This is going to be a long post, but we are at our rope's end and so is he. I do not know if anyone here has any suggestions on where to go next, but I have to figure this out for my son.

He is 15 and was a starting linebacker on the varsity team this year: (I am going to bullet this to organize my thoughts)

• Healthy 15 year old 6' 195lbs - muscular with very thick legs
• October in a game against Rockport he plays the entire game and then in the locker room he loses all feeling in his lower body. Cannot walk and has no response to pin *****s in his legs.(This did not happend on the field, it happened when he was taking his cleats off in the locker room)
• Transported to a hospital in Corpus and regains feeling and mobility in about 3 hours. X rays negative and he walks out of the hospital.
• Complains of pain in lower back on the left side
• Take him to sports medicine in San Antonio and over 2 months have multiple MRI's and eventually a CAT scan done of his entire back. - Nothing abnormal no signs of anything wrong with his entire spine. He still complains of lower left back pain.
• Completes physical therapy with no relief for back pain
• Fully released for all activities. Starts power lifting and track.
• Cannot do deep squats do to pain and weakness in left leg cannot run his normal runs in track.
• Has an episode where left leg goes numb during school
• Take him to the Spurs sports medicine clinic - take an MRI of hip and find old fracture in non load bearing portion of left hip - January
• Entire clinic reviews case and are baffled - cannot explain reason for initial paralysis or really the cause of pain.
• Placed on crutches to see if break will heal. - No pain relief and has another episode of numbness in leg, not paralysis, but numbness.
• Dr is baffled and releases him to play tennis.
• Pain in lower left back remains and he tries to fight through it.
• Dr gives shot of cortisone/numbing agent into pain spot in back. No relief from pain.
• Today, he is playing in a tennis tournament and left leg goes numb. Still able to move and completes match on numb leg. Numbness goes away after 30 mins or so and comes back after he has been sitting on the bus.

He is frustrated, we are frustrated and do not really know where to turn at this point. I do not care about sports, I want my son to not be in pain or have issues. He has a long life ahead of him and I want that to be as full as possible.

I have sciatica to my non medical brain this has always seemed like a sciatic issue. Some of the Dr's have suggested Piriformis syndrome as a possibility but have never focused on it as they are fixated on the initial paralysis and not necessarily the ongoing pain and numbness (not paralysis).

I will take him to any Dr or try anything at this point to help him, He has had 7 MRI's and 1 CAT scan at this point. We are thinking Neurologist at this point, but cannot get into one until May. Does anyone know a Dr that treats the A&M sports teams or someone that may be able to help? We are located South of San Antonio, but willing to travel just about anyplace to try and figure this out.

Thank you and sorry for the long post.

Might try massage therapy in the interim.

I'm just a lay person, but my two initial reactions would be seeing a neurologist and potentially chiropractor.

Try Texas Manual Therapy in San Antonio. Fascial Counterstrain is the method he uses. No cracking or hurtful movements.

Well, you can determine which nerves supple and receive impulses from what area and what path that takes to reach the bran stem. That isolated if to certain candidates. Then probably a detailed tracking of any activities in detail leading up to episodes and the resulting symptoms and progression of symptoms. More data will always help.

Is it sensation or motor control? Is it general to the leg or does it start in certain areas and progress or expand? Is the onset instantaneous or gradual. There are lots of details that might hint at a cause or contributing factors.

Maybe something is swelling and constructing or pressing on a nerve, or triggering an unusual reaction in it?

aggiederelict said:

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Do not see a chiropractor for this. This young man needs to be evaluated by a neurologist first before exploring other options.

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Thank you for all the great responses. Sir, I am not sure of your background and I appreciate the direct response. Are there any areas that you would suggest a Neuro to concentrate on?

Thank you

AggieLAX said:

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The fact that the numbness occurs when he's sitting makes me think it's a compression issue. Piriformis might also be a culprit. Chiropractic could certainly help. aggiederelict should be able to provide some insight here.

It might also be a mobility problem. I'd be happy to assess him. No charge.

