Hi eveyone,
I am looking for help and I will try to keep this short. I have been dealing with lower back pain off and on for around two years. Recently in April of this year I was lifting a patient and I felt a burning sensation in my lower back, I ignored the pain for about three weeks and then the pain migrated into my left leg and butt. I delt with this pain for about 3 months with the pain rating as high as a 9 over 10. Recently I had a microdiscectomy and all of my pain in my leg and butt was gone, I had some pain in the area of the surgery but that was to be expected. On day 5 or 6 after the surgery the pain in my leg and butt started to return and since then the pain has gradually increased. Right now the pain is about half the pain of what it used to be. I am very concered that the pain may fully return. Is this part of the normal healing process? has anyone been through this? It has been two weeks post surgery and looking for help.

Thanks!

hi sorry youre having tough time,sometimes the nerves will wake up later and can generate pain,just take it easy and this extra pain will subside in time,or at least for me it did,if it doesent then ask for another mri,did you ask surgeon about it?,well i hope this helped you a lil bit,just hang in there itll get better:wave:

Thanks for the reply, I did call my surgeons office and they said to take ibuprofen 3x daily which would be 1800 mg daily. My only concern is that I had been taking around 2800 mg daily for about three months prior to surgery to help with the pain. Today started out with some slight pain and now its throbbing again. I am just trying to stay positive, I know things could be soooo much worse.

Thanks again for the reply

The one thing I also forgot to mention was that my doctor told my wife after surgery that the nerve was against the herniated disk and that the nerve was "tight in one area" and "loose in another area". Can anyone tell me what that means? Would this explain the pain I still have?

Thanks

Hi,

If it makes you feel any better... I had surgery on 6/6/06 and I still have pain. It started to get better then I took a turn for the worse 2 weeks ago. Leg and ankle pain are main complaints. I just had an MRI done and it did not show much that the Dr. can explain. Some scar tissue and buldging disc's at two levels. I am hoping it is just nerve damage that needs to repair itself.

I am too taking 12 advil a day :eek: for over 4 months. I find taking a muscle relaxer before bed helps with the pain the next day. Ice ice ice...

Some people here recommended increasing my walking which is painful at first...but I really think it has helped with the pain overall.

You are still early out of post op so have patiance.... and take it easy even when you start feeling better. I think I over did it when I was feeling like I can do a little more than pre op! Hang in there...I feel your pain and anxiousness too!!!!

Thank you NY17 for your experience and information. That seems to be the common theme: " be patient". I did start icing my back yesterday and prior to my op it would send me through the roof with pain but now it does seem to help a little. It has been tough for me because I am not the type of person that can just hang around the house and do nothing. I have an appointment on the 31st with my surgeon. I might request some oral steroid, I've read that it was very helpful for some people here, I think it was called a "6 pack". I hope things are well with you and your issues.

Thanks again

Welcome to the boards thewards, I am also post op laminectomy and micro d. mine was on 6-14 and I am still having pain big time in my hip and leg. so I can feel your pain... I just had an MRI that said I had scar tissue... so if you are having problems I would suggest you call your MD and ask if an MRI is needed. I don't think you said how far post op you are, but for me I know my pain is just getting worse... wishing you the best Angelia

Thewards..

I hear you on the not being able to do much...It is driving me nuts! You mentioned The ESI. I just went to my surgeon 2 days ago and asked for the same thing. He said I needed to wait another 4 weeks because it was too soon after surgery and I am about 10 weeks. They load you up with steriods during surgery and after surgery you form something called a wet sac and I was told it is dangerous to do the epidoral. They did offer to give me steriods orally but I cannot handle the side effects of that...so I declined. That might be a good option for you though. Just thought I would give you the heads up on the ESI so you would not get your hopes up. By the way... They have worked wonders for me in the past so I will be there in 4 weeks with bells on!:)
Have a good weekend...
d

trauma girl,
Thanks for the reply, I had my microdiscectomy on August 9th. I am hopeful the symptoms will go away in time. It may still be early in the healing process.

oooppps sorry... I read it wrong...you did say oral not epidural. See what pain does to your head?:dizzy: One more thing... Ask your dr. about Neurontin... that has helped me and several people on this board with nerve pain!

Trauma Girl,
Please keep me posted on your progress, I had my microdiscectomy on August 9th also. Hope all is well.

