disc herniation options?

[twojo21]

wasnt sure where to post this but my dad has been having some back problems for the past couple months, hes been going to the chiropractor & just over the weekend pulled his back again, he said the pain was very severe. they did an mri & said the results show he has a herniated disc & have set up an appointment with a nuerosurgeon for wednesday that surgery will most likely be needed.

has anyone had surgery for a herniated disc? has anyone used an alternative natural option to cure this? what was the outcome? how was the healing process? any advise at all with a herniated disc?

thank you so much!

 

[Deb in IA]

My personal experience is to go for the surgery.

I had a bulging disc at L5-S1 for 1 1/2 years. I tried pain meds, anti-inflammatories, and 4 epidural steroid injections.


One afternoon in August, 2000, the disc exploded. I could not move. It hurt to breathe.

One week later I was in the operating room, and the orthopedic surgeon took out one of the biggest herniated discs he had ever seen.

I have never regretted my decision. Within 4 weeks, I went from bedridden to running a mile!

 

[PrincessCLM]

The physical therapist in me says go conservative and try PT NOT a chiropractor. I have seen it work for some people. However, I have also seen a lot of people that PT, chiro, anti-inflam, epidural injections, etc did nothing for and surgery was the best option.

 

[goldcupmom]

My DH is going to a back specialist tomorrow for what they believe is this problem - started on 8/6. I'll let you know what we hear. This is a spine clinic that tries to avoid surgery, supposedly

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I have a herniated disc, but mine caused sciatica. I had severe pain down the back of my right leg.

My doctor prescribed anti-inflam. meds and they worked like a charm. I guess they reduced the swelling that was pressing against the sciatic nerve.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

I would have him see the Doctor he has an appointment set up with and bring any tests he's had as well as making an appointment with a good back orthopedic doctor and compare what is told to him. There are many conservative routes that can be tried but not everyone will respond to that. It also depends on the severity of his case. In the mean time personally I would not continue seeing the chiro for his particular ailment. I hope he gets some relief soon.

 

[dmslush]

My mother had a herniated disk many years ago. Through LOTS and LOTS of trips to the Chiro, they were able to fix it. She was very afraid of surgery, so she wanted to give it her all before having to give in and have a surgery. It took a lot of hard work, but she is good as new 12 years after the fact. I have recently developed severe neck pain and am seeing a chiro and it is helping a lot.

 

[Jeafl]

I had a herniated disc where 1/3 of the disc was actually broken off. I
tried a chiropractor which was the biggest mistake of my life. She did some kind of adjustment and I could NOT get off the table. Whatever she did made the pain 1000 times worse and caused severe numbness in my leg and foot to the point of my entire foot was useless.

I then went to see a neurosurgeon and he scheduled surgery for 2 days later. The day before the surgery I got a second opinion and that doctor gave me a Medrol dose pack which is basically a course of high dose steroids that you take over a 5-day period. Within about 3-4 hours of taking the first pill my pain was almost gone! I suffered for weeks for nothing.

I am not saying all chiropractors are bad because they are not. I just went to someone who obviously had no clue to what she was doing. She was so horrible that she tried to test me for food allergies by putting different pills on my tongue and then telling me to push her arm as hard as I could Like I cared about food allergies when I was in that much agony from my back and hip!

 

[AZKathy]

They are going to try and treat it conservatively first. A good percentage will get better without surgery and just physical therapy and medications and maybe epidural steroid injections. Make sure that the physical therapy that is taught get done on a daily basis and keep up the exercise.

I have two levels of herniation and finally after three years of conservative treatment of epidural steroid injections, physical therapy, drs saying that the herniation could not be causing all the leg pain and numbness, etc, I had this special MRI done that emulated me standing (which is my major problem) and lo and behold, the herniation was much worse and compressing on nerve roots!

I just had a spinal fusion a month ago of L5-S1 with discectomy and interbody fusion (TLIF). My leg pain is greatly decreased and I am on the road to recovery. The immediate post op pain was terrible, but I have also been on lots of narcotic meds for three years, so it was hard to control for me. My incision for the full fusion is only 2-2 1/2 inches long and I am starting my third week of physical therapy.

good luck!

 

[mtblujeans]

It depends upon the herniation. I would definitely NOT go to a chiropractor for a herniation, as described above. Pain killers have affects on organs if taken regularly over a long period of time. Disc surgeries have come a long way over the years and most are successful.