Damn back surgery

[bigstick]

Saw the surgeon today. Wants to do lumbar foraminotomy with discectomy? Y’all know I can’t spell. Anyone have any luck with this?

 

[heavyhitter]

What else have you tried so far? I would never choose back surgery as a first or even second option. I’m so glad I didn’t. Several series of epidural injections and pt and for the most part now it never affects me.

 

[Musclebound94]

What else have you tried so far? I would never choose back surgery as a first or even second option. I’m so glad I didn’t. Several series of epidural injections and pt and for the most part now it never affects me.

Hey heavy hitter, what did you have going on…..going through a similar situation myself

 

[qbkilla]

How did you get the injury?

 

[heavyhitter]

Hey heavy hitter, what did you have going on…..going through a similar situation myself

Herniation at l1s1 causing extreme sciatica that gave me “drop foot” which meant I wasn’t able to hold my foot up as I walked. They were talking about a full fusion at one point. I was 19 years old. My mom was tying my shoes for me to go to work because I couldn’t

 

[Musclebound94]

Damn man, glad to hear you didn't have to go that route. I'm having an issue with L5/S1 and am doing PT right know. I have the intense sciatica burn in my glute and down my leg as well. I don't have any dropfoot or motor/strength loss though. Neurosurgery office is sending my for an MRI as my insurance denied the first one wanting me to do 6 weeks of PT first.....hoping I can resolve it without surgery like you did

 

[heavyhitter]

Damn man, glad to hear you didn't have to go that route. I'm having an issue with L5/S1 and am doing PT right know. I have the intense sciatica burn in my glute and down my leg as well. I don't have any dropfoot or motor/strength loss though. Neurosurgery office is sending my for an MRI as my insurance denied the first one wanting me to do 6 weeks of PT first.....hoping I can resolve it without surgery like you did

Definitely try for the injections if it’s an option. And don’t give up on it. It wasn’t until about the 4 or 5 one that I finally started to feel a LOT better. I ended up having a total of 3 series of 3 shots each

 

[Musclebound94]

Definitely try for the injections if it’s an option. And don’t give up on it. It wasn’t until about the 4 or 5 one that I finally started to feel a LOT better. I ended up having a total of 3 series of 3 shots each

Man that gives me hope....I have really been legitimately depressed because of it since everything hurts. I haven't even been able to train legs for several months now. My wife has to put my socks on a lot of times. The doc did say that they could do corticosteroid injections for it and that they would only do surgery as a last resort. I'm 28 and really don't want to be cut on if I can avoid it

 

[heavyhitter]

Man that gives me hope....I have really been legitimately depressed because of it since everything hurts. I haven't even been able to train legs for several months now. My wife has to put my socks on a lot of times. The doc did say that they could do corticosteroid injections for it and that they would only do surgery as a last resort. I'm 28 and really don't want to be cut on if I can avoid it

I actually considered killing myself at one point because it was so painful and debilitating. I wasn’t weight training at the time….I raced motorcycles for ktm(that’s how I got the injury) and the physical therapy started to put some muscle on me and I was hooked

 

[Musclebound94]

I actually considered killing myself at one point because it was so painful and debilitating. I wasn’t weight training at the time….I raced motorcycles for ktm(that’s how I got the injury) and the physical therapy started to put some muscle on me and I was hooked

Thanks for the input man, its encouraging! I'm trying to train as much as I can but I'm a paramedic for work and sometimes in situations where someone is dead(or dying) I act without thinking and end up lifting like I shouldn't and making it worse....I'm hoping some time off work and the injections will do the trick

 

[maldorf]

Thanks for the input man, its encouraging! I'm trying to train as much as I can but I'm a paramedic for work and sometimes in situations where someone is dead(or dying) I act without thinking and end up lifting like I shouldn't and making it worse....I'm hoping some time off work and the injections will do the trick

Man, thats so true. Lifting things and not thinking about it gets your hurt. Ive done that a lot. If you are prepared and think about how you are moving you can usually lift with your legs instead of lower back and avoid hurting your back. If something comes up fast and you just react out of instinct, BAM!

 

[Musclebound94]

Man, thats so true. Lifting things and not thinking about it gets your hurt. Ive done that a lot. If you are prepared and think about how you are moving you can usually lift with your legs instead of lower back and avoid hurting your back. If something comes up fast and you just react out of instinct, BAM!

