Loss Of Movement In Lower Body

In the US, it is estimated that over a fifth of the adult population suffers from chronic pain. 

Besides causing ongoing discomfort, chronic pain can significantly decrease your quality of life, increase the risk of other mental and physical disorders, and cause you to deal with astronomical healthcare costs. 

As it progresses, chronic pain can become so disabling as to prevent you from moving your body as you should, remaining functional in your daily life, and carrying on with your current job. 

Fortunately, thanks to advances in pain management, you no longer have to live with the loss of movement, disability, and distress that chronic pain can cause. With the non-surgical and non-drug protocol pioneered by Neuragenex Neurofunctional Pain Management – you can address the root cause of your condition, regain your mobility and independence, and live pain-free. Let’s discover how in the guide below.

How Severe Chronic Pain Leads To Loss Of Movement In The Lower Body

Conditions that cause chronic pain can cause severe damage to important components of the joints, thus limiting your ability to move freely. 

For example, in patients with arthritis, the sustained high levels of inflammation degrade the joint’s cartilage, thus leaving the bones exposed to friction and shock damage. Over time, degenerative disorders change the body’s mechanics, which can impact your ability to move your lower body. 

But the relationship between chronic pain and movement also has a psychological factor. According to a 2022 study, when people expect or experience pain when moving, they move differently or avoid movement altogether, thus leading to a significant movement deficit. In some patients, this condition can degenerate into a disorder known as pain-related movement dysfunction (PRMD), which can persist long after the pain is gone. 

While chronic pain influences movement, the opposite is also true: not enough movement can aggravate your chronic pain. Although you may avoid movement to prevent painful sensations, a sedentary lifestyle can cause your muscles to shrink and lose mass, and it can expose you to complications like diabetes and obesity. All of these comorbidities can aggravate your pain condition, intensify painful sensations, and lead to a further loss of movement.

It is important to note that loss of movement isn’t the same as paralysis. A decline in movement can be caused by a pain condition when nearby nerves or other structures are damaged, or when you experience pain so intense that it can cause you to avoid movement. 

On the other hand, paralysis is a neurological condition that arises from damage to the brain or spinal cord. It causes the loss of the ability to move part or all of your body and affects around 1.7% of the US population. When paralysis affects the lower limbs, it is called paraplegia. Paraplegia may be temporary or permanent depending on its cause and often represents a symptom of a more serious underlying condition, including neurological damage. 

Another neurological disorder that leads to inhibited movement is ataxia, which causes coordination impairment and loss of muscle control. It develops due to conditions that damage the area of the brain responsible for coordinating movement (the cerebellum). For people with ataxia, simply picking up an object from the ground can be extremely challenging. 

Understanding the difference between paraplegia and loss of movement caused by chronic pain can help you take the necessary steps toward finding the right treatment program for your needs.

Conditions Associated With An Inability To Move

Persistent pain conditions affect over 116 million adults just in the US. The symptoms and causes of these conditions may vary, but they all tend to have a common denominator: they lead to a reduced ability to move. 

In some cases, this loss of movement is caused by mechanical problems and traumatic injuries. However, often, people with these conditions simply move less because of the fear of experiencing movement-evoked pain. 

Below, we’ll look at common conditions that may lead to a decline in your ability to move your limbs or coordinate the movements of your lower body.

Low Back Pain

Low back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions worldwide and, just in the US, it accounts for over 31 million visits to primary and specialist care clinics. But even though low back pain is so widespread, it should not be considered a normal part of life – and, certainly, it should not remain unaddressed. 

Low back pain can be caused by severe conditions such as herniated discs, compression fractures, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, and facet joint damage as well as overuse and poor posture. If left untreated, low back pain can result in complications such as:

• Mobility impairment affecting the lumbar, thoracic, and sacroiliac regions of the spine
• Pain that radiates from the lower back into the legs
• Mobility deficit of several joints
• Inability to coordinate movements

Sciatica

With over 40% of people experiencing sciatica at least once in their lifetime, this condition is one of the most common causes of back pain. Sciatica is caused by a pinched nerve in the lower back and can lead to intense chronic pain radiating from the back to the hips and legs. 

The painful sensations, which are described as sharp or stabbing, usually affect only one side of the body and intensify after periods of sitting or when sneezing. Sciatica can be treated with non-pharmaceutical and non-invasive therapies, used alongside stretching, exercise, and rest.

Sciatica can also cause leg numbness and weakness, which can result in a temporary loss of movement. This is because the pinched nerve may interfere with the normal transmission of motor and sensory signals from your legs to the spinal cord and the brain. 

