Suggest Treatment For Severe Pain In Calf Of Right Leg

Posted on Thu, 5 Nov 2015

Question: Approximately 6-8 times in the last few months, I have had excruciating pain in an area on the outside of my right calf mid-way between my ankle and knee that lasts 5-10 seconds, totally out of the blue, disappearing as quickly as it came. When it happens, I am usually just sitting in a chair or lying in bed. The pain is breathtaking and leaves me gasping for air. This morning, for the first time, I had two such incidents, the second following the first in just a minute and this time there is a slight residue that couldn't be described as pain but just a slight aura of what it was during the incident. I am 59 in good health, slightly overweight, but not obese. I'm not diabetic.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
It can be due to nerve compression

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I have studied your case. I think that most probably you are having nerve compression in spine which is causing severe pain. Before I advised you any thing I would like to know little detail of the illness.
1. Are you also having tingling and numbness?
2. Are you a smoker?
3. Do you have back pain also?
please send me answers of these questions. I will try my best to help you. thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (20 hours later)

Hi Doc,

I am not a smoker. There is not numbness or tingling. I have suffered from pressure on the sciatic nerve before and am familiar with that pain and this is definitely not that. The pain I get is more localized (an area 2-3 inches) and much more severe than sciatica.

It seems that a blood clot is the most likely scenario from the material I've read and I am actually going to an urgent care facility in a few minutes just in case I'm right. I've reached out to a friend who is a neurosurgeon for a referral (my fam phys recently retired and I don't have a fam doc now) to, I presume, a vascular surgeon???

Look forward to your next response.

Regards,

XXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (39 hours later)

Brief Answer:
you can get ultrasound doppler for blood clot

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I do not think that it can be blood clot as then pain is always not episodic. But if you are feeling that it can be a clot, best test to check it is doppler. It can confirm if there is any blockade in any artery or vein.
Nerve pain can be of different character and it is not easy to compare it from previous sciatica episode. If doppler is negative then you should start taking Pregabalin NT and Methylcobalamine for this pain.
Thanks

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina