Dull pain and numbness in legs, pain in heels/ankles

Over the past 3 weeks (since second week of January 2010), I've had dull, but numbing pain in my left leg. It has led me to limp at times, particularly if I wake during the night and walk to the bathroom and at intervals during the day.  The most pain seems to radiate from the bottom of my foot, right at the heel/ankle area. After an evening of jumping rope with my young sons, I just assumed I twisted the ankle. However going towards the 4-week mark, the pain is consistent, accompanied now by a cold and numbing feeling also in the right leg and a dull, 'panting' pain around the left side of my abdomen, right around where my ovary is located. The numbness goes from my heels up to the back of my knees and along the sides of my thighs.  I literally feel like an arithritic elderly woman, not a healthy 36 year old! Any suggestions?

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

From your description of symptoms, it seems that it could be a nerve irritation of back. By the reason of that nerves from the spinal cord can be irritated causing leg/thigh pain and numbness, tingling, or weakness in the leg. Few persons also face generalized body weakness and numbness due to other nerve irritation on back. If you suffer continuous weakness and notice reduced strength of muscle bulk in left leg, please arrange an appointment with a neurologist right away who will evaluate the possibilities here. These “red flags” could be indicative of compression of the spinal cord and its nerve branches and early treatment is essential if permanent damage needs to be avoided. Further referral to a physiotherapist for spinal exercises could be beneficial and may produce relief of symptoms. Hope this help.

Take Care & Stay Healthy!!!