Hi

I had a microdiscectomy at L4/L5 because of a ruptured disc back in September. I was in pretty severe pain before the surgery, but it helped immensely, and I'm completely recovered...or so I thought. Yesterday, I was sitting on the floor, "indian-style," for about 20 minutes, and when I got up, I felt a little bit sore right above the scar from my incision. I'm still working on getting back in shape, and my back muscles do tend to stiffen up a bit if I've been sitting for long periods of time, so at first I thought that's all it was. But today, I feel very stiff and very sore back there. I felt like this when I first started to have disc problems last year. My doctor is out of the office until Wednesday.
I'm just wondering...is it possible that I may have pulled a muscle or tweaked something as I was getting up? My doctor has told me that I probably have a small amount of scar tissue back there, and he said that my muscles back there will never be quite the same as they were before the surgery. All I did was get up from a sitting position. Is it possible to get another herniated disc just from doing that? Maybe I am being overly cautious, but I'm just remembering the amount of pain I was in this time last year, and I SO don't want to go back to that.
Please help. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
mo
Edited to add: I don't have any leg pain (apart from the occasional twinges which are normal for me) or any of the horrible muscle spasms that I had prior to surgery.

Hi Mo... First, try not to worry, as that alone will make you feel more pain by concentrating on it.. If muscles are tight, you could have slightly strained it, so dont automatically assume it is a disc problem.. Try ice packs for 15 minutes and see if that helps... If it does, then keep doing it every few hours. I actually read using cold packs THEN heat and do that every few hours.... Also, take some Ibuprofen every 4 to 6 hours. Just take it easy and dont do anything strenuous for a few days.. If you feel better, start walking but keep it slow..

Like I said... dont worry, and just wait to see your doctor on Wed...

M

Try not to worry yet about your new back pain. I remember after my first back surgery, I would get times where some pain would return (in a different sort of way) and I'd get nervous I'd blown something out again. But, I really was Ok and it got better over time with healing and rest.

HOWEvEr, you definitely can blow your disk again, so do NOT over do anything. I have learned the hard way...after 10 years of doing really well, I lifted too much and have pretty much gone back to square one. And, after I blew out my back the second time (at the same level), there was absolutely no doubt that it was herniated again. There wasn't just an ache, but the same old extreme pain that I know you know about.

Anyway, that's my experience. I hope that you are feeling better and that you haven't reinjured your back. Just be careful!

Hi

Thanks for your advice! I feel a little silly now -- today I actually feel fine. :rolleyes: Just a little stiff. I must have just "tweaked" something when I stood up. I will keep my appointment on Wednesday just to be on the safe side. Thanks again!
Mo

Sitting the way you were, don't do it, it took me about a year to completely heal from my back surgery and there may be things you simply can no longer do and I believe that way of sitting might be one of them.

Hi, I had miniD at L4L5 too, and experienced similar problems after I had been healing for a while. My physical therapist and I worked together (even though I had been discharged by then) and discovered it must be scar tissue that breaks up as you start to move more and become active or stretch muscles that might not have been used as much as you were healing. It is scary when you have pain after surgery b/c you want to make sure you have not messed your back up again! Hope you are doing well.
~Mim :wave:

Hello. I agree with rubyrearview - don't sit in that position - I believe it's hard on your lower back so could aggravate. I'm glad you're feeling better.

When I was dx'd with a herniated L5S1 and exhausted other treatments, I was scheduled for a discectomy and my spine surgeon told me right from the start that there was no guarantee it wouldn't herniate again. He told me if it did he would do a second discectomy, trying to avoid a fusion, but if it happened a third time, I would need a fusion. It did herniate a second time and all I did was get up out of a rocking chair and feel to the floor in pain. It was repaired and a yr or so later, I was getting out of a chair again and it blew again, sending me to the floor in pain. I had a fusion and have no more pain. I would do it all again in a heart beat.

Let's hope you didn't reherniate, but you don't have to do anything strenous for it happen. On that note, we should never ever do anything strenous, regardless. Good Luck!