Mid and lower back stiffness with aching legs

by Tammy
(Blmgton, IN, USA)


Hi doctor, I just found your site typing in my ailment; most informative site ever!


I'm 53 and have had herniated discs in the past causing year long pain before, but this new pain is very different and affecting my life TREMENDOUSLY.

Here's the rundown; I feel pressure in the middle of my spine occasionally and then the lower mid back at times.
Both thighs ache horribly, legs feel stiff and sometimes I will get an added, random shooting pain down the outside of both thighs. I also have pressure, burning and tingling in lower back at times between hips.

My lower ribs are tender to touch as well as the outside of hips bones.

My left knee feels like it wants to give out, sometimes, and is very painful into the knee joint as well as my muscles in my thighs/calves.

My entire legs will twitch all over for entire days. (My arms and back will sometimes twitch, as well.)

I've been miserable everyday for four months now and my son's wedding is soon. I recently came off an immune suppressing drug, so at first I thought it might be related; hence, the waiting of four months. However, I now feel my back is the culprit. :( Any advice would be so helpful!

God Bless! Tammy
PS My hamstrings are very tight, and I'm trying to stretch the way I was taught from past chiropractic treatment.

Hello Tammy,
This is complex, and there may be different things going on; what's needed is a careful and thorough examination; in fact I'd ask for one from a neurologist too. That tingling and twitching in arms and legs invites questions.

What were you taking immune depressant drugs for? That could certainly be at the root of your problems and explain why they are so widespread. Look up the side effects and Drugs.com. Tingling in the limbs is one of them.

Lower back pain may radiate up into the midback, and down the legs; you seem to have both. Then in the thoracic spine it may travel along the ribs, under your armpits and towards the breastbone. I suspect this is what you're getting.

Ask your chiropractor or doctor about the knee reflex; a pinched femoral nerve causes quadriceps muscle weakness.

Ask too if it could be radiating from your hip; pull your hip to the chest, then to the opposite shoulder and then drop it into the lotus position. Do any of these cause groin pain, or on the side of the upper leg?

These are all conditions that your chiropractor will look for and consider, but it may be complicated by the condition needing that medication, or a side effect of the meds.

Are you doing any lower back exercises? Every morning before getting out of bed is a good place to start. They only take a couple minutes.

I wish I could be more helpful, Tammy, but in the absence of a thorough examination, there are so many possibilities.

Blessings.

Dr B

» » Mid and lower back stiffness with aching legs




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