I hurt my back a few months back. Actually, I thought I had hurt my leg, but I was diagnosed with a herniated (slipped) disc. I had a fiendish plan to avoid surgery, but after three months of PT with only moderate symptom improvement, I am being sent back to my doctor with a recommendation for imaging.
I have a bad feeling that I may be in for surgery. I DO NOT want spinal fusion. If they do that, I will not be able to ride my bike (not that I can ride right now).
Please tell me about your experience with disc replacement surgery. What was recovery like? Were you able to get back to full mobility? How long does it last?
I had a disc replaced at L4/L5, with fusion. I can still ride bikes fine. I can still (barely) touch my toes, which is more a matter of hamstrings than my spine. But I never could touch my toes easily owing to family genetics, even when I was a kid.
As a doctor explained it to me, they image your spine as you’re bending over. If there’s more than some % degree of movement laterally between the vertebrae above and below that disc (maybe 5%? 15%? I honestly don’t remember anymore) then they must fuse the vertebrae above and below the disc, otherwise they could shift and dig into your spinal cord when you bend over, paralyzing you.
My surgery was likely much more extensive than a “simple” disc replacement would be. In my case, the disc was fine but the vertebrae bone had overgrown into the opening where the nerve came out and was pinching it, so bone needed to be grinded(?) out. Replacing the disc with a more stable artifical disc was part of the procedure even though the disc was fine.
Recovery was not bad. Back at work in 2 weeks. No lifting for a few weeks, and no straining that might pull the pedicle (bracket) fasteners out of the bone for a long time, until it was clear the bone had firmly attached to them - like a year or less.
I interviewed 2 top back surgeons recommended by my doctor: an orthopedic surgeon and a neurosurgeon. Both had very different approaches and each had pros and minor cons. Either would have been fine. I went with the neurosurgeon.
I ruptured a disc in my lower back and had a partial discectomy. I was back to work less than a week later. 16 years later still going strong, full range of motion.
I saw my Doctor the day before yesterday. She manually examined my lower back, and she said she could feel the disc. I am now scheduled to have an MRI Monday.
A loved one had nerve pain in the neck shoulder and arm, the neurosurgeon replaced a disc in the cervical area. Cut in through the front of the neck! OP surgery. Restrictions on activities for 4 weeks.
They do this for the neck. Your spine’s about in the middle, and in front there are tubes you have to yank out of the way. In back is the spinal cord, so let’s not yank on that.
I’ve had this done twice. First time fused C5, C6 and C7 together. Second time fused C4 to the C567 mass. Stuck in a collar for 8 weeks and therefore unable to drive, but I was going for walks within maybe a week or so.
I badly ruptured my L5S1 disk in my back with massive pulp extrusion, and they did half a year of PT and conservative treatments like steroid injections. I had some paralysis in my lower leg that never got better. Then I changed doctors; the second guy said I should have had surgery right away and that would probably have fixed the paralysis. So I had surgery then, and the pain got a lot better but not the paralysis. The surgery pulled a lot of the pulp out, trimmed away torn disk material, undercut the disk footprint in the weight bearing column of the vertebrae by about 15%, and opened the foramen on each side, especially the side with the worst paralysis. This experience has made me NOT a believer in the advice that you should always avoid surgery as long as possible.
Might also mention that I badly ruptured myT2T3 disk with massive pulp extrusion. This is, according to one reference I found, the least frequently ruptured disk in the spine. It felt like my right underarm was being electrocuted for several days. No surgery – underarm function just isn’t that important – treated with steroid pills and painkillers.
I’m looking at cervical surgery within the next year (I’d consider doing it right away if not for not wanting to pay my out-of-pocket so near the end of the year).
It’s a bit limited, especially twisting to look behind me on either side. I have to do more twisting with my back, hips, legs, and feet, depending on the situation. I think I have a bit more than half of the ability to twist that I was born with.
But the nerve improvements are great. Referring to the most recent surgery 17 months ago, my hands were becoming less and less able, clumsy and shaky and weak, especially on one side. They always felt dead and sometimes tingly. The dead feeling was gone when I woke up in recovery. The disability progression in my hands seems stopped for now. My neck pain was reduced significantly. My first neck fusion was a long time ago, 15 years or so, and though I don’t remember as clearly I think I was much improved that time too.
Both neck surgeries, and my one lumbar surgery, were all big successes in my opinion. I’m a pretty active 67, did a 20 mile hike just 5 weeks ago. Right now I’m taking a break from revising my network wiring through a floor and wall cavity for the television set, which is a physical tour through all the postures that are unpleasant with a bad neck, and I’m not complaining about mine.
I have finally had my MRI so they could see what’s going on back there.
T-12/L-1 & L-1/L-2 look good.
L-2/L-3 has a posterior bulge, leading to minor foraminal stenosis on the right side.
L-3/L-4 has a posterior bulge, leading to moderate/ severe foraminal stenosis on the right side and moderate foraminal stenosis on the left side.
L-4/L-5 has a posterior bulge, leading to moderate/severe foraminal stenosis on the right and left side including a mass effect on the L-4 nerve roots in the lateral segments.
L-5/S-1 LEFT paracentral protrusion/disc bulge, combined with facet and
ligamentous hypertrophy exerts mass effect on the traversing LEFT S1
nerve root. This also mild LEFT neural foraminal stenosis.
I go back to see the specialist Friday, but could one of our more medically minded members translate for me.
It sounds bad, but is this actually a load of technobabble that really means, “The dude just needs to walk it off.”?
IANAD, just a grizzled geezer retired nurse, but, since you asked, I’ll put some money down on these two findings getting close to “it’s time for the medical establishment to intercede and do something. That might be a course of targeted PT, trials of weight loss or other slightly less intrusive techniques than outright surgery before considering surgery. Where they land can be different depending on how aggressive medical care is customarily where you are.
You didn’t ask but if and certainly when surgery is suggested definitely get a second opinion from a completely separate physician practice, if not also a third. Spinal surgery is definitely one of those “measure thrice, cut once” situations.
Mine was between L1 and T12, just at the top of the lumbar section. I had MRSA that infected the disc. IMO, “spinal fusion” is a confusing term.What you get is a little metal framework that locks the two vertebrae in place without the disc. The actual fusion takes place over the next several weeks as the body fills in the space with new bone.
They gave me a steroid injection on the left side of the L5-S1 disc. I remembered why I don’t like novocaine. It takes forever to take effect on me, It lasts for fucking ever, and it works really well.
I felt everything on the steroid injection and about ten minutes later, my left leg said, “See ya!” God bless Mrs Magill she practically carried my ass out of the office.
Two weeks later, I think I’m at 90% of where I was before.
Neat thing about (my) MDD, everything hurt all the time. When my doctor put me on meds, the pain disappeared, then I got energy back, finally my mood brightened. For the last several months, everything was hurting again, and my Brane said, “Oh! The MDD’s back. Time to start beating you up full-time again.” Luckily, it didn’t add the self-destructive thoughts.
To paraphrase Lou Costello said in Meet Frankenstein, I’ve had this brain for 54 years, and it hasn’t worked right once.
Nope. They showed me the life-size replica of the titanium frame, with the screws into the vertebrae above and below. I asked if I got a new disc, and they said I no longer needed one. Those bones aren’t going anywhere, and there’s no shocks to cushion.