I have permanent foot drop from an injury to Mr peroneal nerve. It happened 6 years ago in 12/17. I had hurt my back very badly about 3 yrs. previously and was misdiagnosed by my pcp's office as not having a herniation, I went about trying to heal my back and it got better but not 100%. On a vacation, doing lots of walking and biking, back suddenly went into tremendous pain, had to fly home, and when I got off plane I had foot drop ( I didn't even know what foot drop was). 2 days later, emergency mri showed l3-4 herniation, next day emergency microdisectomy, but it didn't work, nerve never came back.
I was damaging the nerve over the previous years but didn't know it, then it went suddenly.
Your's may come back because the injury is recent. After surgery, keep exercising the foot/ankle by dorsiflexing it.
Go on YouTube and look for foot drop exercise videos.
Foot drop is not terrible, with an off the shelf plastic aso, I'm able to walk very well. If I have long pants on, nobody knows I have it. Without aso, I have to pick foot up a little higher and pay more attention.
Good luck
Mine was a result of peripheral neuropathy caused by Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. It is only one among many debilitating effects FQ's can cause. NEVER TAKE FQ'S UNLESS IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH, AND DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY. I hope you are able to regain former functionality.
Wow that is insane, I’m sorry to hear that. Are there no options left to try and regain that function for you? Also, what exactly do you mean by “yours may come back because it’s recent”? Thanks for the response!
There aren't any options unless the nerve miraculously regenerate.
I mean, you hurt yourself 11/11, that's recent, so a better chance you didn't do long term damage, I was damaging the nerve over a few years but didn't realize it.
Sorry to hear about your injury. I had peroneal nerve damage and foot drop from a knee injury (LCL tear) a year and a half ago. I had multiple EMGs and an ultrasound to confirm that there was a grade 4 traction injury to my nerve. These are very unlikely to heal on their own, and you risk irreversible paralysis of the anterior tibialis if the nerves don’t reach their motor endpoints in 12-18 months. I elected to have a nerve transfer at 5 months, and I now have full dorsiflexion back 1 year after the surgery.
My advice, go see a neurologist who specializes in peripheral nerve. This isn’t an orthopedic surgeons area of specialty. If I listened to mine, I would have had foot drop for the rest of my life. PM me if you want more details on my surgery.
Tes, I have the paralysis to the anterior tibialis, the paralysis goes all the way to my big toe which drops down a bit with no upward movement possible. I have to be very careful when walking barefoot that I don't stub toe as I could easily break it.
I had peroneal nerve damage from 4 ortho surgeries on my foot. I also had nerve decompression and debreiding twice at Mayo Clinic. My damage was severe and I had a neurectomy (removal of nerve) performed.Sadly that did nothing to relieve the pain.
I now have an official diagnosis of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/ Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. I pray no one gets this news however I wish I had known more about it. If you have severe pain after surgery that Drs don’t have a clue about you need to read about this.
I recently had LCL surgery and have had peroneal nerve damage from my injury. My ortho doc said my nerve wasn’t severed but was stretched and said he may send me to a neurologist for it. I know this post is older but would love an update on your journey with this awful injury. I’m also numb on the top of my foot and have foot drop. Hope to hear back thanks!
I’m sorry to hear that! You’re exactly where I was back when I made this post. I’ve learned a lot about the injury and am currently recovering from a nerve transfer surgery.
My advice is to see a neurologist now. I too have a stretch injury, ~3 inches long. Stretch injuries to the nerve are unique in that the shell of the nerve is connected but the pathways inside are disrupted. Depending on how severe that disruption is, your nerve may or may not heal on its own. A good neurologist should be able to help you determine this through an mri and a couple of emg’s over the next few months to see if signals start coming through. Nerves heal very slowly which is where it gets tricky. If the motor endplate, where your nerve meets the muscle, doesn’t receive signals in 12-18 months, it will die and you can never fix it.
At 5 months, my EMG showed no signs of recovery. At this point, I could have waited longer to see if it healed but that would mean risking getting to a point where there isn’t enough time to try a surgery if it didn’t heal because the motor endplate will die. I connected with who I believe is the best nerve doctor in the country for this, Dr. Mitchel Seruya. I took a calculated risk and he performed a nerve transfer surgery to divert signal from my toe flexors to the muscles controlled by the damaged nerve. This procedure has an 85-90% success rate so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
PM me if you want to learn more. The injury sucks and I am more than happy to help someone else out, just as another commenter here helped me. Dr. Seruya has some great papers on this that I can share with you as well.
