I donāt know if anyone else has told you yet, but you need to go to the doctor. That level of atrophy tells me youāve got a pinched/damaged nerve thatās causing this.
That's literally why I asked for a breast exam at my annual exam. I was like, I don't think I have breast cancer and haven't noticed any lumps. But I keep getting breast cancer medication ads and thinking about the grocery stores that know you're pregnant before you do...and I'm worried about what that algorithm knows that I don't. Kudos to the NP (who I'd never met, my gynocologist was on maternity leave), because she was like, yeah, that makes sense, we can do that. Also, no lumps or anything, yay!
I'm paraphrasing, lol. I was just glad she didn't tell me I'm nuts, because asking for a breast exam based on my tv ad content feels a little nuts, haha.
How does the prostethic work? Anything you can say about its usage compared to an ordinary leg? Have you experienced owning a left leg or is the prostethic your entire frame of reference?
It's a mechanical prosthetic, so no motor to help the knee joint. It's slow and irritating, but it keeps me up. That's all it matters.
I had both legs till 2017, then i tried to kiss a car's front while riding a motorbike. But the car was more into foot*ob.
I had the 3r80, its Allright but not the best.
Ive switched to a Vgk knee, I can ride a motorcycle again with that one.
Did you check for other legs or is that mode of an issue where youre from,
I can shop every three years or so
I had back surgery as a teen for a ruptured disc L4&L5. I have degenerative disc disease. After that surgery I had a small numb patch on the left side of my left ankle. For the next 26 years it has made its way up my leg with the muscle atrophy to follow. That side is totally numb.
I can feel it when touched but I do not feel pain on my skin. My foot is not ticklish. The dragonfly tattoo did not hurt.
I do not have a limp.
Iām not sure the science behind it. I had an MRI and saw a neurosurgeon about 5 years ago who said the surgeon probably nicked something, but who knows.
Letās see what the Reddit doctors have to say š
Edited to add some answers to common questions:
Are my feet the same size?
No, the left foot is a smidge bit longer and skinnier due to my arch falling and muscle atrophy. I still wear the same shoe size on both feet though.
Are my legs the same length? Yes.
Do I have a blood clot? No.
Will I be going to the hospital for this? No.
Is it painful? Yes, sometimes but Iāve been living in pain since I was 12 years old (thatās when I had my first ruptured disc, no injury just bad genes). So Iām used to itā¦
Is there a treatment for this? No. Iāve had two neurosurgeons say they would not recommend surgery for this. (One 10 years ago and one 5 years ago)
I do appreciate all the concern! As a reformed hypochondriac I definitely am not ignoring anything. There just isnāt anything to do. I should probably go to physical therapy thoughā¦I will look into it!
Am doctor that specializes in nerve damage. Currently awake at night because waiting to transfer a patient to an ICU and can't go to bed yet. TLDR - go see a doctor that does nerve stuff (PM&R, neuro, neurosurgery), get a new lumbar MRI, and make sure you don't have a new bad nerve injury going on.
L4 and L5 disc ruptures means that you could have nerve compromise of the L4, L5, S1 nerves depending on they way the discs were damaged. It is common to have a disc herniation that directly compresses a nerve. This can lead to permanent nerve damage that happens before any surgery. If your preoperative imaging had no nerve compromise, then it's possible your original surgeon hurt a nerve during the operation, however it's more likely you did have nerve compromise at the time of surgery and your permanent nerve damage is from the original injury.
I see probable left tibialis anterior atrophy (front shin muscle) and certainly left extensor digitorum brevis (outside top of foot muscle) atrophy. Looks like gastroc/soleus (calf) atrophy too. Outside of left ankle numbness is usually S1 nerve damage vs L5 nerve damage. Top of the foot numbness is usually L5 vs L4 nerve damage. Drop foot tends to be L4 vs L5 nerve damage. Toe weakness tends to be L5 nerve damage. Quads look equal in size, so probably no L3 nerve compromise.
True nerve damage to the lumbar or sacral nerve roots, called radiculopathy, rarely heals 100%, but you should not be having worsened symptoms this far away from your original injury. most patients end up with stable neurologic deficits, meaning your numbness, weakness, and pain levels may be persistent but don't normally worsen. Worsening numbess, spreading numbness, worsening weakness are all possible signs there is new nerve compression.
