This is a long shot, but any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Every once in a while my wife has crippling lower back spasms that are triggered by simple things like bending over or getting out of a chair. They aren't frequent, but when they happen she has pain to the point where she can barely move. It usually takes a full day of rest and heat on her back before she can get out of bed. And ibuprofen. Lots of it. She has taken muscle relaxants for this but they don't seem to work any better than Advil. X-rays show she has narrowing discs, but her doc isn't sure that is the problem. She tried chiropractic for several months but it hasn't been effective in the long term.
That's the background. My question is this: she had a spasm yesterday (just getting off the couch) and afterward she had numbness and tingling in her legs and in her arms from the elbow to the fingers. This was new and it went away after a few hours, so we're not too worried about it, but I'm wondering if it gives us any new ideas as far as diagnosing the cause of her back spasms. Maybe it was just a reaction to the pain?
Thanks for any suggestions, Doc! Great idea for a thread!
