.png)
What’s that about? There’s very little going on in the thigh. There’s bone and muscle for pain generators, that's about it. Any joint which you could injure is in the hip or knee. Why would it hurt in the middle of the thigh?
With rare exception, this is caused by injury to the nerve at the spine. The nerve goes to the thigh though and your brain thinks it’s your thigh when it’s really your back.
This is common for people with leg length inequalities as the pelves tilts to one side and puts stress on the spine as it bends to correct for this. We are usually tipped off to this possibility even before we take an X-ray of the area because the history for women, usually includes significant problems with menstrual cramping and/or infertility. It’s the same nerves that control both of these. So, nerve problems there, generates pain that the brain thinks is happening in the thigh. It's not but the brain is wired for there. It isn't always pain either. It could be numbness or tingling instead.
In men, it’s not as obvious but a history of recurring episodes of low back pain, beginning in late teens or twenties, is usually the case. The kind of problem that you “work through” and goes away in a couple days when you’re 30 but you find hangs around for a couple weeks in your 40s and won’t go away and includes pain down the leg in your fifties. On more note on men with this problem; if it's the upper lumbar nerve, L1, it feels like being kicked in the you know what when it is acting up.
This is caused by nerves being injured at the spine. As we age, our discs become less water filled and actually compress a bit. Combined with any rotation of the vertebra or sideways tilt, or scoliosis curves, the nerve is irritated and presents as pain or numbness and tingling in the thigh.
To solve it, an analysis of the level of the pelvis and any curves of the low back must be made to determine how to “put it back” like it was before it caused problems. Sometimes that even includes a heel lift in a shoe to balance out the pelvis and reduce the sideways curve of the spine. Usually, it can be adjusted back into position and normal nerve function restored.
The people who have this problem get no answers anywhere and begin to believe THEY are crazy. They’re not. They have nerve problems. They need an x-ray to solve it.
This is everyday stuff we can help here. If you know somebody suffering with numbness or pain in the thigh, please share this with them. The last person who had this, had suffered for many years needlessly because his medical doctor didn't know about the nervous system and its connections.
Dr. Barrett
Comments