# Another Medical Question: nerve twinges

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-medical-question-nerve-twinges/161766>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-medical-question-nerve-twinges/161766 "2003-03-16T08:06:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-medical-question-nerve-twinges/161766/1 "2003-03-16T08:06:13Z")

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I had some knee surgery done in '99 to correct a problem that had never healed, and that was bad enough I was walking with a cane most of the time. (Osgood-Schlatter’s disease, to be precise – the only case my orthopedist had ever seen be so resistant to treatment that it had to be operated on)

So I have this three-inch scar on my right knee, and a palm-sized patch of skin on the right of it is numb, as if it were asleep. I asked my orthopedist about the last time I saw him (couple of months after the surgery) and he said that a subcutaneous nerve had been severed during the surgery, and would eventually grow back.

Now, three years later, the skin is still numb. A couple of days ago it started making the occasional twinge – not pain, exactly, but like pins and needles one pin at a time. Similar to the sensation I get when I bump that numb patch of skin on something vaguely pointy. Is this a sign that it’s healing maybe? Or should I start trying to find the time and money for a doctor’s appointment?

[sub]Yeah, I know advice given on this message board can’t substitute for an in-person doctor’s visit, but I don’t want to waste my time and my doc’s just to have her say “Don’t worry, it’s nothing”[/sub]

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-medical-question-nerve-twinges/161766/2 "2003-03-16T15:00:51Z")

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Subcutaneous nerves take a long time to heal, usually many months, and sometimes never do.

I would take a wait and see attitude at this point were it me. I would see a doctor if it bothers you, interrupts your sleep, if there is any sign of a rash, or if the twinge is far from the area of the scar.

Investigating these twinges usually doesn’t yield much. Occasionally, they can be linked with calcium, magnesium, potassium level imbalances or diabetes.

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**Author:** ![sonicsink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sonicsink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sonicsink)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-medical-question-nerve-twinges/161766/3 "2003-03-17T01:57:21Z")

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I had surgery too and my doctor told me the same thing about the nerve tingling/nerves re-growing…sometimes the twinges were painful.I do have some patches of skin that are compleatly numb…I could literally cut off pieces with a pair of scissors and wouldn’t feel a thing(no i didn’t do it)…after this much time (surgery was in 1996)Im sure it is permanent. I would ask your doctor if it is possible for you to feel this after 3 years,seems all my tingling etc was in the first year after my surgery. Calling couldn’t hurt.