Chronic Pain

Hello everyone, my name is Kyle and I'm 18 years old. Last year I was a happy rebellious teenager skateboarding with friends everyday that I could, until one day I had a skateboard accident in July of 2008. I tried to do an ollie over a 4-set of stairs because I was feeling really cocky and I ended messing up the trick. As I came down towards the ground my right thigh landed on the thin edge of the skateboard, digging into my thigh and causing an extreme amount of pain. Like any other teenager I though I could take the pain and decided not to go to the hospital. The injury healed within about a month except for the fact that I still had pain in that leg. Of course I just took a few Ibuprofen and dismissed it.

As the year progressed the pain began to become worse and worse until Ibuprofen did nothing. In March of 2009 I finally hit my breaking point and the pain became unbearable and excruciating, and I decided maybe its time to go to the doctor. At my visit my doctor said I had peripheral nerve damage which is what was causing my pain, of course he based it only off of my report. He prescribed me Tramadol 37.5 Mg and Naproxen Sodium 550 Mg. The Tramadol and Naproxen did very little for pain and the pain kept getting worse. Finally I got scheduled me for an X-Ray which showed no damage to my bones. I had my MRI done on my right thigh and my orthopedic doctor found nothing wrong structurally with my leg and told us there was nothing he could do. I'm still on my Tramadol and it's doing absolutely nothing for me. I doesn't take any of my pain away, heck it doesnt even take the edge off, and now its starting my make my chest hurt for some reason. I'm still scared, but some surgeon suggested me to a pain specialist that my mom went to and she told what they did for her pinched nerve in her back didn't help her, but it could help me.


Kyle

This message has been edited. Last edited by: metallicafan18,

Hi Kyle,

Welcome to ChronicPainConnection. I'm sorry to hear you're having so much pain at such a young age. Unfortunately, pain from a damaged nerve can be incredibly painful and sometimes very difficult to treat.

I hope they're able to pinpoint what is causing your pain and that it is easily treatable. But even if they decide that peripheral nerve damage is the correct diagnosis, there are additional treatment options other than just Tramadol and naproxen sodium. Nerve pain typically doesn't respond well to regular pain relievers or even narcotic pain relievers. What usually works best for nerve pain is antidepressants and/or anti-convulsants. I know that probably sounds strange, but both antidepressants and anti-convulsants are also pain blockers. They block pain signals going to the brain.

If it does turn out to be nerve pain, you might also talk with your doctor about trying a TENS unit. Here's a link to more information about TENS units and how they work to relieve pain: TENS Units

Here's an article about treating nerve pain by one of our doctors that you might find helpful, too: What Can Be Done For Nerve Pain

Please let us know what you find out from your MRI. We'll do our best to help you and offer you any support we can.

My best,
Karen

UPDATE:

I had my MRI done on my right thigh and my orthopedic doctor found nothing wrong structurally with my leg and told us there was nothing he could do. I'm still on my Tramadol and it's doing absolutely nothing for me. I doesn't take any of my pain away, heck it doesnt even take the edge off, and now its starting my make my chest hurt for some reason. I'm still scared, but some surgeon suggested me to a pain specialist that my mom went to and she told what they did for her pinched nerve in her back didn't help her, but it could help me.