You're all teaching me so much my German teacher would be standing in amazement at the fact that things DO sink in!
Thank you thank you thank you.

My post accident care was rather... well minimalistic to the extreme. And I've so much to learn, I'm slowly realising that "that's normal" and "there's not much we can do about that" aren't good enough explanations for things.

Right now I'm tucked up in bed and it occurred to me that the pins and needles in my legs (lower back just around the "crash" site downwards are always worse when I'm laying down (or is it that I just notice it more?).

Probably sounds strange but I'm not entirely sure where the pins and needles are - I mean I know they're in my back and not my stomach until you hit the bikini line but I can't tell if it's my entire legs or just the back or what... they're just "where I think my legs are" my feet are entirely devoured by the p&n. Laying here I'm not sure I have the pins in my knees (but my knees really hurt tonight so to be honest I don't know what's going on down there).

Is there anything I can do to ease the pins and needles? Positions that help (I am normally on my back or on my right side depending on how painful my back is) or massages that can be suggested?

Do yours feel different to the pins and needles you get, say in your arms, when you get cramp / cold ?

Sweet dreams world.

Poor you, one of the things i dont miss post accident is pins and needles maybe i had bad circulation before but i havent had pins and needles in my feet for so long i almost forget how painful they were.

Right now I'm tucked up in bed and it occurred to me that the pins and needles in my legs (lower back just around the "crash" site downwards are always worse when I'm laying down (or is it that I just notice it more?).

My rehab doctor told me that it is worse when we lay down because our minds focus on our bodies themselves instead of activities outside of our body. All day you are working, taking care of housework or whatever else you do. Your mind is occupied but when you lay down you have nothing to distract your mind from the fact that your legs are hurting.

Probably sounds strange but I'm not entirely sure where the pins and needles are - I mean I know they're in my back and not my stomach until you hit the bikini line but I can't tell if it's my entire legs or just the back or what... they're just "where I think my legs are" my feet are entirely devoured by the p&n. Laying here I'm not sure I have the pins in my knees (but my knees really hurt tonight so to be honest I don't know what's going on down there).

Right after my injury I felt that way. I didn't have a good idea of where my legs were at all. I mean, I could look down and hey, there they were, but I could feel them. It was just pain in the form of those pins and needles, spasms, cramps and sometimes burning. As I have begun healing, I have a better perception of where my legs are and the pins and needle feeling is becoming more "normal" so that I can recognize where the pain is originating from or concentrated at.

Is there anything I can do to ease the pins and needles? Positions that help (I am normally on my back or on my right side depending on how painful my back is) or massages that can be suggested?

Unfortunately, I haven't found any cures for the pins and needles. I have found a nice hot bath helps with the pain and if I take a Ambien or something to relax me right after I get out of the tub, by the time I crawl in bed I fall asleep before the pain can return. I have always been a stomach sleeper but now I have to sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs because I can't stand for my legs to touch each other. Sometimes I can't sleep under the covers because it irritates the nerves so I have found a nice warm but soft and light weight blanket I toss over myself. I'll usually sleep on my back with two pillows under my legs so they are propped up if I can't be under the covers. Music also helps distract me - when I'm ready for bed I hook up my ipod and think about the lyrics until I drift off.

Do yours feel different to the pins and needles you get, say in your arms, when you get cramp / cold ?

The pins and needles definately feel different sometimes. When it is cold or it rains the p&n increases. When I haven't gotten enough exercise the p&n can increase. Right after my acupuncture or a massage I won't be able to wear blue jeans because the material irritates my legs. Cramps or spasms increase the p&n. Haven't figure out what to do but take a hot bath or knock myself out.



Sweet dreams world.
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Thanks.

I've noticed that I need the music on (always the same music, anything else doesn't work - I must be worse than a three year old with a night light!) to fall asleep to distract from the pain

I think I am going loopy. But whether that has anything to do with the pins and needles I couldn't say.

I thought for the past few days that it was "all in my head" and that perhaps I was just paranoid (I probably am!) but the pins and needles are definitely getting worse. Not just when I am laying in bed (which is now nearly towards the agony side of the pain scale) but when I am sat down (i.e. at my desk at work, in the car, stretched out on the sofa, on my stool in the kitchen cooking) and walking about. Putting pressure on the soles of my feet, or indeed my rump, is absolute hellish so finding relief is proving... difficult.

Does anyone have any tips for keeping your mind sane while the pins and needles are trying to rip your toes off?
Please?

Have you tried reading? I tend to lose myself in the book and forget, for a short while, about the pain. What about exercise? I know it hurts to move but sometimes getting moving helps ease it once you get past that initial pain. Or the bath/hot tub. Hot water never ever fails to help the pins and needles. Otherwise, I'd say take whatever you've been prescribed to help you sleep and check out for a while. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Oh! Sometimes I go to CVS and buy those heat patch things you use for cramps or whatever and slap them on my legs. The heat last a little while. Only thing I suggest is don't pull them off, get in the water and let the adhesive detach. With raw nerves it hurts like hell to pull them off.

Good luck.

Usually when I'm at work (computers / paperwork / beating the hell out of the printer to keep it going) I find it easy to keep myself distracted so long as the pain doesn't creep too high. But the pins and needles are bursting through even the most mind intensive work [drawing work - hours just fly by when I'm doing that] which is not proving good for my keeping my job!

Exercise wise - yeah I really need to do more (tablets = mass weight gain = big boobs but an even bigger rump) but I am trying to keep up with all of my physio / strengthening exercises and gardening. I am trying to find new ways to exercise (not swimming - the local pool here is AWFUL!!) and forcing myself to keep up with it.



I'll give it a go, I hate having a bath because of the paff of getting in and out (I've basically washed myself in the kitchen sink since I moved into this house - awaiting the chaps to move in and rip out the bathroom for my oh so cool new roll in shower!


Thanks so much for you help - right now even a slap around the head with a hammer would be useful. I don't take sleeping tablets - we had a bad experience with them!


CVS? Thanks. I might try and retrieve my hot water bottle and see if that makes a difference.