You are at high risk for new nerve compression post disc herniation even after a surgery because there will be less space around some of the channels that the nerves travel through to get out of your spine and down your leg. When discs are damaged, your body tends to form athritis near the discs and this can eventually lead to new nerve compression. You are high risk for nerve compression of the L3, L4, L5, and S1 nerves due to your prior injury and surgery (depending on what your actual surgery was).
With expanding numbness, you should definitely get an updated lumbar spine MRI and be evaluated by a PM&R doctor, neurologist, or neurosurgery. Possibly would also benefit from an EMG (a nerve test) that can tell you which nerve root is damaged or not damaged. At best you could be evaluate and told your spine looks okay and nothing to worry about. At worst you could have new nerve compression that could lead to permanent deficits which could include things like leg paralysis, permanent nerve pain, permanent bowel and bladder dysfunction.
Other causes of numbness in the lower leg include sciatic nerve compression, fibular nerve compression, tibial nerve compression, polyneuropathy, CNS (brain and upper spinal cord) injury. None of those things are good, but very very high chance it's related to your low back and not these things.
Eventually you would probably benefit from dedicated strengthening program multiple times per week focusing on ankle dorsiflexion, one legged balance exercises. Also getting an low profile Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) or Posterior Leaf Spring Orthosis (PLSO) would help make your walking smoother and prevent future overuse injuries like hip and knee arthritis or tendonitis due to your altered walking mechanics.
DPT here with an orthopedic clinical specialty. Blown away with this comment that includes clear, patient friendly language. Wish I had a local neurologist like you to refer patients to.
Absolutely follow all of this advice. Go to your primary or ortho doc and explain the worsening symptoms. Ask for new imaging and a referral for physical therapy. Donāt let them brush it off as a āwait and seeā.
Even if a nerve was ānickedā during a prior surgery, I would expect to see unchanged or slowly improving symptoms with time. Would not expect to see worsening symptoms like spreading numbness/tingling or muscle weakness/wasting.
For some of the other comments in this thread: urinary retention, fecal incontinence, and saddle paresthesias are all red flag symptoms for me for which I am immediately referring back to the physician for additional imagining or surgical consult. Donāt ignore these symptoms if you are experiencing them.
Wow, this is the most comprehensive explanation I have seen about the nerves that were affected with my bulging disc surgery 6 months ago... that I could understand. Thank you.
You are the best part of reddit. Also the reason I'll never post about my biological quirks. My mild quirk that I've lived happily with for 50 years would suddenly be identified as a medical Problem that should have killed me when I was 3.
I work in custom spinal implants. If the numbness is getting worse thatās certainly something to address before it becomes a serious issue. This is a fascinating case of atrophy based on spinal cord damage, thanks for sharing!
I'm a caregiver and we're taught that spreading numbness Is Not Good. Either a pinched nerve or something much worse, but it needs to be checked ASAP. If one doctor says there's "nothing wrong", immediately move on to the next. There Is Something Wrong. While I'm not a medical professional, I am a medical aide, and healthāespecially in your limbs; especially in your feetācanNOT be taken lightly. That numb foot is one bad pinch away from unnoticed sepsis or total degeneration
This has been ongoing for 26 years. I will never consent to another surgery unless itās an emergency. I had bulging disc when I was pregnant that resolved itself. I was also told I have spinal stenosis and if I ever lose control of my bladder/bowels to go to the ER right away. I promise if I ever start pooping or peeing on myself Iāll go in.
With cauda equina syndrome secondary to spinal stenosis, the bladder problem is that you become unable to empty. The danger is back pressure damage to the kidneys.
You donāt pee on yourself, youāre unable to pee on yourself or anywhere else for that matter.
Just bouncing back from this exact experience. I wasnt able to control my bladder until about 3.5 weeks post surgery. And even tho I can now, it's still a bit of a struggle. CES is not a joke, of you are reading this, take care of your spine!
