C-Forum

Ok, so I spent a weekend on the Ocoee and just noticed something earlier today that put a funny look on my face. I was scractching my foot and noticed that my entire ankle area, half way up my shin, and the top of my left foot was numb. Being a C-boater and backcountry skier, I'm used to having numb lower apendages. The only reason I'm a little baffled is that its now 3 days since I've been in my boat and its still numb. This hasn't happened to me before as long as I can remeber, although I realized that the boat I was paddling this weekend had a 5 1/2" saddle as opposed to the 7" that was in my old boat. Anyone else ever experienced this? It could have something to do with all that riverwater I swallowed at Cat's Pajamas making an butt out of myself in the Acrobat...
-will

you strained a nerve that runs down that area of your foot. If you really care, I could look up which one it is. Right now, I do not think you need to worry about it a lot (especially since it's not MY foot that is numb ). What you can do to help get the feeling back is to massage the area daily. Nothing vigorous, just gentle rubbing and kneeding of the skin and muscles. Also, keep doing some range-of-motion exercises for the ankle to keep the muscles in the area stimulated.

What else could it be? There are nerve roots/dermatomes that cover every area in the body that affect the superficial layers like the skin. For the lower leg and foot, you are getting into where these dermatomes come out of the sacrum, so unless you wrenched your pelvic/hip area (very highly unlikely) there is nothing to worry about here. Keep it simple for now and try the massage. If it stays numb without any improvements after 2 weeks of the massage, then go see a MD and get a referral to a neurologist. I think I've covered just about everything I can think of. I hope this helps. BTW, lay off the Acrobat activities through this weekend unless you get feeling back in your foot. How was the Ocoee?

KNeal

I would be worried about ischemia (lack of blood) of the peroneal nerve (the one that passes on the outside of the knee on the way down to the ankle and foot). Most of us get this when a "leg falls asleep": during the period of sitting in a funny position the nerve gets compressed and we lose sensation, but when we change position and the blood returns to the nerve we get the pins and needles sensation.

When the compression continues for a long period the lack of blood supply causes damage to the nerve. Physicians sometimes call this "Saturday Night Palsy" for those people who get so drunk that they fall asleep, don't move for many hours, and compress a nerve. Typically the nerve has limited function (sensory loss, weak muscles, or both) for 2 - 4 weeks.

With C-boating there are 2 possible causes: compression of the nerve (from poorly placed or fit knee pads) or traction (stretching) of the nerve (such as you may get with a shorter pedestal).

It may be prudent to avoid short saddles, avoid long stretches of paddling and monitor your leg sensation for a while. Repeated episodes of ischemia will probably cause long-term problems in the nerve.

Jim