Inspired by the “Ask the…” anthology, I thought I’d throw this into the mix. So, ask away with all your questions about having a little metal device installed into one’s spine…
Do you have to or do you find yourself taking special precautions with your back now that you have the artificial disc? Which section of the spine was repaired?
Why? Ruptured disc replaced to cure chronic back pain, accident, or something else?
(I ask because I have two ruptured discs and while I hope never to have back surgery, I’m afraid it might come to that as I get older and more decrepit.)
HongKongFooey - it was the C5-6 disc that was replaced. Other than having to tell future X-ray or MRI operators about it, no special cautions. I had the surgery ten days ago, and my surgeon says I’ll be able to ride roller coasters this summer.
As it is, many people that have artificial disc replacement, aka ADR, done,make the mistake of self-immobilizing themselves, which actually delays recovery. When I went home from the hospital, the implant was carrying full weight and range of motion.
chiroptera - it was a mix of an old accident and chronic pain. For the most part, ADR is currently not recommended for people with degenerative disc disease, aka DDD.
Even though you’re allowed to ride roller coasters what about other physical things? Can you play contact sports? Would it make difference for chiropractic treatments?
Dear Got,
So, does it feel funny turning your head? Does it seem to pivot differently? Does it feel like it does all its pivoting at one point along your neck, as opposed to gradually along the length? Do you sense a hard stop at the end of its travel? I guess at ten days you’re not putting your neck through much of what will become its normal range, but - any sense of it yet?
Does it make any deep clunking or grinding noises???
I had C5-6-7 fused and my C4-5 will probably need work soon. Dr is promoting an artificial disk, and I am happy going with his recommendation. I am curious, though, what it’ll feel like.
If anybody’s curious, what I notice feeling different about them being fused is that there is quite a lot of movement at the base of C7, and it feels like a bit less total available movement, though I gather the upper disks contribute much more than an even share to the movement.
Are you able to play the piano after this surgery?
I couldn’t play piano before, so no change there.
Rang of motion-wise, I’m an owl now. I’ve got more side to side range of motion than before the surgery, and less internal grinding/rubbing noise.
I wasn’t much for contact sports to begin with,so I can only assume it would be OK, within reason. I’d definitely put that into the “ask your doctor” category. I have heard of some cases where people with lumbar implants have damaged them with extreme weightlifting, but I don’t think a cervical implant would be subject to that much stress.
As far as chiropractic treatments go, with luck, I won’t be needing them now. Initially, I was a bit fearful of dislodging it with excess movement or traction, but then I realized that would be nearly impossible as the implant is in two pieces, so it’s designed to be able withstand more movement than I initially thought.
This is a timely thread, as I’ve been suffering with lower back pain for the past two months. I have no idea what I did to myself and have never had back pain last this long. I suppose I ought to see a doctor. :: grumble::
If gotpasswords will forgive me for hijacking his thread for a moment, everyone with concerns for their back should watch this video from spine expert Dr. Stuart McGill IMO.
Back bridges and kettlebells fixed my back but of course everyone’s mileage varies.
Good point there. Better than half of all back pain sufferers get better with some simple physical therapy, a bit of rest, and more often than not, losing some weight, especially for low back pain. Tincture of time, as one doctor in my past called it.
Unfortunately, if things are actually damaged, that’s when you need to go through a few rounds of MRIs, epidural steroid injections, nerve conduction tests and electromyograms to determine exactly what’s broken and what the best fix is. For me, it was to remove the disc as it was pressing on the nerve roots on one side, and the other side was being invaded by a bone spur - easiest way to deal with the spur in its particular location was without the disc in the way.
If not for the spur and the degree to which the disc was herniated, I might have gotten by with a micro-endoscopic discectomy, where they go in with a small probe and nip off the offending bit of disc material. Half an hour in and out, and a couple day’s recovery for that. I had an L5 discectomy three years ago, and recovering from anaesthesia took longer than the actual surgery.