I've been a personal trainer for 27 years and have trained lots and lots of athletes. Many come to see me with persistent injuries after they have exhausted all other treatment options. You'd be amazed at how many chronic issues are due to poor mobility.

I'm in San Antonio. Feel free to message me.

At the very least, I would discourage bilateral lifting such as deadlifts, squats, powercleans, etc.

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I appreciate the offer and we may take you up on it. He is currently not lifting. Just playing tennis to try and maintain some shape. I am working today to try and get him into see a Neuro sooner than May.

JB!98 said:

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AggieLAX said:

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The fact that the numbness occurs when he's sitting makes me think it's a compression issue. Piriformis might also be a culprit. Chiropractic could certainly help. aggiederelict should be able to provide some insight here.

It might also be a mobility problem. I'd be happy to assess him. No charge.

I've been a personal trainer for 27 years and have trained lots and lots of athletes. Many come to see me with persistent injuries after they have exhausted all other treatment options. You'd be amazed at how many chronic issues are due to poor mobility.

I'm in San Antonio. Feel free to message me.

At the very least, I would discourage bilateral lifting such as deadlifts, squats, powercleans, etc.

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I appreciate the offer and we may take you up on it. He is currently not lifting. Just playing tennis to try and maintain some shape. I am working today to try and get him into see a Neuro sooner than May.

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Absolutely. Exhaust all options. It's an open invitation.

I am a physical therapist. I send people to chiro's for work. I would start with a neurologist first in you area before going down other roads. It may take a few attempts to find the one who understands what is going on.

Is he having any bowel or bladder issues?

aggiederelict said:

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I am a physical therapist. I send people to chiro's for work. I would start with a neurologist first in you area before going down other roads. It may take a few attempts to find the one who understands what is going on.

Is he having any bowel or bladder issues?

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No bowel or bladder issues.

JB!98 said:

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I appreciate the offer and we may take you up on it. He is currently not lifting. Just playing tennis to try and maintain some shape. I am working today to try and get him into see a Neuro sooner than May.

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Just an FYI....playing tennis is actually pretty hard on your lower back. I played varsity in highschool. About 15 years ago I started having lower back pain that just progressively got worse and worse. MRI diagnosed spondylolysthesis. I had fractures in my lower vertebrae that caused some of my lumbar vertebrae to literally fall off the vertebrae below it. Doctor says they see the fractures quite a bit in teens who played tennis, football, or gymnastics. It's the only explanation I have for my fractures. No bad car accidents, never fallen down stairs....nothing. Just years of tennis, pounding on a hard pavement, quick stopping/starting and twisting.

AJ02 said:

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JB!98 said:

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I appreciate the offer and we may take you up on it. He is currently not lifting. Just playing tennis to try and maintain some shape. I am working today to try and get him into see a Neuro sooner than May.

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Just an FYI....playing tennis is actually pretty hard on your lower back. I played varsity in highschool. About 15 years ago I started having lower back pain that just progressively got worse and worse. MRI diagnosed spondylolysthesis. I had fractures in my lower vertebrae that caused some of my lumbar vertebrae to literally fall off the vertebrae below it. Doctor says they see the fractures quite a bit in teens who played tennis, football, or gymnastics. It's the only explanation I have for my fractures. No bad car accidents, never fallen down stairs....nothing. Just years of tennis, pounding on a hard pavement, quick stopping/starting and twisting.

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I feel you, but this kid is so damn competitive and so athletic that I cannot take this simple thing away from him at this point. (If I could wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him at home I would) Due to this back issue he could not finish the football season, play basketball, power lift, or run track. It was like keeping an animal in a cage. Breaks my heart. This was also on top of not being able to participate in football off-season or the first game due to knee surgery. The spine specialist and other docs have agreed to let him play tennis.

Funny, that he is playing tennis. He has never touched a tennis racket in his life and when he told us he was going to do it we laughed. I'll be darned if he is not a pretty good little player. Won both of his matches yesterday even on a leg he could not feel in his last match.