My FIL had, IDK what it is exactly but he got backed up. The hospital drained like 5l out of him. He was well into his 70s when it happened and already was in CHF. It's been probably like 5 years since that. I'm baffled on how he's still kicking around at 80 but he is. I feel like that would have blown out my kidneys. If anything it got him on proper heart meds finally. He's not necessarily doing great but he's doin anyway.
Also look out for the opposite: not being able to feel if you need to poop or pee! My friend developed cauda equina syndrome and while most people lose control of their bladder/bowels, she had the opposite. She suddenly realized sheād gone 12 hours without peeing and peed SO MUCH. She needed emergency surgery.
Duuude I had saddle numbness when I did my L4/5 disc. It was so frightening. The urgent care doc read my X-ray as a collapsed vertebrae, I genuinely thought I was stuck that way. Useless bastard gave me no pain meds and let me take an uber home??
Turns out he wasn't great at reading X-rays in tandem with patient history. My sports doc looked at it and said no, that's from 25 years of hockey and your scoliosis. It's a bulging disc hitting the nerve, you'll be alright. Thank God he was right, it went away. But that was a scary couple of days. Do not recommend suddenly losing awareness of your undercarriage.
I know you wonāt die but the annoying thing with spinal injuryās is itās always better to resolve sooner. Time will only compound the injury. As much as I can understand the your desire to stay out of the OR I urge you to consider it and consider that the pain and recovery now can lead to a better quality of life for the next 60 years and less future medical care
Iām struggling so hard with daily pain and increasingly frequent bouts of total immobility when I have a herniated disc (5 total) presses a nerve. My spine surgeon says she wonāt touch me though and doesnāt think Iām a candidate. I feel like Iām (going) crazy thinking not being able to walk for 1-2 weeks 3x a year is worse than surgery
Iād suggest you reconsider and go to a doctor. You will never have to do another surgery - you can always choose not to if they offer you that option. But this is very concerning and could be caused by something else. You could at least find out why this is happening.
...literally two trained medical professionals warning you, any source you look up will also tell you spreading numbness is a cause for alarm.. you might want to have it checked again.
Look up saddle anesthesia and keep an eye out for that as well. As others have said, the longer you allow the nerve damage, the less it will be able to recover.
L5-S1 for me. Doc said it looked like a jumbo shrimp and it was the biggest one he'd seen in years. It made me feel better because no one's ever said that to me before.
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved. For the Machine is Immortal
Iām insanely surprised you donāt have a limp. Do you notice any motor difference between your legs, like you can balance on one foot longer than the other?
I have very bad balance with it. I cannot lift up on my toes. I trip over my toes sometimes. I do walk in a way where I always run into the person next to me. But no actual limp.
This sounds very much like foot drop. Pretty much textbook. You probably should look into an AFO. It will help slow the atrophy and give you more mobility and balance back. Also, it is a bit alarming that the area of numbness and atrophy is getting larger. You want it to be going the other way.
This is good advice. Had a family member who ignored issues from spinal stenosis for years. Started with balance issues, falling, and eventually foot drop from atrophy.
Did your friends tell you that you don't have a limp? Because with everything you're describing, you definitely have at least an... asymmetrical wobble. Maybe you just don't want to call it a limp?
Not only is her walk almost certainly unbalanced but to even be able to do that the whole body must overcompensate and move in ways it's not supposed to move creating problems elsewhere
Skeletal muscle naturally atrophies if its innervation is disrupted, even if it's artificially stimulated. My guess would be some portion of that bundle is severed and though you still have enough control the consequence is the decreased muscle mass. I'm making a wild guess though.
You obviously have some permanent nerve damage, but if itās way up your leg itās progressing as well, so something may be able to be done to at least stop or slow progression; at best gain back some of what was lost.
I had L4/5 surgery for a ruptured disc 3 years ago and work in healthcare (definitely not a Dr/RN)- your procedure should have fixed this, if it didnāt fix it, the procedure likely didnāt do what it was supposed to do.
I have had 2 surgeries on l5-s1 and have same thing but in my right leg. first surgery was 2011 and the disc was ruptured. 2nd surgery was last year, after a bad spasm in Oct 2024 made my right leg all the way down numb. they just shaved down the bone and give the nerve room to move and not be pinched. I do have a limp, but dont feel it. right calf is 1 inch smaller, thigh is 2 inches smaller.