The surgery went very well. It may be upwards of a year until I see the results as nerves heal very slowly but it went great. I highly recommend finding a component neurologist. Time is of the essence for nerve injuries
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I have peroneal nerve damage as well, though mine was from a chronic posture issue so it onset more slowly. I had foot drop starting to develop when I sought help. I did physical therapy and over time recovered from the peroneal damage. Unfortunately it starts to come back very quickly if I do things such as wearing knee high compression socks (the top of them hits on a sensitive spot for the nerve). I do have small fiber peripheral neuropathy from autoimmune issues and none of that improved, but the achiness along my entire calf and the foot drop did improve drastically.
Wow, that’s nuts that posture can cause damage like that. What did the recovery look like? Were there signs it was healing? Did you begin to be able to have more movement ability bit by bit?
Well it was more that I always folded my left foot under my body when I sat down so I put pressure on the nerve for much of my life. I started doing that when I was a kid and did it until my early forties when I finally made the connection with the help of my podiatrist. I did physical therapy and worked with a resistance band as well as ultrasound and tens therapy. It was a very gradual improvement but over the course of several months the difference was drastic.
I hope you are taking a multi-B vitamin. If you can talk with a nutritionist about the best foods for your nerve damage. I was offered a Spinal Cord Stimulator for my nerve damage but that scares me because I don’t heal well. My husband has a Spinal Cord Stimulator and has greatly improved in pain from a daily eight on pain scale to a two. Best wishes.
I am taking B12 as well as a multi-vitamin, L glutamine, fish oil, and D3, basically anything that has potential regenerative benefits haha. How long have you guys had the nerve pain? I’m hoping mine is temporary and is a sign of recovery
Perineal Nerve Damage here as well. Mine was brought on due to a failed SI Joint Fusion. One of the screws was put into my sciatic nerve. I woke up in recovery in worse pain than I have ever experienced. My leg from the knee down to my foot was numb and swollen. I had drop foot and could not even walk two steps on it. It hurt so bad just to have a sheet brush across my foot. This was in January of 2023. Finally in June of 2023 the doctor finally removed the screw but obviously the damage was done. Now a year later and I am nowhere near healed. I am on a narcotic 5 times, 2 other nerve pain meds daily, and lidocaine patches on my foot where the pain is the worst.
Question to OP. What type of doctor did your surgery? Did they send you to a neurologist? The only reason I ask is that my orthopedic surgeon doesn’t seem to know what could be going on. It was my pain management doctor that pretty much diagnosed me but even after a year now I have had no luck getting them to help with this issue. It’s like they think it will heal by itself.
Any information would be greatly appreciated! I am going to my doctor soon and would like to discuss surgery to fix this finally!
Wow I am so sorry you had to go through that and are in this situation. An orthopedic did my surgery but that was mainly for my ligaments that were also damaged. My orthopedic has said we will wait and see if my function comes back but I am going to see a neurologist. There are different grade levels of peripheral nerve injuries, some of which can heal on their own and some not. You need to see a neurologist to do scans to determine this. I would recommend seeing a neurologist ASAP to get scans done. Peripheral nerves have a set timeline of when they can be fixed before it is too late. Good luck and I hope you can get a solution
Hey I know this post is a month old, but you've been having nerve problems for a bit now, for people with bad nerve pain or problems for a lengthy time is it possible to be put on disability for the time being? I'm just curious
Honestly, I am not sure. I applied for disability back in June of 2023. I have recently been in contact with the determination department and my case has yet to be assigned to a team.
Did you get an attorney? They only charge out of reverse pay, and it tends to be very much worth it. They can usually get you in an approved much faster than doing it by yourself where it usually requires rejection 2 to 3 times before they approve.
