October before last, I got very sick right around the same time I developed a very stiff neck and upper back pain. At first, I thought they were totally unrelated and actually attributed the back/neck pain to the new bras I'd just started wearing. But that didn't explain the weird tingling/creepy-crawly sensation across my face/scalp/ears, especially since it was mainly on the left side and my back hurt on the right side, and the the tingly/burning/cold didn't go away after I stopped wearing the new bras.
Having ruled the bra thing out, I went to my GP. My GP sent me for an MRI and, because my mother has primary-progressive MS, when they got the images back, they were looking for signs of MS. But...they didn't find any. What they did find was a cyst on my pineal gland which, having since had follow-up MRIs, they determined wasn't related to, well, anything since most of those types of cysts actually aren't. So the neurologist I got sent to, nice as he was, pretty much just patted me on the head and said that I probably had a virus that caused some nerve irritation and it could take another year or more before it heals so I should just hang in there.
However, while the extent of the all-around all-over creepy-crawly sensations has lessened, there are more specific places that are actually becoming increasingly painful now. And they migrate randomly around my scalp and face, mainly lingering around my left eye but they're particularly bothersome as the burning sensation on the tip of my left ear (but also sometimes the right one) and the random patches on my scalp (again, usually but not always on the left side). Also sometimes I get a tickling/crawly sensation on my cheek or nose or somewhere else on my face and, after I go to scratch it/brush it off, the sensation of rubbing/scratching lingers as a sensation that becomes painful and not related to the original tickling sensation.
Backing up to the original weirdness...right around the same time, I started having the same odd goose-bumpy sensations in my lower extremities, so my GP sent me for additional MRIs for the same reason, i.e., ruling out MS. Which they did by not finding any evidence of any demyelinating of whatever nerves they were looking at from my neck down to the end of my spine. My GP just said that, well, there are some arthritis issues with my spine but those shouldn't be causing the tingly issues so...What am I supposed to think now...I'm just insane?
Because nobody has ever looked at any of the MRI images other than the followup ones of my brain, where they were looking solely at the pineal gland cyst to make sure it hadn't grown. So I still have all the same problems I originally went to my GP for, plus now the face/scalp sensations are actually painful sometimes. Plus, I've visited Dr. Google (yes, I know that's bad) and am now wondering whether my lower-extremity weird-sensations are due to just the piriformis muscle nerve-entrapment it sounds like or, more seriously, some spinal compression/degeneration issues. To figure that out, I'm planning on going to the same physical therapist I just took my son to who, from watching him, I trust truly understands spinal/nerve issues.
So that's my story. I hope somebody out there can help make some sense of it.
Write to RED LAWHERN, our site expert. he most likely has the expertise to help with this, I don't unfortunately.
Yes, send this link to the moderator , RED.
Hmm,
Try and get a second consult with a reputable neurologist who has a specialization with face pain.
Thanks. I think I will. My son went to a different neurologist (completely different issue) who might be better. I'll ask him if he or anybody in his group has any experience with this.
edster said:
Hmm,
Try and get a second consult with a reputable neurologist who has a specialization with face pain.