Question: I had lower back surgery about five years ago. I don’t have any pain in the back now, but I still have numbness in my left lower leg. Lately, I've noticed the strength in the leg is getting weaker, and the calf muscle looks to be shrinking. Please tell me there is something that may help reverse this. I am a 49 year old male in good health and not too overweight.
Dr. Hibberd's Answer:
The surgery was done to relieve pressure on the L5 nerve root which supplies several thigh muscles, as well as muscles for knee flexion and for movement in the ankle, foot, and toes. The shrinking of your calf muscle represents lack of nerve impulses to muscles and is seen with damage to this nerve root. The numbness to your foot and the wasting of your leg justifies further evaluation to see if the problem can be corrected. It also needs to be determined if additional problems have developed since your surgery or whether this is a reflection of the prior injury to this nerve root.
Thankfully, most of our lower limb muscles have nerve supply from more than one level which reduces disability seen from single level nerve damage. Often an MRI will supply the necessary structural and nerve information, and EMG studies are sometimes helpful in assessing local nerve residual function.