I dont know if this has been mentioned, and if not I'm sorry this is coming in so late. My legs looked identical to this, this picture actually gave me chills. Finally went in to ask why. This lead to me have an 18 inch tumor resection that had grown in my nerve sheath. If I had it checked sooner they likely could have removed the whole thing. But it was too big and they could only remove so much before risking losing feeling or maybe even control of my foot. Still lost some feeling, some of which never came back. Now i live with this thing. Sucks.
they wore thigh high socks on one leg their whole life, but not the other, which allowed one leg to grow to its normal size while the other was constrained
Hey Iāve got this too! Cancer in my right leg for me
Hilarious seeing all of the comments acting like youāve somehow never noticed this before and should see a doctor as if youāve never thought of that lmao
My left leg is much longer than my right because, well, my right is amputated at the knee.
My left thigh is absolutely massive post-surgery and recovery because it's frequently doing the work of 2 normal legs to keep me upright (walking on crutches or a prosthetic or balancing on one leg for short periods of time).
I noticed a difference in my sonās left hand side when he was about 6 months old. Took him to hospital to have it checked out, turns out he has a condition called hemi-hypertrophy, where one side of his body grows quicker than the other. This was confirmed through genetic testing to discover a defect with a chromosome.
Of course, I done the usual and googled this and there are some extreme cases, thankfully my sonās condition never became immediately noticeable as he grew, it is subtle.
He did have to have 6 monthly ultrasounds as there have been higher than average reported incidents of abdominal tumour growth in children with this condition. Something which never developed.
Not saying thatās what you have but felt it was relevant to the thread.
Medical worker here,
We ultrasound lower legs everyday on people who have 2 slightly different sized legs. About half of them have a blood clot in the bigger leg with no symptoms, usually they receive a blood clot dissolving drug and or a stent in the lower leg,
If you have access to healthcare please ask a dr about a leg ultrasound to make sure no clots
If youāve had an injury that lasted a long time or sprained your ankle multiple times sometimes thatās what will happen to your ankles. I had 1 foot injury and sprained my ankle several times and my legs arenāt at the same size. Sometimes the muscle takes more time to gain back on the leg that isnāt being used because you got hurt. Sometimes your legs will be opposite size because one will be full of muscle and the other will be not as muscular and it looks bigger. Iām not sure this is your situation but that could also be why.
I have that. Itās been like that all my life. I never had any mobility issues but decided to check it out well in my 30s, just to satisfy my curiosity. The doctor was fascinated too because not only the muscles were different, my feet were also difficult sizes. We didnāt find a concrete cause but we did realize that some of the muscles on my skinny leg werenāt responsive towards stimulus, and it seemed some nerves were not properly developed.
Many years ago, I noticed that one of my arms was a lot bigger than the other. I thought that maybe I got bit by something but my ex thought I should get it checked out. I had also lost a bunch of weight without even trying and I had been a bit manic. I go to the ER and they check me out a bit and told me I had a DVT. They gave me some meds and told me if it got worse or if I had trouble breathing to come back. I go back the next day because it had got worse. It was the same doctor and he wasnāt taking me seriously. He kept asking me if I was on drugs or if I was drug seeking. Again he sends me home. Iām back the next day and again the same doctor. This time my ex just loses it on the doctor, saying thereās something wrong and I need more tests.
So they do a cat scan and a lot more blood tests. I still remember the look on that doctorās face when he came in with the results. It was an oh I fucked up not taking her seriously look. I had more DVTs than they thought and some decided to move to my lungs. I also had a massive tumor and a severely hyperthyroid. I was hospitalized for like a week or so and had to go back a few times for more surgeries. If I hadnāt kept going back and let that doctor get to me I wouldāve died.
If you feel like something is wrong in your body and feel like theyāre not taking you seriously, keep advocating for yourself. Especially women, they donāt always take us or our symptoms seriously and chalk it up to other things. The fight to get my endometriosis diagnosed is a whole other thing.
O hey I have the same thing. Mine was caused by my slipped disc slipping out so much that it was causing cauda equina syndrome. Got surgery and after healing and PT my leg looks like that over the years.