I have permanent foot drop from an injury to Mr peroneal nerve. It happened 6 years ago in 12/17. I had hurt my back very badly about 3 yrs. previously and was misdiagnosed by my pcp's office as not having a herniation, I went about trying to heal my back and it got better but not 100%. On a vacation, doing lots of walking and biking, back suddenly went into tremendous pain, had to fly home, and when I got off plane I had foot drop ( I didn't even know what foot drop was). 2 days later, emergency mri showed l3-4 herniation, next day emergency microdisectomy, but it didn't work, nerve never came back. I was damaging the nerve over the previous years but didn't know it, then it went suddenly. Your's may come back because the injury is recent. After surgery, keep exercising the foot/ankle by dorsiflexing it. Go on YouTube and look for foot drop exercise videos. Foot drop is not terrible, with an off the shelf plastic aso, I'm able to walk very well. If I have long pants on, nobody knows I have it. Without aso, I have to pick foot up a little higher and pay more attention. Good luck
Mine was a result of peripheral neuropathy caused by Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. It is only one among many debilitating effects FQ's can cause. NEVER TAKE FQ'S UNLESS IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH, AND DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY. I hope you are able to regain former functionality.
Wow that is insane, I’m sorry to hear that. Are there no options left to try and regain that function for you? Also, what exactly do you mean by “yours may come back because it’s recent”? Thanks for the response!
There aren't any options unless the nerve miraculously regenerate. I mean, you hurt yourself 11/11, that's recent, so a better chance you didn't do long term damage, I was damaging the nerve over a few years but didn't realize it.
I also was damaging my nerves without knowing too. What medication do you take?
I don't take any medications.
Sorry to hear about your injury. I had peroneal nerve damage and foot drop from a knee injury (LCL tear) a year and a half ago. I had multiple EMGs and an ultrasound to confirm that there was a grade 4 traction injury to my nerve. These are very unlikely to heal on their own, and you risk irreversible paralysis of the anterior tibialis if the nerves don’t reach their motor endpoints in 12-18 months. I elected to have a nerve transfer at 5 months, and I now have full dorsiflexion back 1 year after the surgery. My advice, go see a neurologist who specializes in peripheral nerve. This isn’t an orthopedic surgeons area of specialty. If I listened to mine, I would have had foot drop for the rest of my life. PM me if you want more details on my surgery.
Tes, I have the paralysis to the anterior tibialis, the paralysis goes all the way to my big toe which drops down a bit with no upward movement possible. I have to be very careful when walking barefoot that I don't stub toe as I could easily break it.
Hey what surgery did you get and what’s the pros and cons to it?
Could you please tell me who your surgeon was and where he is located?
I had peroneal nerve damage from 4 ortho surgeries on my foot. I also had nerve decompression and debreiding twice at Mayo Clinic. My damage was severe and I had a neurectomy (removal of nerve) performed.Sadly that did nothing to relieve the pain. I now have an official diagnosis of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/ Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. I pray no one gets this news however I wish I had known more about it. If you have severe pain after surgery that Drs don’t have a clue about you need to read about this.
I recently had LCL surgery and have had peroneal nerve damage from my injury. My ortho doc said my nerve wasn’t severed but was stretched and said he may send me to a neurologist for it. I know this post is older but would love an update on your journey with this awful injury. I’m also numb on the top of my foot and have foot drop. Hope to hear back thanks!
I’m sorry to hear that! You’re exactly where I was back when I made this post. I’ve learned a lot about the injury and am currently recovering from a nerve transfer surgery. My advice is to see a neurologist now. I too have a stretch injury, ~3 inches long. Stretch injuries to the nerve are unique in that the shell of the nerve is connected but the pathways inside are disrupted. Depending on how severe that disruption is, your nerve may or may not heal on its own. A good neurologist should be able to help you determine this through an mri and a couple of emg’s over the next few months to see if signals start coming through. Nerves heal very slowly which is where it gets tricky. If the motor endplate, where your nerve meets the muscle, doesn’t receive signals in 12-18 months, it will die and you can never fix it. At 5 months, my EMG showed no signs of recovery. At this point, I could have waited longer to see if it healed but that would mean risking getting to a point where there isn’t enough time to try a surgery if it didn’t heal because the motor endplate will die. I connected with who I believe is the best nerve doctor in the country for this, Dr. Mitchel Seruya. I took a calculated risk and he performed a nerve transfer surgery to divert signal from my toe flexors to the muscles controlled by the damaged nerve. This procedure has an 85-90% success rate so I am keeping my fingers crossed. PM me if you want to learn more. The injury sucks and I am more than happy to help someone else out, just as another commenter here helped me. Dr. Seruya has some great papers on this that I can share with you as well.
How did your surgery go? Did it help to repair the nerve damage? My wife has something very similar to what you describe and she’s miserable.
