Anyone had back surgery?

[walkerag]

I have had a disc protrusion at L5-S1 since 1999 and have pain from time to time over the last 10 years. I went through physical therapy back when I first injured my back and have been doing pretty well up until the last 6 months or so. It was hurting pretty badly back in May and my Dr. sent me for an MRI. I showed very little change from when I had first injured it. Mid November it started bothering me again and was so excruciating that I could barely walk for about a week. I've had a couple of steroid dose packs, one in May which really helped, and one in November that didn't help at all. The pain did finally subside but now I'm left with a numb, tingling, left foot. It's only the top of my foot and it feels really strange. Because of the numbness, I had another MRI a few weeks ago that showed that the herniation is significantly worse and although there is no more inflammation the disc material is pressing on the sciatic nerve causing the numbness. My question is for anyone who may have had back surgery for a herniated or ruptured disc. Did it completely rid you of the pain?

I had a consultation with the orthopaedic surgeon today and he said that I am a candidate for surgery but he's not certain if it will aleviate the numbness since there may be nerve damage, there's no way to really tell, but will it finally end this 10 year stretch of off and on back pain for me? I think it might be worth it if it would!

Thank you

ETA: I'm only 34 so I still have many years of pain ahead :-(

 

[Jenvenza]

I had back surgery in August. I had a torn disc at the same location you do. I had been in pain for about 3 years. I had spinal steriod injections and they did little to ease the pain. So, I had a spinal lumbar fusion in August at the ripe old age of 30. Surgery went well and I was actually released from the hospital the next day. It took a lot longer to get back to normal than what they told me it would.

But - and this is a big but - the pain has come back and it is a completely different type of pain now. It is worse. I have blinding, flashes of pain in my lower back that catch me off guard. I live on Advil. I am going back to the doctor in a few weeks to see what the deal is. I had an amazing surgeon who did my surgery and had it done at one of the best hospitals in the US, so I am not really sure what the problem is.

If you want to know more or just have questions, you can always send me a PM!

Good luck!

 

[HsvTeacher]

I have had a disc protrusion at L5-S1 since 1999 and have pain from time to time over the last 10 years. I went through physical therapy back when I first injured my back and have been doing pretty well up until the last 6 months or so. It was hurting pretty badly back in May and my Dr. sent me for an MRI. I showed very little change from when I had first injured it. Mid November it started bothering me again and was so excruciating that I could barely walk for about a week. I've had a couple of steroid dose packs, one in May which really helped, and one in November that didn't help at all. The pain did finally subside but now I'm left with a numb, tingling, left foot. It's only the top of my foot and it feels really strange. Because of the numbness, I had another MRI a few weeks ago that showed that the herniation is significantly worse and although there is no more inflammation the disc material is pressing on the sciatic nerve causing the numbness. My question is for anyone who may have had back surgery for a herniated or ruptured disc. Did it completely rid you of the pain?

I had a consultation with the orthopaedic surgeon today and he said that I am a candidate for surgery but he's not certain if it will aleviate the numbness since there may be nerve damage, there's no way to really tell, but will it finally end this 10 year stretch of off and on back pain for me? I think it might be worth it if it would!

Thank you

ETA: I'm only 34 so I still have many years of pain ahead :-(

YES!!!

I had surgery in June 2007 (Also 34 years old at the time...) for a herniated disc between L4 and L5. I also had nerve damage, because the disc material had leaked into my spinal column and was pressing on my sciatic nerve. I was also in excruciating pain and was taking crazy amounts of strong painkillers that didn't even touch the pain.

I have very little pain now, and if I do have pain, it's muscular. The feeling has come back into my leg, and the only time I have problems with it is when I'm really tired. (Like after walking around a WDW park all day) My right leg is still a little smaller than my left leg, and the doctors said that would probably never change. It's not really noticeable to others. Other than that, my results were great!

 

[walkerag]

Thanks for the feedback!

JenVenza - I'm sorry you're going through that! My doctor suggested I may want to try the injection to see if it helps although he was skeptical that it would since it's now disc material pressing on the sciatic nerve now and not inflammation. I really don't see the point of wasting the time and money on trying it if it's probably not going to help. Am I wrong here? I hope they can figure out what is causing your pain and help you!

HsvTeacher - I'm glad surgery has helped you. The weakness in my leg is driving me crazy! I can just be walking along and my ankle will give way sometimes and depending what position I'm sitting, standing of kneeling in my hamstring will cramp up If I walk for 30 minutes or longer my hip starts hurting, maybe from the slight limp I have..

