My daughter got a spinal tap last month--almost exactly a month ago. She was diagnosed with viral meningitis. She is still recovering with her immune system being a bit weaker. However, she is still having a lot of pain where they did the tap. Has anyone had one? How long did the pain last? Any tips to relieve? The pain is not all of the time, she does get some relief but sometimes seems like it is getting worse. She is on the cross country and track teams so it is a bit hard. Coach is being great though he is a bit upset she has to pull back. One of the top.
Yes, I know this is a question for the doc but asking for personal experience. She will be calling the doc to let them know tomorrow.
Yes,as a mom I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and a Spinal Tap is given quite often. If she is experiencing the pain,trust me don't have her suffer. The physician can do a blood patch and it immediately relieves it!!! Having a Spinal is seriously painful enough!!
Sometimes if it takes multiple sticks before an LP is successful, you can have inflammation of the area. Making sure she's hydrated and taking an anti-inflammatory can help. Best choice is to call the doctor to discuss (as you say will happen tomorrow). I've also heard sitting for extended periods of time can make things worse so it's better to make sure to do some "soft stretching" every couple of hours if she has to sit a lot.
Again, please contact the doctor to get the best advice. Viral Meningitis is a serious diagnosis and I would be in very close contact with her doc (or she should be if she's an adult). Nothing to fool around with.
Excellent question for the doctor. I will say that my epidural site from my first child bothered me for a year. But that is different than "a lot of pain". You don't monkey around with this by just asking on the internet. She had a scary disease and you need to follow up on anything associated with it, and that includes the spinal tap site hurting.
If it's right at the site on her back yes it could have an infection but it also could just be bruised. I would ice the area.