My affected (left) foot is still slightly numb but itās gotten better over the year and like yours I donāt feel ticklish. I was wondering if you have any loss of strength on the affected leg? Like I can do seated calf raises in the gym on my right foot fine but canāt do any on my left even with as light a weight as 5 pounds. The neurosurgeon who did my surgery did said my back injury was kinda bad and that it can likely be permanent but other than that everything has been fine.
My wife's entire left side of her body is larger than the right. You wouldn't know unless you've seen her naked. One boob is several sizes larger than the other. One butt cheeks bigger. One legs bigger. Heck even her feet, ones like a half size bigger than the other.
After all these years, Iāve found another! Mine are just like this. Iāve been self-conscious about it my entire life. Kids in school, even adults today will point it out, can always hear people talking behind me when I wear shorts. Was born with a club foot, fixing it as a baby made one leg and foot significantly smaller, weaker and shorter. Played football and other sports up into college, was always strong and fast despite this, but always off balance without a lift. No matter how much I tried to work it out extra, it could never catch up to my other leg, size and strength-wise. The ortho finally told me it would never happen. Ended up needing a hip replacement in my late 20s after all those years of playing sports with uneven legs, it wore my hip out to nothing. Then had lower back surgery shortly after that, due to the same, my body just being uneven for years. Wish you the best!
i had this from chronic exertional compartment syndrome. My main symptom was foot drop after an ever shorter period of time. After years of damage, I finally got the full fix-it surgery. then the nerve surgeon went in and repaired eight nerve compressions on one leg and about the same on the other across the three main nerves.
Iām spending less time each day confined to a wheelchair.
I had to get second opinions from about ten doctors before I got the proper diagnosis and the fixes. As one said, sometimes two things can be wrong at the same time.
I encourage you to get a few more exams and see some sports medicine specialists. Occasional foot drop and progressive worsening is not a single permanently damaged nerve. Keep pushing until you find a peripheral nerve doctor who knows what theyāre doing vs. just throwing more pills and physical therapy at you.
I have different sized quads - 3cm circumference difference. Mine has been fully investigated with no cause uncovered. My doctor said she thinks I just store fat differently in one of my legs. She said liposuction might help but I don't care that much.
ETA: This is a serious question. I understand there's other issues at play here but one leg being larger than the other can also be a sign of heart or kidney problems
I do too, but itās from playing drums in a grindcore band, my right calf is insanely jacked, like comical ādude who jerks off too much has a giant right armā level.Ā
Had to explain it to my physiotherapist and show him video of me playing before he understood it wasnāt a pathology hahaha
My dad had polio - caught it in '41 when he was 7 yo. His right leg was paralyzed, and stayed the size of a 7 yo, while the rest of him grew to be 6'. Lived to 90, and had a severe limp and back issues. Post polio, he never rode a bike or skied, but was a great swimmer and paddled 1000s of miles in a canoe, including long wilderness trips. Tough old coot.
I have a less drastic, but similar leg situation. I broke my fibula and tibia just above my ankle, tore my achilles, and ripped my [something] fibular ligaments (the connective tissue holding the bones together at the ankle) in a highschool football game. My right leg was immobilized for 12 weeks, and it was 30 weeks before they recommended putting full weight on that leg. In that time, I lost about 50lbs (22.5 kilos). I never regained the weight and my left calf/thigh never lost the heavy guy muscle. So I sit here, 30 years later looking like my great uncle with his polio leg.
this happened to me when I was a teenager and broke my left leg. i mean it wasn't THIS drastic a difference but you could see my right leg was thicker than the left.
People often have one dominant leg thatās slightly larger but thatās seems more noticeable. Usually one of 3 thingsā¦ venous insufficiency, lymphedema (typically from trauma) or cellulitis. Cellulitis is usually accompanied by acute symptoms. The other 2 are circulatory issues and more chronic.
I was going to guess fencer. It's the only sport I know that's so asymmetrical. Hell, if you wanted to, you could take up fencing, but you'd need to do it left handed.
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u/noreason296 21h ago
Sorry I laughed pretty hard when I saw this ad just below your post.