Numbness in Outer Right Thigh After Surgery

[Lazarus Bishop 7]

I haven't seen anyone else post about this so I'll put it out there. I'm 10 days post-op and don't see my surgeon again until January.

Almost immediately after surgery I noticed a palm sized numb area on my outer right thigh , at the time I chalked it up to the rock hard hospital bed. However it's persisted for 10 days and this past Saturday when slept on my right side I woke up with a really sharp pain when I moved my leg that went away in about 5 seconds. I also occasionally get "pin and needles" type sensations in the same area no consistency in what triggers it.

Anyone experience anything similar?

[VSGDavid 185]

Meralgia paresthetica look that up. It’s likely a pinched nerve. Weight loss and weight redistribution will likely fix it. Ask your doc if you’re worried!

[libbyleeb 97]

I lost feeling in a palm sized area of my hip/thigh after gall bladder surgery. I believe it was caused by an injection that I received in that area. My feeling returned after about 6 months. Good luck.

[Lazarus Bishop 7]

Thanks for the responses, I guess I'll just have to accelerate that weight loss (or wait 6ish months).

I'll see what the surgeon says in January.

[Buonnatale 22]

I had the same issue. The surgeon told me it was due to the position I was in on the operating table. It went away by my one month checkup

[ABawdyMermaid 70]

I'm pre-op but I've had this exact same thing for a long while now! (Nearly 8 months or so, at least, possibly longer.) I've discussed it with my doctor, but they just attribute it to being fat, and don't really discuss it further than that.

It feels numb part of the time, but also painful, too, if that makes sense? The sensation is definitely strange, and I also get the pins and needles as well as stabbing pain. Also, I sleep on my belly, and sometimes I wake up to it hurting badly and have to readjust afterwards. It worries me a lot, so I'm hoping with more weight loss, it will go away.

[Frustr8 7,886]

How is your magnesium levels? I have horrendous cramping if I don't keep up with mine. Ran out of pills , was desperate enough to drink MoM once, if course you know one thing that happened but the cramps went away and I could stand to sit🚽and keep from crying.

[Barbara H. 9]

I have the same issue and when I'm sitting for a while (like when I watch a TV show) a heating pad works great. After surgery I was actually afraid I had a blood clot but they did an ultra sound and all was good. She also said a blood clot wouldn't be on the outside of my thigh but in the deep veins on the inside of the leg. Try the heating pad.

[domi 237]

Mine is my left hip. I have had it since a month after my surgery (May) and still have the numbness. it is fine if I lie on my left side. When I lay on my right side I feel pins and needles all over. I have lost 90 lbs now so I'm not sure weight loss will help. It seems to have made it more noticeable.

[Lazarus Bishop 7]

On 12/28/2018 at 8:59 AM, Frustr8 said:

How is your magnesium levels? I have horrendous cramping if I don't keep up with mine. Ran out of pills , was desperate enough to drink MoM once, if course you know one thing that happened but the cramps went away and I could stand to sit🚽and keep from crying.

Honestly you might be onto something with the magnesium. The numbness comes and goes in terms of severity, but I did add a magnesium supplement and it seems to improve things but I need to conduct a more scientific test. It's still weird this started immediately after surgery. I have since started having a similar problem on my left side but no where near as severe.

I don't see my surgeon until mid-January, so I'll see then.

[VSGDavid 185]

Hope you're able to get it sorted out!

[summerset 5,265]

On 11/30/2018 at 3:21 AM, Lazarus Bishop said:

Anyone experience anything similar?

Does it still bother you? Peripheral nerve damage is possible. It will resolve but it takes some time, like several weeks.