Tingling from the waist down and numb feet

[Alli6522]

My daughter fell on her tale bone during a soccer game. She had a dull pain in her lower back for a couple days, also when she would bend her neck she would have a sharp pain running down her body.  By the second day she was complaining of tingling from the waist down and numbness in her legs.  It has been just over a week and she still has complete numbness from the shin down.  We had spinal v-rays done and everything looks great.  Blood work was also done to insure she wasn't internally bleeding.  She has good blood flow, strength, and reflexes. She has been taking an anti-inflammatory for the last four days with very little change.  All in all she has a normal neuro exam other then the fact that she can't feel her feel.  We go for an MRI this week and hopefully all will be okay.  Any incite on this issue would be great!

[Alli6522]

We had an MRI done with contrast yesterday.  They say she has lesions on her cervical spine and there is signs of demyelination.  The Neurologist said it wasn't cancer but that they wanted to do more tests.  It seems rather bazaar to me that the onset of all this was from the soccer injury.  It is very hard for me to believe that this was all coincidental. Is it possible that the demyelination could be caused by the trauma of the soccer injury?  Everyone I talk to says that it is hard to believe that her leg numbness is associated with the cervical spine lesions.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
I am sorry to hear about your daughter. She must undergo MRI of the neck and lumbo-sacral spine. There is a chance of compression of the spinal nerves in these regions. A MRI and nerve conduction studies may be required. The treatment is to remove the compression. You have to discuss the best treatment option with a neurologist, which can range from medication to physiotherapy to traction, cervical collars/lumbar belts or even surgery.
Waist down numbness can also be transverse myelitis and a spinal tap should also be done. If these are inconclusive, then a myelogram should be performed. In this after a spinal tap and collecting spinal fluid for analysis, a dye is injected and several X-Rays are taken. If MRI and myelogram are both negative, then it is thought to be a vascular pathology.
It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.  Do discuss with your neurologist. I sincerely wish her a speedy recovery. Take care!