Well my history is somewhat long so I will
try to give the jist of it within these
paragraphs.
I'm a 22 year old male. I weight 215 lbs
and am 5'4. About a year ago I was doing
squats with weights a bit heavier than I
should've been lifting. The result was
tingling in my arms, hands, and feet. My
feet, both, for sometime went numb as I
tried to go to sleep. However most of
the tingling and numbness subsided. I
still have tingling/numbness in my ring
and pinky fingers if I sleep in a position
where my elbows are bent...I believe this
is tennis elbow (i type and rest my weight
on my elbows alot). My main concern
however is that my left foot still
tingles. I saw an orthopedist who took
x-rays and an mri of my spine in early
2006 (xrays and mris taken between
janurary and march). The x-rays found a
35 degree scoliosis and spina bifida
occulta on the last vertebrae (lowest) in
my back in which one side of the bone
never really developed. Right before
visiting the orthopediest I had seen a
chiropractor who had placed me in
tractions. The tractions did help and my
symptoms were relieved. I resumed my
regular work out course after 3 weeks and
the tingling in my left foot returned.
Further tractions proved ineffective. The
chiro recommended me to lose weight and
that he would follow up with a routine.
I've been working on the weight loss and
have dropped from 225 to 215 since. The
ortho really had no recommendations but
did suggest an emg. I refused the emg.
I saw a neurologist the other day who
claimed that I may have signs of ms based
on a babinski reflex. At the time I
didn't know what he meant, but went home
and did some research and performed the
babinski reflex on myself. I turned out
to be normal (i performed the same
stroking of the heel to the ball of the
foot with a blunt object to my brother and
mother and all 3 of us reacted with the
normal downward curve reaction) and
believe that he had attributed the reflex
to me being tickled when his key touched
my foot. He has ordered an mri of my
brain. The tingling in my foot has
seemed to be getting better with time, I
really show no other major symptoms of ms,
furthermore I believe the weightloss may
have helped. However after one year of
dealing with this...It has become quite
annoying. My sensation is at the same
level in both feet, it just feels like
there is a small lack of circulation in
the left foot best described has having a
very very very thin layer (such as a sock)
on top of it. The tingling is no longer
every day and if it is it is not all day.
I hardly notice it sometimes and at other
times it is extremely annoying.
If possible i'd like some help regarding
the solution of this situation. I am
hoping this is not a permanent ordeal.
Some other things to note about my history
is that exercise (such as walking or
running) with my legs has caused my calves
to cramp up tightly. In cold situations
my extremeties, hands and feet , seem to
feel colder than those of people around
me. Based on my personal research I think
this is either due to poor circulation or
a pinched nerve at the l5-s1 area of my
back because that is near the region of my
spina bifida occulta and the area
responsible for nerves in the foot.
Thanks for your help.