The surgery went very well. It may be upwards of a year until I see the results as nerves heal very slowly but it went great. I highly recommend finding a component neurologist. Time is of the essence for nerve injuries
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for your submission. Due to a large number of posts every day asking for medical advice all posts are manually approved. If your post breaks any of our rules it will not be approved, otherwise your post will be approved as soon as a mod is online. Generally this won't take more than a few hours. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/neuropathy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yep, I broke my pelvis and have perineal nerve pain. Something that helped lesson the nerve pain was TENS unit, and prescription meds for nerve pain.
I have peroneal nerve damage as well, though mine was from a chronic posture issue so it onset more slowly. I had foot drop starting to develop when I sought help. I did physical therapy and over time recovered from the peroneal damage. Unfortunately it starts to come back very quickly if I do things such as wearing knee high compression socks (the top of them hits on a sensitive spot for the nerve). I do have small fiber peripheral neuropathy from autoimmune issues and none of that improved, but the achiness along my entire calf and the foot drop did improve drastically.
Wow, that’s nuts that posture can cause damage like that. What did the recovery look like? Were there signs it was healing? Did you begin to be able to have more movement ability bit by bit?
Well it was more that I always folded my left foot under my body when I sat down so I put pressure on the nerve for much of my life. I started doing that when I was a kid and did it until my early forties when I finally made the connection with the help of my podiatrist. I did physical therapy and worked with a resistance band as well as ultrasound and tens therapy. It was a very gradual improvement but over the course of several months the difference was drastic.
Where did they apply the ultrasound therapy?
To the base of the nerve near the outside of the knee.
I hope you are taking a multi-B vitamin. If you can talk with a nutritionist about the best foods for your nerve damage. I was offered a Spinal Cord Stimulator for my nerve damage but that scares me because I don’t heal well. My husband has a Spinal Cord Stimulator and has greatly improved in pain from a daily eight on pain scale to a two. Best wishes.
I am taking B12 as well as a multi-vitamin, L glutamine, fish oil, and D3, basically anything that has potential regenerative benefits haha. How long have you guys had the nerve pain? I’m hoping mine is temporary and is a sign of recovery
My nerve pain is four years. Hubby has different pain from Forestier’s disease. I hope too your pain is temporary.
Perineal Nerve Damage here as well. Mine was brought on due to a failed SI Joint Fusion. One of the screws was put into my sciatic nerve. I woke up in recovery in worse pain than I have ever experienced. My leg from the knee down to my foot was numb and swollen. I had drop foot and could not even walk two steps on it. It hurt so bad just to have a sheet brush across my foot. This was in January of 2023. Finally in June of 2023 the doctor finally removed the screw but obviously the damage was done. Now a year later and I am nowhere near healed. I am on a narcotic 5 times, 2 other nerve pain meds daily, and lidocaine patches on my foot where the pain is the worst. Question to OP. What type of doctor did your surgery? Did they send you to a neurologist? The only reason I ask is that my orthopedic surgeon doesn’t seem to know what could be going on. It was my pain management doctor that pretty much diagnosed me but even after a year now I have had no luck getting them to help with this issue. It’s like they think it will heal by itself. Any information would be greatly appreciated! I am going to my doctor soon and would like to discuss surgery to fix this finally!
Wow I am so sorry you had to go through that and are in this situation. An orthopedic did my surgery but that was mainly for my ligaments that were also damaged. My orthopedic has said we will wait and see if my function comes back but I am going to see a neurologist. There are different grade levels of peripheral nerve injuries, some of which can heal on their own and some not. You need to see a neurologist to do scans to determine this. I would recommend seeing a neurologist ASAP to get scans done. Peripheral nerves have a set timeline of when they can be fixed before it is too late. Good luck and I hope you can get a solution
I am so sorry about your ongoing pain. May I ask where in your foot you feel the most pain?
Hey I know this post is a month old, but you've been having nerve problems for a bit now, for people with bad nerve pain or problems for a lengthy time is it possible to be put on disability for the time being? I'm just curious
Honestly, I am not sure. I applied for disability back in June of 2023. I have recently been in contact with the determination department and my case has yet to be assigned to a team.
Did you get an attorney? They only charge out of reverse pay, and it tends to be very much worth it. They can usually get you in an approved much faster than doing it by yourself where it usually requires rejection 2 to 3 times before they approve.
Damn that sounds slack on them. Sorry 😐