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Re: help my foot goes numb in the boxster!
If you're no longer brimming with youthful fitness, it's probably an indication that you need a little exercise. A friend of mine had terrible pain in his shoulder just after the office got all new computer furniture and chairs. He was advised to do simple exercises with a bungee cord to strengthen his shoulder and all pain was gone in a few weeks.
Re: help my foot goes numb in the boxster!
Were you sitting on your wallet - was your wallet in the rear right pocket of your pants while you drove the car. That can cause what you're describing by pressing on the nerves radiating from the spine to your legs. (Anyhow if you're looking to buy a Porsche you might as well leave the wallet on the salesman desk - he'll own it anyhow)
Dec 26, 2005 5:53:20 AM
- longislander1
- Junior
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- Loc: Lattingtown, NY
- Posts: 88, Gallery
- Registered on: Mar 19, 2005
- Reply to: crex
Re: help my foot goes numb in the boxster!
You need to check things out with an orthopedic surgeon. I have a bad back and sometimes when I sit in my 987S, my right arm hurts. I know it's because the Porsche seat is putting my back into a slightly different seating position than I might have at home or in the office. I'm not uncomfortable in the seat. It's just that my arm occasionally hurts. A doctor and/or a physical therapist can help.
Re: help my foot goes numb in the boxster!
A bunch of us car nuts were talking car last night (X-mas). This new car discomfort issue came up. Conclusion was a little special (PITA) exercise/stretching is necessary since unlike a normal chair, you're stuck in the same position in a car seat and you're body has to develop new "creases" to get comfortable in it. 
Re: help my foot goes numb in the boxster!
Quote:
crex said:
I really love the boxster and want to buy one but when i test drove it my right foot went numb. I am not sure whats causing it. Anyone have this problem and what seating position could help fix it? thanks.
Crex,
Sorry to hear of your problem. Usually, any part of the leg that goes numb while you sit in a car seat is from traction on the nerve root exiting your lumbar spine (low back), as those nerve roots become the nerves that go into your legs and control all their functions (including sensation into your feet). Rarely, one can stretch or pinch nerves in the leg itself (such as external compression/traction on the peroneal nerve at the fibular head at the outside of the knee), but even in the absence of back pain or radiating symptoms down the leg ("sciatica" named after the sciatic nerve that arises from multiple nerve roots in the lumbosacral spine), most symptoms (including foot numbness) from sitting in car seats are from prolonged flexion at the waist. Some car seats are more prone to triggering this in predisposed individuals (usually-including myself, as I have had lumbar radiculopathy from childhood sports injuries to my back-those with narrowing of their spinal canals or the lateral recesses often from disc and bony change called spondylosis), and some car seats are worse than others. As a rule, the better the lumbar support (that lower seat bulge controlled with balloon effect on modern power-controlled seats-including on my 996TSCab-thank God), the more "protective" the seat is against symptomatic lumbosacral radiculopathy from prolonged flexion at the waist.
My first suggestion: Fiddle with the lumbar support on your seat control, as well as your whole body position including your seat height and upper body position relative to the steering wheel-if you are hunched over, that can contribute to your lumbar narrowing. If you have (or have had in the past) back pain or buttock pain, this suggests you would benefit from a strengthening program for your trunk-your abs., glutes-what is now trendily called your "core" muscles. A simple physical therapy program, or a more formal Chiropractic program (it doesn't have to involve controversial violent torque-like maneuvers) can be quite helpful.
And second, beware of physicians who tell you your nerve is pinched at the tarsal tunnel at the ankle-this is an overdiagnosed condition that shouldn't become symptomatic whilst seated in a car-I am allowed to say this-I am a neurologist. Or that you don't "stretch" your legs enough-this is not a muscle contracture or tendon problem, but a nerve traction phenomenon-again, with the caveat that there are other nerve conditions made symptomatic while seated at rest-occasionally peripheral neuropathy (in which the nerve endings are degenerating-increased in those with diabetes) can be felt more readily at rest-but in your case, this is triggered sitting in your Boxster.
Obviously, I can't give you more specific information-you need to have your own physician go over this with you if it doesn't go away with simple measures like adjusting your lumbar support, but I hope this helps.
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