Meralgia Paraesthetica

[mrodoc]

A fellow caver recently asked me about some puzzling symptoms he was having i.e. numbness and pain in the outer thigh. His GP was no help. However as a caver he regular climbs and I think this is a harness injury to the lateral cutaneous femoral nerve probaby as a result of shock loading from falls. Now I cannot believe he is the only person to have developed this and it would be interesting to know if other cavers have had this or recognise it. You can look it up in Wikipedia if interested.

 

[LadyMud]

Interesting . . . what sort of harness does he use?

 

[Pitlamp]

Think I might have had this - an elongated patch of skin maybe 150 mm long with a numb feeling (but no pain), running roughly over the IT band on my R thigh. It's never been a problem so never felt the need for medical help. Done stacks of SRT over many years and also taken quite a lot of whippers in assorted climbing harnesses. It's unilateral though; no symptoms on the left thigh.

 

[mrodoc]

Interesting . . . what sort of harness does he use?

I don't know but I could ask him.

 

[mrodoc]

Think I might have had this - an elongated patch of skin maybe 150 mm long with a numb feeling (but no pain), running roughly over the IT band on my R thigh. It's never been a problem so never felt the need for medical help. Done stacks of SRT over many years and also taken quite a lot of whippers in assorted climbing harnesses. It's unilateral though; no symptoms on the left thigh.

It usually is unilateral.

 

[zzzzzzed]

Me too. I once spent two days hanging in a harness under a big roof on a hard aid climb. I was just hanging there belaying, and then derigged it. I had a numb patch on my right hip for a couple of years afterwards.