Why can't I move my legs when I kneel down?

[jeanill]

It is very hard for me to kneel down. My leg muscles burn inside and feel heavy-like lead when I try to do this. If I kneel on the floor on one knee, I can hardly move that leg to get up again. It is frozen in place. And I can NOT use that leg to leverage myself up. (I have to use both arms to push myself up.) This started in 2001, when I noticed I was having trouble getting out of the bathtub. And it has gotten worse since then! I also can not do squats, because once I am in a squatting position, I can NOT get up, either! Both legs will burn inside and feel like dead weights. My knees are SO weak, that they can not support my weight getting up. Does anyone know why I can not move my legs when I kneel down, or do squats? My doctor does not know. He has been telling me that I have mild "spinal stenosis" at level L4-L5, but that he did not think it was bad enough to be causing leg symptoms. Since he did NOT find anything else, what could be wrong with my legs? MS? ALS? Nerve damage? (Would a lumbar MRI show the caudia equina...sorry so technical here-but I was researching this-and I think these nerves could be compressed, and the doctor did not find this yet.) What else could cause this! I hope a doctor reads this question! Please help! I have been diagnosed with claudication when I walk, but not why I can not move my legs when I kneel down.

[oscar77]

Claudication could be the explanation for this, the lack of blood circulation that makes it difficult to walk could also explain the trouble you have when trying to rise from a kneeling position.

[qwertyuiop123]

I have had the exact same problem if i kneel down, it feels like my legs go numb. I am being sent to a vascular doctor.

[jeanill]

Thank you for your help...they did a doppler study (to test blood vessels) of my legs in 2003, and all the readings were different, and yet they said it was normal. This week, on Tuesday I had an EMG of my lower legs. (But, I wondered why they did not test my thigh also, because my whole leg has stiffness, heaviness and pain.) Well...anyway...during the electrical part of the test, I asked if they found anything, and the man said that my doctor will tell me the results. Then a woman entered the room, and she did the needle part of the test. When the test was over, she left the room and the monitor was still on, and I saw that one part of the test was abnormal. It said "Tibial Nerve"...and MY reading was 0.38, and the normal reference range was >4.00! So I am hoping that this will finally help the doctors get a diagnosis of my legs! My doctor has NOT called yet...and I want to know what ALL the readings were! My leg stiffness and heaviness is worse. If I lift my leg up, with my knee facing forward, it is hard to move my foot.

[oscar77]

Hi jeanill i hope your doctors give you the full piture of your results and that they can help you out let us know what they found if you like.

Good luck

[jeanill]

Replying to Oscar77...Yes I will let you know what the doctors found out...whenever they tell me! I called the neurologist today, and her secretary said she was working in a different part of the hospital, and would not return until the 26th! I think I have nerve compression in my sacraliolic area, and that I might need an MRI in that area! (I was wondering if I had caudia equina syndrome, after researching my symptoms!) My leg aching, stiffness and heaviness has been getting worse since 2001! I do not think the doctors know everything yet! They found foraminal stenosis at the cervical levels (C3-4, and C4-5, and C5-6), and spinal stenosis at the lumbar level (L4-5), and multi-level degenerative disc disease in my WHOLE spine...but the doctor said that it was not too bad yet! Well...anyway, NO DOCTOR took an MRI of my sacral spine yet, where the pain is! So, in September of 2007, I called a disability attorney in desparation, because my legs hurt so bad when I walked. And she told me to make an appointment with a neurologist, and get a correct diagnosis! And the neurologist ordered an EMG of my legs...and I had the test this Tuesday! (FYI: Several people on the WD Forum also said to see a neurologist!!! So why didn't my doctor know to do this? I will keep everyone posted about my diagnosis!

[qwertyuiop123]

My doctor said i have inflamatio between my L4 and S1.. would spinal stenosis cause inflamation?

[jeanill]

My doctor said i have inflamatio between my L4 and S1.. would spinal stenosis cause inflamation?

To answer your question...No spinal stenosis would not cause inflamation...but inflamation COULD cause spinal stenosis. I rersearched this because I HAVE borderline spinal stenosis at L4-L5. Stenosis is when a disc buldge or inflamation presses on the spinal cord or spinal nerves coming out of the spine. So if you have inflamation at L4-S1 you might have spinal cord compression (stenosis) in that area! (spinal stenosis usually occurs at L5-S1-because it is where the last disc of the Lumbar Spine (L-%), and the first disc of the Sacral Spine (S-1) join at the top of your pelvis). So an MRI would show if there is stenosis.

[jeanill]

Hi jeanill i hope your doctors give you the full piture of your results and that they can help you out let us know what they found if you like.

Good luck

Hi oscar 77, just to let you know, I could not walk a straight line in the neurologists office, and she ordered an EMG test of my legs (...but they tested my TOES instead???) The EMG test showed my tibial nerve response was 0.38, even though the normal reference range was >4.00. And the test also showed "chronic motor axon loss in the right abductor hallucis muscle...and absent medial & lateral plantar nerve responses." Does anyone know what does this means? I waited and waited and the nurse called me two weeks later and said the tests were normal! What do you think? Are my doctor’s covering up some mistake? What is wrong with me?

[jeanill]

To answer your question...No spinal stenosis would not cause inflamation...but inflamation COULD cause spinal stenosis. I rersearched this because I HAVE borderline spinal stenosis at L4-L5. Stenosis is when a disc buldge or inflamation presses on the spinal cord or spinal nerves coming out of the spine. So if you have inflamation at L4-S1 you might have spinal cord compression (stenosis) in that area! (spinal stenosis usually occurs at L5-S1-because it is where the last disc of the Lumbar Spine (L-5), and the first disc of the Sacral Spine (S-1) join at the top of your pelvis). So an MRI would show if there is stenosis here and what is causing it!

I found a very good website that tells you all about your spine, www.spineuniverse.com/.../article2000.html and there is an illustration of all the vertebrae also...so you can see where L-4 and S-1 are located! Hopes this helps!