Advice please on trapped femoral nerve

Firstly, I am NOT a doctor, but just speaking from experience.
I haven't ever trapped my femoral nerve, but I have in the past had trapped nerves in my neck & lower back.
My understanding is that when you pinch or trap a nerve, the muscles in that area swell up to 'protect' the affected part. Taking Ibuprofen, or another muscle relaxant painkiller was advised for me. You need to get those muscles to relax. Ice packs again to reduce swelling may be more effective than heat pads, which can promote blood flow & therefore swelling.
The main thing is that you'll need to get her to a healthcare pro somehow, so I'd get her on the ibuprofen, & start concentrating on ways of convincing her to visit a quack.
Matt.

Thanks Matt. Hadn't thought of an ice pack so I'll see if she'll try it tomorrow.
She's been to the doctor a couple of times but I'm sure she's not telling the doctor the whole story. Nor am I sure she's telling me exactly what the doctor said.

Tom, (& mrs Tom),
I hope you get the issue sorted out. It may heal on its own eventually, but its likely to be a lot quicker with some proper help.
Being open & honest at the doc's is a drag, but your world slowing down due to pain/discomfort is undoubtedly worse. Lack of sleep, coupled with the accumulative stress that it induces is probably very counter-productive.
Best wishes to you both.
Matt.

TomK

I hope you'll understand that giving advice about a specific individual and their condition is actually fairly unwise for a doctor on here; even more so when the patient is not even represented!

If you asked her own GP for advice he'd tell you her care was confidential.

If you have such concerns then offer to go along to the doctor with her-if she prefers to consult alone (or not at all) then that is her choice.

I'm sorry if that seeems unhelpful but I'm trying to explain the deafening silence in terms of advice from the docs here.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. I fully understand. I hadn't been looking for anything patient specific, just some general advice on what the normal recommendation would be, in particular would it be to rest or to keep going and try to work through it.

I'd been considering offering to go the doctor with her but I'm not sure she'd react very favourably to that.

Try these:
http://www.webmd.com/
http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthritisbyanatomy/g/pinchednerves.htm
Do a google search, you'll find some resources.
But by all means get competent, live and personal medical advice.
David

If the medic even suggests that an MRI scan could be useful - but dismisses it because it would involve waiting for a long time before a scan could be offered, go private - a scan is not prohibitive in price and can often be done in a week.

If it is decided that a MRI scan would be potentially useful and the the pain is related to the person standing or walking - then go for an Upright MRI scan that will observe the spine and joints under load. The cost is not very high and the results are potentially more useful than a horizontal scan. Be prepared for a trip to London or fly to the US - on cheap plane tickets the price is very similar (unless you add a few days R and R time).

Hijacking this thread somewhat but I won't be the first to hijack a forum thread!

Having been back in the UK for almost 6 months after nearly 10 years in the US, one of differences that strikes me most is in the availability and arguably the quality of the healthcare.

TomK's dilemma here is a perfect example. If I had gone to my Primary Care Physician (US GP equivalent) and he had deemed than an MRI would be useful, I could simply have left his office, walked 10 yards down the corridor (armed with his referral) and booked the MRI at the Imaging Center that is located in the same building. The MRI would have been done that day or at worst next day.

Now, not every primary care doctor has an imaging center on their doorstep but there are a number of them in Naperville and it would only have been a short drive had it not been in the same building. I think this provides an interesting contrast to the NHS system with it's associated lack of equipment and lack of facilities.

I hate to think where the service would be without the fantastic efforts of the staff that make it all tick despite all the barriers.

Sorry to hijack your thread Tom!

Cheers

Jim

I was taken ill in Chicago a couple of years ago and the hospital and treatment was more like being in a 5 star hotel with a half dozen personal staff! Okay, it isn't publicly funded, but as a model for healthcare, and politics aside, it was fantastic. Amazing that they have that too in a one horse town like Naperville Jim, where you can just sit on the porch and watch the tumbleweed.

Tom - Could you not write to the GP to quietly suggest that your wife is probably playing this down a bit, just so that they understand exactly what you have told us in your first post? If it's done with the best intentions, then there can't be any harm in that, surely.

Rasher

We may be up to 2 horses in Naperville these days....I head back there this weekend and will check on the current total.

On a more serious note, I have seen the standard of care that those without insurance receive (Medicare) and while not dreadful , is certainly far removed that in places Rush Copley or Edwards hospitals in my neck of the woods.

Cheers

Jim

Derek and Jim make fair points but just a bit of perspective.

Being able to get a scan is not the same as actually needing one. Tests should be used when the result is likely to influence management, not just for information. A scan is no substitute for good clinical practice. A scan is not a treatment.

The NHS is resource-limited, and at times it frustrates that I cannot access some investigations as rapidly as I might wish. However it also forces me to examine referral decisions carefully, and perhaps apply evidence-based medicine to situations.

Over-investigation (and over treatment) is a real problem that causes direct patient harms sometimes and is also a cause of spiralling health costs (spectacularly so in the US).

I have had many patients who have been ill abroad who have had multiple, expensive and unnecessary tests which appear to be far more to do with generating profit than healthcare. This is also the case at times with the UK private sector.

I offer this as perspective, not a comment on Mrs Tom's need for scans or otherwise. Just bear in mind that when your NHS GP says you don't need a test or treatment it may be actually because you really don't need it rather than protecting NHS resources!

Bruce

Bruce

I wholeheartedly agree with you views on the question of need vs want (I paraphrase a little).

I think that a US physician would take a view that the tests may influence management even it simply means ruling a certain direction and in addition to the points you raise over having a profit driven medical service there is also the aspect of the clinicians fear of litigation which also drives the over testing that can happen in the US.

I wasn't trying to say one system was better than the other (although I have a view on that! ) but simply contrasting the differences.

Incidentally, my wife who was a highly experienced nurse and midwifery sister in Aberdeen before we left is horrified at the lack of some basic nursing care in these high tech hospitals, where it seems, many nurses seem to think that technology replaces the human touch. Having seen that close up, I can't argue with her.

Cheers

Jim

Bruce - I understand where you are coming from
however if the patient can afford to pay for a scan and if it eliminates the need for treatment or indicates that there is a problem that cannot be treated it has proved to be of value.


If it enables the patient to be referred to the next stage with a cast iron need for treatment then the NHS has won and the patient has won because both will get a high chance of success.

Bruce

Isn't it strange how things work out sometimes......just two days after my last post on this thread, my wife, who is still in Chicago while I work in Glasgow took herself along to the ER after suffering some pretty significant abdominal pain overnight Tuesday.

Without going into the details, she was given a CT scan as soon as possible after the contrast dye and lo and behold they found a condition that is pretty uncommon and often misdiagnosed (apparently). She is now in hospital in Chicago.

I'm not saying that it wouldn't have been found just as quickly or misdiagnosed in the UK but the simple availability of these tests can make for quicker and more accurate diagnosis.

Anyway, I type this as I sit in the lounge in Glasgow airport, facing a 3 hour flight delay (f$@#&*ng US weather) and a monster trip to get back to Chicago via Newark and then having to get to LaGuardia in NY....grrrr.

Strange how things work out at times eh?

Cheers

Jim

Jim

I hope she's fine.

I guess you're insured?

Bruce

Bruce

She should be and yes I am insured.

Cheers

Jim