Exactly! I've done it a couple times in the last week and have really paid for it. I'm having to make such a mental note about what I'm doing and trying to ensure that it's not going to worsen things

 

[cage99]

Also, look into facet blocks if the epidurals don’t work, then you have ablation treatment after that as well.

I personally can’t do any more of the epidurals since they don’t work for me anymore. Insurance stopped paying. After that I tried the facet block, then frying my nerves with the ablation treatment. These are all under the knife treatments too btw.

I’ve just had to learn to live with mine. I’m not willing to do the surgery. Because once you start you’ll be back in 10-15 years doing the same thing to the one above or below depending on where your issue is located.

Cage

 

[TrippplePPP]

Lots that goes into this like other have said. I always looked at the surgeons opinion as plan B while your work toward success with plan A. I never hurts to have plan B ready though. Multiple spine docs I have worked with mentioned a study in which a great percentage of people have resolution of symptoms with no treatment over one years time. Add treatment into the mix and you are likely to get better. Surgery is if you are in 10/10 pain and cannot function, if you are losing muscle control like drop foot, pissing/shitting yourself or have exhausted conservative care and are still in pretty bad pain.

Ice your low back all the time. Take your PT seriously. Eat healthy. Inversion tables are cool too if you can resist flipping over on the first time you use it.

 

[Musclebound94]

Also, look into facet blocks if the epidurals don’t work, then you have ablation treatment after that as well.

I personally can’t do any more of the epidurals since they don’t work for me anymore. Insurance stopped paying. After that I tried the facet block, then frying my nerves with the ablation treatment. These are all under the knife treatments too btw.

I’ve just had to learn to live with mine. I’m not willing to do the surgery. Because once you start you’ll be back in 10-15 years doing the same thing to the one above or below depending on where your issue is located.

Cage

Thanks for the input cage, I will have to talk to my doc about that for sure.

Lots that goes into this like other have said. I always looked at the surgeons opinion as plan B while your work toward success with plan A. I never hurts to have plan B ready though. Multiple spine docs I have worked with mentioned a study in which a great percentage of people have resolution of symptoms with no treatment over one years time. Add treatment into the mix and you are likely to get better. Surgery is if you are in 10/10 pain and cannot function, if you are losing muscle control like drop foot, pissing/shitting yourself or have exhausted conservative care and are still in pretty bad pain.

Ice your low back all the time. Take your PT seriously. Eat healthy. Inversion tables are cool too if you can resist flipping over on the first time you use it.

Yeah mine has been getting progressively worse for about a year now. I started PT about 5 weeks ago and am doing all the home stuff as well. I really think taking some FMLA time off work will benefit me as my job has me lifting people a lot. The PT clinic is within my neurosurgery office and they put me on a lumbar traction table that pulls pressure on it in an effort to make room to "suck" the disk back in. It does seem to help so we will see. Thanks for the input!

 

[carbs]

I had back surgery...

greatest thing I ever did

 

[Musclebound94]

I had back surgery...

greatest thing I ever did

What procedure did you have?

 

[carbs]

What procedure did you have?

spinal decompression and lumbar disectomy

took a few months to recover but been good as gold since..that was 5 years ago
I just cant do things like squat or leg press or dead lift anymore... maybe I could ..I just choose not to risk it anymore

before back surgery thought my life was over...the pain etc

 

[TrippplePPP]

Thanks for the input cage, I will have to talk to my doc about that for sure.

Yeah mine has been getting progressively worse for about a year now. I started PT about 5 weeks ago and am doing all the home stuff as well. I really think taking some FMLA time off work will benefit me as my job has me lifting people a lot. The PT clinic is within my neurosurgery office and they put me on a lumbar traction table that pulls pressure on it in an effort to make room to "suck" the disk back in. It does seem to help so we will see. Thanks for the input!

Traction tables are no joke. Just ice your back frequently and rest when it makes you sore, active rest, make sure not to sit around. Taking off work is double edge sword.

 

[maldorf]

Exactly! I've done it a couple times in the last week and have really paid for it. I'm having to make such a mental note about what I'm doing and trying to ensure that it's not going to worsen things

Funny thing, after using my legs all of the time and bending down at the knees instead of the lower back, my knees sometimes start to hurt then. Sucks getting old.

My neighbor had to have some serious surgery for his lower back, and even has some kind of device installed back there that constantly applies an electrical signal to the nerves. Somehow that dulls the pain. He has to recharge the battery often. He told me how using his knees so much, to lessen stress on his low back, got too painful and recently he just had both knees replaced. He is in his mid to late 60s.