothing and he then said that it was probably a damaged nerve, in which case I would never solve the pain because he would not be able to locate the nerve, and that is they tried opening me up to look for the nerve, this could be just as painful in the long run because of scar tissue…

I went back to my GP who referred me this time to a Neurologist, who did a nerve conduction test which showed up nothing. I saw my Neurologist last night and he wants me to have another MRI scan, this time on my lower back because he thinks this might be related.

I have suffered with lower back problems for a number of years now; it started when I was sitting all day at work in a bad chair, having to twist round to lift heavy files. I visited a physio on and off but haven’t seen anyone in the last 2 years. But I do still suffer with a bad back, it aches a lot of the time, the muscles get very tight and I have put my back out a number of times, the last time being at Christmas.

Last weekend I went for a back massage (having no idea that it might be related to the pain) and since then I have been in really bad pain. The pain is now in both shins, although the right leg is not as painful, it just feels like a hot electricity sensation??

The reason I am posting on this forum is because; I was searching the net to see if I could find out anything myself about the pain and I read a post from last year, which talked about referred pain. Does anyone have any idea if the pain that I am getting in my shins could be referred pain from my lower back?

I have been put on a number of tablets to stop the pain but so far none of them have helped. I was put on Gabapentin (which is used on epileptics), which they thought would stop me feeling the nerve pain. These made me very dizzy, forgetful, drained…. I am now on Amitriptyline (used for depression), which is supposed to do something to the hormone levels, which they say should help with the pain. Keral – which is a anti-inflammatory, and OxyContin – Pain killers. I have to take all three of these tablets twice a day, but this combination is making me very drowsy and hasn’t taken away the pain.

As you can appreciate this is taking over my life, I find it very hard to relax as I never know when the pain is going to happen, I am losing a lot of sleep and have high blood pressure from the stress of it all.

I would really appreciate any thoughts on what this could be and suggestions on how to get rid of the pain or at least to ease it…. Is this something that a physiotherapist could help with?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this!!!

Similar Threads:

• 'Referred Pain' creates unnecessary confusion.
• Ganglion or tendinitis or referred...
• Thoracic referred pain

[physio.smith]

Your symptoms could well be coming from nerves being irritate in your back. The lower part of your back can refer to this area. I think scanning your back is a good plan....this may show if there is anything pressing on the nerves here, that may be causing your shin pain. A physio may be able to help, obviously they would want to get a thorough history from you and may feel that it was not appropriate to treat you until they knew that it was something that physio could help with.

TENS can sometimes be useful with nerve type pain. I would speak to your specialist / doctor about physio and the use of TENS at this point.

I hope things improve soon for you and that they are able to get to the bottom of things for you.

Good Luck, I hope this was useful.