How far up the spinal column have the MRIs gone? And did they do them with and without contrast? I agree with the others that the neurologist is where you need to be, and don't be surprised if they want to MRI the full spinal column and/or brain if that hasn't been done already.

txags92 said:

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How far up the spinal column have the MRIs gone? And did they do them with and without contrast? I agree with the others that the neurologist is where you need to be, and don't be surprised if they want to MRI the full spinal column and/or brain if that hasn't been done already.

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Neck entire back and hip. The last with the spine specialist was a CAT scan of the entire spine with some kind of dye. I am Ok, if they need to do more diagnostics.

**Edit with today's update. Leg was numb all day. He walked on it all day and went though tennis practice with it. When he got home and told me about it, I poked him with a fork pretty hard in his entire leg. Nothing. Poked him in the bottom of the foot and his leg recoiled. He said that was reflexive. We think we can get him into a Neurologist next week at University Hospital in San Antonio. He is walking around and hopping around with the dog like nothing is wrong. This is the weirdest thing I have seen.***

Definitely needs to see neurology. Might need a lumbar puncture and brain MRI if the entire spine has already been MRIed and was negative. Might also get nerve conduction studies. Doesn't quite sound like MS, have heard or something recently called inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy that now pops into my head all the time. But that's pretty rare and I'm not sure would be intermittent.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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Definitely needs to see neurology. Might need a lumbar puncture and brain MRI if the entire spine has already been MRIed and was negative. Might also get nerve conduction studies. Doesn't quite sound like MS, have heard or something recently called inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy that now pops into my head all the time. But that's pretty rare and I'm not sure would be intermittent.

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Appreciate the input. I would be concerned about some of these if there was not an event (Football game) that started this process. My brother is having very similar issues and he is seeing a Neuro. His is somewhat diagnosed due to known issues with his cervical spine and he is 44 years old. (Both of his legs have been numb from the knee down for almost 4 years). He still jogs and live a somewhat normal life. He has the nerve conduction study scheduled.

We may have to go down that path and will do so if needed. We just need to find the cause of this so that we can get him on a path to treatment that actually works. So much of this since October has been trial and error. It is never comforting to have a respected specialist look at you and go, "I have no idea, this is a mystery."

JB!98 said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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Definitely needs to see neurology. Might need a lumbar puncture and brain MRI if the entire spine has already been MRIed and was negative. Might also get nerve conduction studies. Doesn't quite sound like MS, have heard or something recently called inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy that now pops into my head all the time. But that's pretty rare and I'm not sure would be intermittent.

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Appreciate the input. I would be concerned about some of these if there was not an event (Football game) that started this process. My brother is having very similar issues and he is seeing a Neuro. His is somewhat diagnosed due to known issues with his cervical spine and he is 44 years old. (Both of his legs have been numb from the knee down for almost 4 years). He still jogs and live a somewhat normal life. He has the nerve conduction study scheduled.

We may have to go down that path and will do so if needed. We just need to find the cause of this so that we can get him on a path to treatment that actually works. So much of this since October has been trial and error. It is never comforting to have a respected specialist look at you and go, "I have no idea, this is a mystery."

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I would caution against assuming too much about what is causing it based on it starting after the football game if he has no recall of any specific event during the game that might have triggered it. Things like MS and other demyelinating diseases can affect people in places besides just the brain and the effects often come and go, particularly when patients are fatigued, have inflammation in their systems, or stress. That is why I asked about what the previous MRIs covered and if they used contrast. Contrast is used to show areas where there is active demyelination occurring, and even just a small lesion in the spinal cord or brain can affect the nerves in a relatively distant part of the body in ways that will come and go over time based on the amount of inflammation in the system and the process causing the demyelination.

In my case, 2 small lesions in my brain caused total hearing loss in my left ear for about 8 weeks. It has since recovered mostly, but the quality of my hearing still fluctuates from time to time 20 years later and I now have "inumerable lesions" in my brain and an MS diagnosis. Leg pain, weakness, and tingling can all be caused by things like MS and may come from spinal lesions or lesions in the brain itself. But those kinds of diseases are also not diagnosed with a specific test. They are typically differential diagnoses where the docs rule out a bunch of other things they can test for first and then settle on the diagnosis that is left that best fits the results.

