Has anyone had a discectomy?

[cwarmouth]

I had surgery 8 1/2 weeks ago on a herniated L5 S1 disc. Before the surgery I was a 10/10 in pain. I could only get relief by sleeping on the floor with my feet in a chair. But I'd have to wake up at 3:30 AM to be upright by 6:30. The last hour of trying to get up was beyond belief and generally spent with me yelling and sobbing. The herniation was right on my sciatic nerve. I spent about three months not being able to sit. I could stand or lie down. I am now a million times better than before the surgery but I still have sciatic pain and complete numbness in my foot and ankle. I've been on pain meds for months and if I try to skip a dose the pain is agonizing in my foot. My surgeon says this should not be. He ordered a follow up MRI which showed that the surgery was successful. The scar tissue looked good and nothing touching the nerve. I had two other doctors look at the images and they agreed. I've been in PT for weeks. The surgeon said the nerve damage may have been so bad that "it will take a long time or never" to get better. This is really discouraging to me because I am a very active outdoorsy person and a guitar player and I cannot do any of the things I love. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and how long it took to recover. I have met several people since my surgery who had the same thing but everyone says they recovered quickly.

 

[nevadablue]

I have a fusion and titanium parts and a bunch of laminectomies in my lower back. 4 years ago, it was. I had bad lower back pain, but nothing like yours. My right leg was mostly numb and would just collapse due to the pressure on the nerve. I was up and walking immediately after surgery, well after I woke up and got over the nausea. 8O

My leg never recovered though. I went way too long before the surgery (no insurance) and the nerve damage will not ever heal. My right leg works, but for example, I can't hold my weight on my right foot, on the ball of the foot. I have to be careful climbing ladders, I have to put my weight just in front of the heel or it won't work. My right foot is mostly numb.

Thankfully I never had a lot of pain, but it sounds like your nerve damage is causing the issues.

My problem now is that the arthritis that caused most of my pain is coming back. I will just have to live with it.

Good luck, I hope you are able to find a solution.

 

[bonanzadriver]

Been battlin a L5 disc problem for about 4 years now. Was in a car accident (rear ended at highway speeds) and ended up with a bulged disc.
After steroids, pt, inversion table and overall immobility I finally got through it to an acceptable level of livelihood.
With all of this I packed on 30+ lbs and was generally miserable.
My doctor kept tellin me that part of the problem with my back was my front.... I was over 260.
This past July I'd had enough and went on a modified Paleo diet. Eliminated almost all of the carbs from my diet (bread, pasta, taters, rice, etc...) Modified because I still have a beer or two on the weekends.
Anyhooo, I'm down about 70lbs now and the back is doing better. Still having problems with it.
No leg pain, just lower back and right hip pain.
Getting ready to start workin out again and am gonna start yoga (heard this is what has helped a lot of folks)
Hopefully I'll be able to avoid the knife.

 

[newbroom]

My back has been a problem in the L4/5 section for years.

I have had it 'go out' on me many times and it always required at least a day or two of ice and heat to get somewhere back to mobile.

I've had an inversion table ( an inexpensive Teeter knockoff ) for the last 4 or 5 yrs and it seems to be very helpful.

Since retiring, my back hasn't felt so good in yrs.

Backs run in the family, and many have opted for surgery, with very mixed and never fully satisfactory results.

Once those sawbones get their mitts on ya, you're theirs for the rest of your life.

Over the years, I found that if I got ice on the back at the first sign of trouble, I could fend off a full blown incident, and alternating heat and cold once the inflammation has been reduced by cold, helps too. It also takes time, a luxury I didn't always have when I was running my small glass business.

