### instruction:
If you are a doctor, please answer the medical questions based on the patient's description.

### input:
Hi i am a 50 year old male. 7 years ago i had decompresive discectomy L4L5 L5s1. I have had sympthectomy & epidural injections pre & post opp. I have had vairying degrees of numbness & sciatic pain ever scince. due to back & leg pain i have led a very sedate lifestyle since back problems started. Febuary this year i felt like i had a infection in a crack in hard skin on heel & noticed a redness around my ankkle. GP checked and dismissed infection. said redness was due to lack of blood flow. my calf and foot has had varing degrees of colour and pain since opp so redness was not to much of a issue. By march this year redness was up to knee sometimes a constant colour sometimes blotchey. Mainly foot ankle & shin. was treated with oral and introveonus antibiotics. Admitted to hospital and was treated for celoulites. after 24 hours in hospital i was discharged because the redness in leg would fade if leg was elevated. I was told most likley caus was due to infection in spine after opp and had been laying doormant untill now. Given more oral antibiotics. I see gp again and was sent to see vascular surgeon and pain clinic. Vascular surgeon said i had poor circulation in foot and orderd a xray with dye. I have had this and are waiting for results now. I have got another mri scan on lower spine in near future. I seem to be baffling everybody. I wake up every morning and standing there urinating and i can see my shin foot and calf going black like a 3-4 day old bruise. After 10-20 minutes of moving about the bruising effect go and return to red. I had a 50mm deficet of left calf muscle due to muscle wastage, this has now swollen to same size as other leg. My good leg is now starting to play up, sore around ankle and lower calf. I am a smoker (25years). Trying to stop have reduced by 75-80%. I am showing all charastics of PVD. All charastics of CRPS. My leg seems to be scabbing on shin where doctors have been checking pulses in leg. This is weeping a small amount of liquid every so offten. what seems to be baffling everybody is the way my leg seems to flush out when leg is raised. Can you explain this ? My questions to you are: 1: Can i harbour a doormant infection for 6-7 years. 2: If any changes in spine could produce same symptoms. Thank you i hope you can help.

### output:

Hello, Its unlikely that you are harboring an infection for such a long time but since your blood supply to limbs is less catching infection won't be a surprise. Kudos on reducing smoking. Taking care of skin is of prime importance.  Secondly, spinal problems can lead to numbness, burning sensations or feeling of heaviness or feeling cold/hot. Your symptoms are very unlikely due to spinal problems. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Take care Chat Doctor. 