You should seek emergency care if you experience symptoms such as sudden intense pain in your leg combined with severe weakness and loss of bowel or bladder control. These are the symptoms of cauda equina syndrome, a severe disorder that develops when several nerve roots in the lumbar and sacral regions of the spine are compressed or damaged. Cauda equina syndrome is considered a neurosurgical emergency that requires immediate surgery to prevent permanent neurological dysfunction.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, an inflammatory condition that causes the degeneration of the soft cushioning between a joint’s bone (cartilage). As the cartilage wears down, the bones meeting at a joint are no longer protected from shock and friction damage. Over time, this condition can lead to mechanical issues and cause damage to surrounding components, such as ligaments and tendons.

Also known as “wear and tear” arthritis, osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that often arises due to age-related joint degeneration, overuse, excessive stress to the joint, and mechanical issues. 

Without treatment, osteoarthritis can cause a decline in your ability to move. Some key symptoms of the disablement process caused by osteoarthritis include decreased walking speed, chronic low back or knee pain, and limited flexibility.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is known as “the silent disease”, because it can go undetected and without causing symptoms for years. Osteoporosis occurs when the bones lose mass and density. When this happens, the holes or gaps in the bone’s internal honeycomb-like structure increase in size, causing the bones to become fragile and prone to fractures.

People with osteoporosis often receive an accurate diagnosis – and start to seek treatment – only when minor bumps or motions like coughing result in a fracture. Among the complications that osteoporosis can cause, this condition also leads to movement problems. 

Firstly, fractures can lead to periods of immobilization, especially when they affect the spine, ribs, pelvis, and hips. Additionally, with time, osteoporosis can impact your posture and lead to changes in the curvature of the spine, which can significantly inhibit your ability to remain flexible and move your limbs freely.

Disc Injuries

The spine is composed of 33 vertebrae and, between each of these flexible bones, is an intervertebral disc. Each of these discs is made of two parts: an outer ring of stronger cartilage and an inner gel-like core. 

The outer ring of this “donut” is flexible and resilient, and can easily accommodate the spine’s movements. However, due to age-related degeneration, injury, overuse, poor spine mechanics, and excessive stress, the outer wall of the intervertebral disc can become weaker and less supple. This leads to conditions like slipped discs, disc tears, and herniated discs, which occur when the gel-like substance at the core of the disc starts to protrude from the spinal column.

Besides causing pain, herniated discs can start impacting your ability to move your lower body. This happens when the slipped disc irritates and compresses the nerve roots nearby, interfering with the normal signaling of motor and sensory signals. Some symptoms you may experience if you have a herniated disc include pain and numbness (usually down your leg), muscle weakness, and tingling or burning sensations.

Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord lesions are sometimes the culprit behind back pain and loss of movement. A spinal lesion is a cancerous or noncancerous tumor or the abnormal growth of tissue that occurs in or around the spinal cord. 

As the tumor develops, it can begin to press on and irritate the nerves in the spinal column, thus preventing signals relating to motor instructions from traveling between your limbs and the brain. This complication results in lower body weakness, tingling sensations, and numbness.

Other non-traumatic injuries in the spine that can affect the functioning of the nerve roots in the spinal cord may be caused by arthritis, aging, inflammation, infection, or disc degeneration. Traumatic spinal injuries – such as a broken spine or neck – can lead to paralysis and paraplegia.

Multiple Sclerosis

Affecting over 2.8 million people worldwide, multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disorder. MS occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the myelin, which is the nerves’ outer protective sheath. The nerves often affected by MS are the ones belonging to the central nervous system, so the ones in the brain and spinal cord.

Although the nature and intensity of the symptoms of MS vary from one person to another, this condition is commonly associated with the signs of nerve damage, such as muscle weakness, muscle spasticity, tremors, difficulty walking, and chronic pain.

Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is the medical term for a group of inherited disorders caused by genetic mutations. The abnormal genes prevent the body from producing the proteins necessary for forming and maintaining healthy muscles. 

Patients with muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy suffer from a progressive loss of muscle mass, weakness, frequent falls, unsteady gait, muscle pain, learning disabilities, and delayed growth. Over time, these conditions can lead to increased levels of disability and affect every aspect of a person’s life. 

While there is no cure for muscular dystrophy, several lines of treatment can be used to slow down the progression of this disease and help patients manage their symptoms.

Traumatic Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury can have a devastating effect on the central nervous system and sever the nerve connection between the brain and the different parts of the body. If you have broken your neck or experienced severe head trauma, your brain may no longer be able to receive nerve signals relating to motion, which results in loss of movement, impaired coordination, and reduced muscle control. 

Depending on what area of the brain is affected by trauma, you may experience a range of muscle movement disorders, including muscle weakness, paralysis, tremors, loss of balance, uncontrollable twitching, spasms, and motor impairments like dystonia and apraxia. 

A specialized neurologist will help you obtain an accurate diagnosis and an adequate line of treatment for your condition.