Q: I had an injury to my arm two months ago. The nerve was damaged and
I have a numb patch of skin on the arm. Will I ever get the feeling
back? Would surgery help?
A:Recovery will depend on how much and where damage was done to the
nerve in the arm. If the nerve was completely severed, the feeling will
not come back. Surgeons find that repairing badly damaged nerves is
next to impossible because the nerve fibre is made up of a bundle of
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tiny strands. Some of them are for conducting impulses of sensation or
pain and others work the muscles. The problem is they all look alike
and the surgeon could easily hook up a “feeling” nerve to a “moving”
nerve or vice versa. It won’t work.
However, if the casing or nerve sheath is still intact, the ends can
find their way down the right path and the nerve will grow back at the
rate of about a centimetre a month. It could be a year or more until
you regain feeling.
Back pain
Q: I had knee surgery for osteoarthritis four months ago. I have
recovered well and the knee feels great but now my back is acting up
and I have sciatica. Is this a result of the knee surgery?
A: It is possible that during recovery, you put more weight on the
other leg and shifted the stress points in your spine.
The more likely scenario is that your arthritis already affected joints
between your vertebrae, which could be pressing on the nerve roots to
the leg, causing sciatic pain. When you start putting more pressure
back on the new knee, the back pain may diminish.
The success rate for back surgery for this problem is not good.
Clare Rowson is a medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont.
Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are
encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding
medical questions and treatments.