I say all that not to worry you, but to say be prepared for the possibility that the neuro may want a new round of tests and imaging and may not have an immediate answer for you.

Another thought, but sometimes when doctors can't figure it out, it's either currently beyond the scope of current medical science/technology, or it psychosomatic. Not to be dismissive of your son, but it happens.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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Another thought, but sometimes when doctors can't figure it out, it's either currently beyond the scope of current medical science/technology, or it psychosomatic. Not to be dismissive of your son, but it happens.

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Don't think for a second I have not thought about that. The kid is just too competitive for me to believe it. I also watched him play a half a basketball season on a knee that required patellar release surgery to correct. (We did not realize the severity of it or we would have gotten it corrected, he just didn't tell us until the season was over) Even the surgeon was questioning where he found the fortitude to play on that knee and had to hold him back from going into football season too quickly.

I wish it was something like that so I wouldn't have to worry so much about him.

Doc here.

I agree with seeing a neurologist. A thorough neurological exam is probably the most helpful thing. Second would be a nerve conduction study.

I honestly am not sure why that wasn't already done.

Weakness = neurological; numbness = neurological; pain often = neurological

The complete temporary paralysis and intermittent numbness does at least put Conversion disorder on the differential.

Did any of the doctors bring that up as a concern? If not, it is worth an ask if they considered it (but maybe didn't want to bring it up). Often doctors don't want to sound dismissive, so they don't want to bring it up. However you've spent enough time and worry with it that I'd go back and ask those docs. Could be a phone call without your son being present which may make for a more open dialogue

At least you'd know if they feel that is a thought or if it is not even on their radar

Either way, seeing a neurologist would be my next step in the work up.

Just my $0.02

The Grinder (99) said:

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Doc here.

I agree with seeing a neurologist. A thorough neurological exam is probably the most helpful thing. Second would be a nerve conduction study.

I honestly am not sure why that wasn't already done.

Weakness = neurological; numbness = neurological; pain often = neurological

The complete temporary paralysis and intermittent numbness does at least put Conversion disorder on the differential.

Did any of the doctors bring that up as a concern? If not, it is worth an ask if they considered it (but maybe didn't want to bring it up). Often doctors don't want to sound dismissive, so they don't want to bring it up. However you've spent enough time and worry with it that I'd go back and ask those docs. Could be a phone call without your son being present which may make for a more open dialogue

At least you'd know if they feel that is a thought or if it is not even on their radar

Either way, seeing a neurologist would be my next step in the work up.

Just my $0.02

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Thank you for the feedback. I have never heard a doctor mention that. Having read quickly about it. I am not one to quickly dismiss something because it does not jibe with me. I will keep that in the back of my mind and ask about it when appropriate. We are at the point of considering absolutely everything.

Thank you again.

I'm assuming no disc issues spotted in the MRI? When I was 17 I herniated a disc in my lumbar region doing hang cleans during a football workout. I had no clue what went wrong and thought I just wrenched my back. But then in the following days my left thigh would go numb and I'd have random shooting pains. I saw a sports doc and he took my left leg and when he saw I couldn't lift it above 90 degrees without nerve pain, he scheduled an MRI which confirmed the disc issue. I was with a neurologist from there out. Got three rounds of cortisone shots six weeks apart.

That many studies negative and that many doctors can't find the diagnosis? Really makes you wonder if everyone is looking in the wrong direction looking for a physical cause. I would agree he should see a neurologist and have a nerve conduction study. If that doesn't find a cause, you might want to start considering the idea that your son is suffering from a conversion disorder.

"Children with conversion are most often high achievers at school, and often participate in performance athletics (e.g., figure skating, gymnastics), or play on advanced competitive sports teams."

https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/conversion-disorder#:~:text=is%20conversion%20disorder%3F-,What%20is%20conversion%20disorder%3F,with%20no%20underlying%20neurologic%20pathology.