There is pain, and there is crippling pain. Back pain can be crippling, and definitely limiting.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I've had back problems for the past 12 years. Though mine is a bit different from yours, I understand your pain.
In 2005 I injured my back; ruptured a disc and pinched a nerve at my L5. I was also diagnosed with having Spondylolisthesis which the doctor says I was probably born with as I could not recall any previous back injuries that would have created such a condition. When I hurt my back it aggravated this condition and it has caused me pain ever since.
https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/tc/spondylolisthesis-topic-overview#1
Since the injury happened on the job, it was an L&I claim and after months of waiting for L&I to approve my surgery the disc was mostly healed, so the doctor left that alone but did clean up the area around the pinched nerve. In doing so I sustained a hole in my spinal fluid sack, and ultimately spent 10 days in the hospital with spinal fluid headaches (worst pain in the world). Since my spinal fluid was leaking into my body, by brain was resting on my skull causing severe headaches. The doctors tried a blood patch which did not work, so the only other option was to drain 15cc of spinal fluid every hour, 24 hours a day, for 5 days straight to allow the hole to heal/seal up. It was the worst 10 days of my life, and I don't wish that pain on anyone. Not even morphine could touch the pain, and sleeping in 45 minute stints was horrible. Plus eating hospital food was not enjoyable either. Again, the worst 10 days of my life. After that I spent the next month resting and then I worked light duty for 8 weeks, but like I've said I've had back pain ever since. There's been multiple times over the years where I've agitated my back and have to take multiple days off from work and/or go to the doctor for cortisone shots to relieve the inflammation in my back causing nerve pain. I spend part of everyday on the couch with a heating pad on my back, as the heat helps with the aches and pains.
Back pain sucks!!! Hope things get better for you soon.

 

[newbroom]

Pain and stress seem to be working together and one stimulates the other in a cycle of frustration.

These are essential components of pleasure which is really only the absence of pain and stress. (he says with all the authority of a semi literate hominid.)

So, pipe smoking has helped reduce the stress, and that's a wonderful thing. I'd even say pleasurable.

 

[sablebrush52]

I have stenosis in several places in my neck and lower back. Discs have simply worn away as the result of years of physical labor and meeting stressful deadlines. At the end of 2015 I woke up with horrendous pain running down my left arm. My left hand was nearly numb and my left forearm was constantly tingling. Worn discs and stenosis at three levels in my neck were found. My neurosurgeon recommended stretching and strengthening as the first line of recovery. The surgery I was facing was pretty horrendous, and likely to create further problems in time. It took 10 months of physical therapy to return my arm to a pain free condition, and I do my stretching and strengthening every day. Daily yoga for the past decade has removed my severe sciatica, as long as I stretch and strengthen daily. That's been the key for avoiding surgery so far.

 

[flakyjakey]

Jesse- You have done very well - very well indeed - to avoid neurosurgery; surgical intervention in the cervical spine can be a risky business. At the age of 40, my son-in-law (an interventional radiologist) has been found to have cervical stenosis and a disc protrusion at C5. He has had MRIs and a hydrocortisone injection - a neurosurgical appointment looms.
His job is sedentary, but his hobby has been restoring old houses, which involves very heavy lifting.

 

[saltedplug]

Horrendous stories!

 

[sablebrush52]

My suggestion to all of you who are younger and thus far pain free, stretch and strengthen. I'm now more limber than I was in my 30's. Had I been doing this all along, my skeletal system would have been better supported and the wear and tear would have been much less.

For those of you with issues, look for a "restorative" yoga class in your area. Rope/wall is great for stretching. That's mild yoga for people who have issues, are pregnant, or are elderly. Forget about all those "flow" or "power" versions unless you are already quite fit.

 

[mso489]

Backs can be a torment. I've had occasional pain since I was a teenager, and exercise and yoga have been a help. Compared to those of you who have had surgery, and maybe others as well, my back has been an ice cream sundae by comparison. Various other friends of mine have had hard lives with their backs. I wish you all healing and improvement. When primates stood up to see better distance, and stayed on their hind limbs, all the trouble began ... for those of us who accept the evolutionary concept.

 

[nevadablue]

Please, those who naysay surgery, learn more. I was told the same crap and know lots of people who have had problems. Many of the problems come from improper surgery and methods, many come from being stupid after surgery.
So, find a good doctor. Get his recommendation. I was lucky and found one of the top surgeons in the country, only 250 miles away. He fixed my back. I studied the problems I had and listened to the recommendations. I made sure that the doc was going to do what he said and how he said it would be done. I have had ZERO problems with my back since. Nothing related to the surgery has been an issue.
Also, in1988 I had a laminectomy and pressure relief in my neck. I had fallen off a ladder and that made an old problem worse. Again, good doctors prevailed. Absolutely no problems since.
So, please don't recommend 'no surgery'. Let the doctors diagnose and recommend. Then make a decision based on logic, not hearsay.