The proper shoe is important. An orthopedist who specializes in foot pain will be able to assist you in choosing the proper shoe. Since heel pain is very common, arachnoiditis sufferers frequently wear thick-soled house shoes (slippers). There are a variety of inserts that can be purchased over the counter and placed in shoes for more comfort.

*Esophageal spasms—This is a problem that can make swallowing very difficult. It is more common in people who have problems at the thoracic level. At first, the painful spasms may be mistaken for a heart attack. (It is always best to have chest pains checked out since it might mean you really are having a heart attack.) Anti-depressants may help to keep esophageal spasms to a minimum. Other medications can be prescribed to control the spasms. Your doctor may order tests that identify or rule out the cause of the spasms.

*Eye Problems—May include *visual disturbances, *double vision, *sensitivity to light, and rarely blindness. Blindness may occur if the contrast was injected into or allowed to enter the cistern of the brain. There has been some concern that arachnoiditis may cause glaucoma, but there is no evidence to support this belief.

In animal studies, (19) dogs administered Pantopaque developed eye problems. Another dog’s left eye appeared reddened. Although the dogs developed redness and mucous discharge in the eyes, this was not even mentioned in the final analysis of the study. This might have helped us to understand why so many people experience eye problems. Why does blindness occur in patients who have no contrast medium in the cistern of the brain?.

*Lungs—In animal studies, (19) the dogs had respiratory problems. They had a small number of red to blue nodules approximately 2 mm in diameter in the lungs. One dog had scattered red nodules in parenchyma.

*Skin rashes and hives—Rashes may appear as red splotches, spots or hives on one or more areas of the body, but they primarily appear on the arms or trunk. In very rare cases, a pustular rash may appear on hands and feet, but whether or nor pustulosis or other rashes are related to arachnoiditis is unknown at the present time.

*Weakness—May affect one or both legs. Bilateral weakness is very common in people who have had arachnoiditis for a long period of time. When problems are higher up in the spine there may be weakness in the arms as well.

*Parasthesia (numbness or tingling)—This feeling may affect the back, legs, feet, arms and fingers.

*Paralysis—Arachnoiditis may progress to this stage, but at the present time this is very rare. Most cases of paralysis are the result of errors occurring during surgery or the myelographic procedure or when other invasive procedures are performed. The paralysis may be complete or incomplete.

*Bladder dysfunction and kidney problems (12)—Bladder dysfunction usually occurs when there is loss of sphincter muscle function. Bladder spasms are a common problems. It begins as urgency and frequency and proceeds to incontinence. If the disease progresses, there may be retention of urine. Urine can back up into the kidneys and cause damage, including atrophy of one or more kidneys and loss of function.

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