It's a problem if nobody properly rules this diagnosis out or is too embarrassed to consider it as a possibility. If it's the cause, your son could get worse and more stressed out (and you more in debt), because study after study will be negative and his symptoms will persist.

I am a neurologist.

Has he had MRI scans of the cervical and thoracic spine? If not, those need to be done.

FIDO95 said:

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That many studies negative and that many doctors can't find the diagnosis? Really makes you wonder if everyone is looking in the wrong direction looking for a physical cause. I would agree he should see a neurologist and have a nerve conduction study. If that doesn't find a cause, you might want to start considering the idea that your son is suffering from a conversion disorder.

"Children with conversion are most often high achievers at school, and often participate in performance athletics (e.g., figure skating, gymnastics), or play on advanced competitive sports teams."

https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/conversion-disorder#:~:text=is%20conversion%20disorder%3F-,What%20is%20conversion%20disorder%3F,with%20no%20underlying%20neurologic%20pathology.

It's a problem if nobody properly rules this diagnosis out or is too embarrassed to consider it as a possibility. If it's the cause, your son could get worse and more stressed out (and you more in debt), because study after study will be negative and his symptoms will persist.

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Thanks. It was mentioned above and we will definitely consider.

This is like they are describing my son:

" Most children with conversion disorder do not have a history of behavioral problems, and have low conflict with authority figures. They are frequently recognized by family and friends as being upbeat and "even-keeled." It is common for children with conversion disorder to deny any current life stressors. Children with conversion are most often high achievers at school, and often participate in performance athletics (e.g., figure skating, gymnastics), or play on advanced competitive sports teams"

TheMasterplan said:

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Try Texas Manual Therapy in San Antonio. Fascial Counterstrain is the method he uses. No cracking or hurtful movements.

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I recently got referred to this guy.

I sprained my knee 30 years ago snow skiing. After about three months the pain went away, and I went on to lead an active life. Shortly before Christmas, my knee began aching out of nowhere in the same spot where the sprain was thirty years ago. It was so bad I could not stand for ten minutes or mow the lawn. My GP is a DO and sent me here. Never been to a PT, so I did not know what to expect. These guys work on pressure points in connective tissue all over your body. I still don't know all the ins and outs of what they are doing, but they have me convinced. Stability is back in my knee, and much of the persistent swelling has abated. They are also up front that they may get to a point to find out there are some skeletal issues they won't be able to address, and they will tell me. But for now I am in much better shape after two visits.

I'm a believer.

500,000ags said:

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I just want to say good luck to you and your son. Very interesting story and I hope your son's underlying issue is identified and fixed.

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Sounds 100% like nerve compression. I have two bad vertebra in my lower back and 4 in my neck and have similar symptoms that come and go. I have degenerative disc disease, bone spurs, and arthritis all working against me. I'm in my 40s though so it would be wild for a teenager to be wearing out joints already.

Agree with the other docs on nerve conduction and brain MRI. I've had some very odd conversion disorder cases over the last few decades and if they cannot find a clear organic cause that is the route to try.

It sure sounds like some weird peripheral nerve compression though with isolated numbness most of the time. Does it have any particular distribution? Here is a map of dermatomes which correlate what nerve for pain hits what parts of the body.

KidDoc said:

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Agree with the other docs on nerve conduction and brain MRI. I've had some very odd conversion disorder cases over the last few decades and if they cannot find a clear organic cause that is the route to try.

It sure sounds like some weird peripheral nerve compression though with isolated numbness most of the time. Does it have any particular distribution? Here is a map of dermatomes which correlate what never for pain hits what parts of the body.

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Thanks, Doc. We are just struggling to get into a Neuro right now. The DO dismissed the conversion disorder conversation on Thursday. His comment was, "Its not like he saw someone die." That kinda pissed me off. We are done with him and he has released him to everything but contact. We will re-address the conversion disorder question with the Nuero, when we get in. For now he is doing good, playing tennis, doing football offseason, and out on a date currently. Appreciate everyone's input on this thread. We WILL figure this out.