What causes numbness and pain in legs when suffering from fluid retention in spine?
Patient: Woman age 41. Since thanksgiving 2014. Has pain and numbness in both legs and numbness in left arm.  Had MRI of brain looking for MS' but was negative.  Has had MRI of upper back and found some fluid on the spine.  Next week is having MRI of entire spine to look for more fluid with results of MRI to be read by a neurosurgeon anticipating putting a shunt in her spine.  I might add that she can no longer drive or work a full day at her desk job.  Can no longer shop...walking from her bed to bathroom and back is exhausting...energy is drained.  Any other ideas?  Thank you so much for any help.  Marcia wilson Doctor: Hi, welcome to our site. I am Dr Saumya Mittal.Read your query. That is a very significant question and i appreciate your problem. I will try my best to answer your queryWhat happens is that the nervous system is usually an enclosed organ system, for its protection, and it is quite snugly fit. so there is not much space in the region around the nervous system.Now when there is something extra in this space, like fluid or mass, the space remains limited and the substance in the limited space increases. I hope you are with me in this so far.Now when the contents increase and the space remains limited the pressure will increase. Imagine a box full of water bottles. If you try to stuff in one more bottle, the possibility is that the added bottle will pressurize and possibly damage the existing bottles in the box. This is what is happening. The idea is to put a shunt. A shunt is a tube between the brain, and usually the stomach cavity. Now with this shunt in place, the fluid keeps draining and so the pressure does not increase.I would like to know the exact report of the mriI hope this helps you. Inform the reports mentioned above so i can be of help further. Best of luck.I have given you the answer to the maximum considering the information provided. The results of the tests could further enhance my answer to you.Please do understand that some details could be extracted from a detailed history and examination.Looking forward to your return query with the details asked so that I can help you further.(If the answer has helped you, please indicate this)