Back problems leading to Leg dysfunction?

[jscognam]

This question is in regards to my mother.

Some brief background on her back problems:
She has degenerative disease and is missing the cushioning between two of her lumbar bones.
About 3 months ago, she went on the treadmill without stretching and felt a burning sensation in her calf muscles within about three to five minutes (it was slightly more time than a commercial break).
She's 51 and doesn't normally eat well or exercise regularly (although she keeps saying she wants to)

So for the first two months, she experienced some pain in her legs that she ignored, regarding it as a pull or a strained muscle. She found herself in excruciating pain about 3 weeks ago in her calf and has since gone to our family doctor twice, a hospital, a chiropractor / sports medicine specialist, and a neurologist. So far, pulled / strained muscle and a plantaris rupture have been ruled out.

About a week ago, the pain moved from her calf to her ankle. My thought was that the pain in the calf has been causing her to misuse her ankle and cause the pain. The sports-medicine doctor said that isn't the case and it's nerve damage, although the neurologist can't figure out what's wrong. A doctor told her that it could be due to her back problems, but my mother, slightly thick-headed doesn't believe that.

So my question is, could the problem be caused by the back issues that she currently has, or is there something else that somebody can think of?

[jscognam]

Thanks. She found out that she had a 2cm cist developed in a ligament in her lumbar area, causing the pain. Now her leg just needs to heal from the damaged nerves and she should be good to go in a few days. She had the cist drained yesterday and the pain's gone, except she can feel her leg still hurting, but not badly.

Surgery was still recommended to fix her lumbar area though, as the cist could come back in a few months.

[Kalvin]

Since she has a history of DDD and when you say (missing the cushioning) you mean disc space narrowing, its perfectly logical to think that it could be some type of nerve impingement in the low back. Sciatica makes it even more likely. Just my 2 cents.

Take care

[jscognam]

I didn't mention earlier, she also has sciatica.