It's all very frustrating, I'm not sure what I'm going to do but I will give it a few months like the doctor suggested to see if the numbness improves at all. Thank you both

 

[HsvTeacher]

HsvTeacher - I'm glad surgery has helped you. The weakness in my leg is driving me crazy! I can just be walking along and my ankle will give way sometimes and depending what position I'm sitting, standing of kneeling in my hamstring will cramp up If I walk for 30 minutes or longer my hip starts hurting, maybe from the slight limp I have..

Before surgery, I would also have times when my leg and/or foot would give out on me. I actually tripped a lot stepping up onto curbs and sidewalks, because I was as if my leg and/or foot wasn't getting the message from my brain. That only happens now when I am extremely tired.

Also, before surgery, I noticed that I had began favoring my left hip, because my right hip hurt so badly. So, that made me walk around crooked all the time. After three months of rehab, that got better and I can stand completely straight now.

Personally, I would avoid the steroid packs at this time, because the shots will only help with inflammation. Also, I went to a neurosurgeon and not an orthopedic surgeon, since we were dealing with the spinal cord and nerves.

Hope this helps, and hope you feel better soon!

 

[ukwildcat]

Success rates for back surgery hover in the 50% range. And success is determined by having an improvement in symptoms OR not being worse off following the surgery. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which you will fall into until after the surgery.

I am not against back surgery, but it should be a last resort. For me, I would have to be unable to function to consider back surgery. 50% success is too big of a gamble for me.

In the end, it's your body and up to you. Best of luck whatever decision you make.

 

[HsvTeacher]

I forgot to mention the extent of numbness I had before surgery. When I went to the neurosurgeon, part of the exam included him rolling a spiked wheel over my foot and lower leg. I couldn't feel it at all! He did it again before I left the hospital, and I could feel it.

ukwildcat: If I remember correctly, aren't you a chiropractor?

 

[teskak]

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2009/2768754.htm

Something to read about minimally invasive spinal surgery

 

[Sailorwife]

I had a Microdiscectomy a little over a year ago. I was 38 at the time. Before surgery, I was in alot of pain and could not stand or walk for very long at all. I had a lot of weakness in my right leg from the inflamation on the sciatic nerve. Mine was a bulging disc between the L-5 and the L-6. (I did not realize I had an L-6 until the MRI).

I also had a neursurgeon do the surgery. He was one of the best here in Houston and I was in a hospital that specialized in spinal surgeries. It was a total success! I spent one night in the hospital. The very first time they got me up to walk in the hospital I was pain free. It was wonderful! Recovery time was about 2 weeks. I was not in alot of pain afterwards just sore. It is important afterwards (when released by the dr.) to really work on stretching and getting strength in your back. I have been doing alot of core exercises.

I have RA so I still have some back pain but it is from the RA and is controlled by my meds for the most part.

It is not an easy decision and what worked for one may not work for another. Good luck on finding what works for you. You are too young to have to deal with that kind of pain for the rest of your life!

 

[DMRick]

I can't answer your question, since I went with my second opinion neursurgeon, who said he felt more damage to the disc above and below the 2 damaged ones may come from surgery (and he felt the nerve damage and the tingling and lack of feeling in my arm and hand would prob still be there), and not with the neurologist, who insisted surgery had to be very soon. They were not happy with each other, and left me confused. At the moment I'm relatively pain free, so the decision was put off until the next flare up, or maybe never. I do use a tens machine and while it doesn't help everyone, it does help me keep the pain tolerable.
Good luck with your decision. I know it's a hard one to call. I'm a lot older than you, so that may play into the doctors suggestion as well.

 

[maciec]

I had my first one at 18 and my second one when I was 24. The first one I herniated 2 discs. I had a minimally invasive surgery that we knew was only a temporary fix. I was actually kept awake for the surgery. My neurosurgeon was very surprised that it lasted as long as it did. My second surgery was because I ruptured both of those discs and herniated another. For this surgery I was knocked out and cut open. Both surgeries were the best decision for me. It has been 14 years since my last surgery and I have not had one problem other than muscular, but that's all about me and not exercising and being about 15lbs too heavy right now.

Oh and I tried the physical therapy route and it didn't make things better for me. I actually think it made things worse.

 

[Carys]

OP, sounds similar to me - L5-S1, ruptured and causing damage in the spinal canal, except my problem came on relatively suddenly, no history of back problems. From the time the pain started I was in hospital four weeks later. Had my disc removed / bones fused together by a metal spacer at the end of October '09, aged 28. By the time of the surgery my left leg was numbed from toes to knee, was bed bound from back to toe pain. I am still in recovery phase, wearing a back brace, restricted activity, but the crippling nerve pain is gone, still have patches of numbness on lower leg, foot and two of my toes but nothing like it was pre surgery. The recovery from surgery hasn't been a cake walk but it was definately the right decision for me.