Some of the tests were expensive and/or unpleasant, but I wanted to be absolutely convinced that my doctor(s) had the whole picture and were going to do the best possible thing for me. Before having the ADR, I obtained opinions from four different doctors, and all were suggesting a fusion or ADR at C5-6. One of them was also thinking an MED at C7-T1 would be useful, so that’s been penciled in as a possibility for the future, depending on how I do with the C5-6 ADR.
My neck was quite literally on the line, so I didn’t want any doubts over whether or not I was doing the right thing.
Very interesting video. Thanks.
Someone asked me outside of this thread what kind of disc I got - it’s a ProDisc-C, made by Synthes. Looks sorta like a tailor’s steam press, but it’s much smaller.
I don’t even want to guess how much that little trinket costs. :eek:
If you’ll pardon another mild hijack was your L5 discectomy of the endoscopic variety and/or have you or anyone researched effectiveness/side effects of endoscopic discectomy? I may or may not have to make a decision between the endoscope and traditional surgery (the latter of which I’ve heard more bad outcomes than I’m really thrilled about).
My first reaction was “They still do open discectomies if they’re not doing a fusion?” Mine was pretty uneventful - outpatient surgery, and when I was back home, the plan was to sit on an ice pack periodically. IIRC, I was back to work in a week. The trauma to the body is much less, and healing is faster with pretty much any endoscopic procedure, be it a discectomy or an appendectomy.
I can say that the procedure was neurologically successful for me - reflexes have returned somewhat and I haven’t had any problem with foot drop since. The overall pain in my leg has abated, but the L5 area itself still aches now and then. Still, it’s much better than it was pre-op.
I haven’t compared the two methods, but I can’t imagine a reason a traditional or open discectomy would be preferable to an endoscopic one if the only activity planned is the discectomy itself without any fusion, foraminotomy or other procedures.
Thks. You were L5-S1 or L5-L4 (if I may)?
The other thing I’m going to research is failure rate/unsuccessful outcomes/need for repeat surgery. These are all sufficiently high for open discectomies (they’re aware of the iffy reputation of “open back surgery” so they now call it “micro discectomy” but it still involves cutting through back muscle, moving the nerve, etc.) that there is a formal diagnosis called “failed back surgery.” That doesn’t sound good. Hoping to find the endoscope averts a lot of those problems.
Further to bug you: how confident do you feel in that disc now? Would you, say, squat weights in a gym (not sure if that’s something you did before, but . . .)? Hoist a toddler in the air? I’m sure anything like that was verboten before the surgery . . . .
My lumbar discectomy was L5-S1.
I think there may be some confusion of terms. AFAIK, a “micro” discectomy is normally going to refer to an endoscopic procedure, but I wouldn’t put it past anyone to try to confuse people. I do recall that the surgeon who did mine used terms like “carefully dissecting” and “gently moving aside.”
As for stressing my new disc - it’s not even two weeks old, and I’m still in the 20-pound max lifting restriction phase, and my neck muscles have been rebelling. One side effect I was not expecting is that the herniated disc was wedge-shaped and my head was perpetually tilted a bit to one side. The implant is perfectly flat, so now the muscles on the right side are being stretched, and they’re not happy. Fortunately, it’s nothing that some massage and/or physical therapy will get that sorted.
So it was paid for by your insurance? What kind of insurance do you have. I belong to Anthem Blue Cross - HMO. I don’t think they would cover any of it. I want to know how much.
I’ll join the slight hijack to say that there’s a lot of information out there about exercises for back and neck pain, and I’ve found some of it quite useful. (Never thought I’d be doing a Cobra yoga pose, but it helps a lot).
This guy’s a bit of an anti-surgery zealot, but I found his blog and e-book worthwhile (not a plug for anyone to buy his e-book, but it was worth my $20). Of course there are also cases like the OP’s where surgical intervention makes sense and works wonders.
I am very curious has to how you are going to do long term. Disc replacement was quite new when I got hurt and I didn’t have that option. I am fused L3-S1 and my life has been a living hell since. Failed Back Surgery Syndrome is what is is called. The pain has never left and I am forced to take morphine every day to combat it. I can no longer work and my quality of life sucks compared to before the injury. I was strong and active. I certainly wish you the best of luck and hopefully you will be back to normal soon.