Hi there, welcome to these boards! I had surgery on 7/31. I two had pain starting back up about two weeks post surgery. I was told that the first week or two people are so pleased at being relieved of the horrible sciatica pain. At about 2-3 weeks the pain starts to return because the nerves are starting to wake up. It sound like you've had your nerves compressed for awhile. It would make sense that your feeling some symptoms come back. I was pretty worried and called my doctor's office (as well as posted on these boards) but I was reassured that the return of some of the sciatica symptoms were normal at this point. I was also told to ice which did and does help. I was also told to walk which is supposed to help with scar tissue stuff. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Thanks tlc6,
I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, I will let you know what information they give me.

well I had my appointment yesterday and I received the green light to return back to work for three weeks of light duty and then back to full duty status. I did state my concerns about my pain returning to my leg and they said to stay up on the ibuprofen and also that the nerve may take several months to heal. I am also starting PT which I will only do stretching for the next three weeks. This all sounds great but I also woke up this morning and had quite a bit of leg pain. I went for about a 2 mile walk and the pain finally settled down. I guess I need to be patient and positive. I hope everyone finds comfort with their pain. I will keep everyone posted.

Hi Everyone, I had my microdiscectomy on 8/22 and just last night started feeling pain in my back with some radiating down my leg. I'm at the week and half point and have been walking several times each day. Last night I actually went out to eat with my wife and it was good to get out. I think sitting for the hour and half might not have been such a good idea now. I hope my recent discomfort is from the nerve "waking up".

My nerve was very compressed from the disc rupture, the Dr said it was strawberry red and the nerves are supposed to be a light tan color. He said it takes about a month for 1 inch of nerve to heal and I could expect some pain occasionally as it heals. The other symptom I'm experiencing is that my mid-section is sore (stomach and lower back muscles). I think it is from laying around for almost two weeks then finally using my abs and back to sit during dinner last night. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences and I hope you all get the relief you have been looking for.

Phil

I had a micro-d on Monday Aug 28 and felt great until Sat night about 9PM.
My wife was putting the baby to bed, and all I did was carefully reach out and push the button on the white noise machine on the dresser, and then BALMMO!
It felt like someone took their finger and flicked my S1 nerve! Crap! Pain right down the leg! I have read these posts before and realize that it is common for this type of setback, nevertheless I did not sleep too well last night.........
Just when I was able to cut my pain med in half!
Just sharing this because I need to.

Hi Folks, Sorry to hear of the pain you have to live with. I am post op laminectomy and micro d. The 1st surgery was Dec 16th of 03 and a redo on Jan 9th of 04. I have been off the meds for over a year now <by choice> I am still in alot of pain. The hip, piriformis <buttock>, calf and ankle pain. The Dr finaly put me on Lyrica and I was doing fantastic Until the wife and I were rearended in an auto accident. Before the accident I was walking 3 hours with only having 2 short breaks now I am lucky if I walk to the corner store and back without having to take a break. I will not go back on the pain meds because I've been on them for years before the surgery <since 1995> and I feel mentally better being off of them. I have had 2 spinal steroid injections since the surgery. The dr that did the surgey has moved and I have a new dr that wants to give me another injection in his office but has no xray machne to see where he is placing the shot so that's a no go for me. I have had enough injections <21 or so> before my surgery to know better. I have had an mri before the accident and will ask for another on my next appointment. My 1st Dr said my spine was stable at that time .. for now I just keep taking the Lyrica <that I think doesn't help much anymore> and live with the pain for now. I hope to be pain free at some point in my life, but after being in pain for so long it is wearing me down. I was a carpenter and use to working hard. I have noticed my muscle mass slowly getting eaten away not only in my legs but my arms and chest as well.. Sorry for the long post .. but I want my old life back!

Joe

I had surgery on Friday 8th of Sept, I am suffering a little today because I think I walked a little too far yesterday (5 days post - op). That is the biggest problem post op, you feel soooo good, you really want to do evrything again!! Everyone says don't do too much but really the difference is amazing its difficult not to.

So I would love someone to reply to me and say that doing a little too much is common , and yes there will be a flare up and NO I shouldn't panic that I've just undone all the good the surgeon has done. PLEASE

I'm not very literate with these kind of message boards, so I've just returned to edit my post, having read everything you've all said. It makes so much difference knowing you're not the only one in this place - I've had to go on anti-depressants because of the time I've spent laid up in pain, going from being a really active guy to being effectively crippled is TOUGH.
I don't care if its Allah, God, Buddha or Bruce Lee , but I hope you are all being looked after from on high!!

Hi , I had surgery on 7-27-06 for l5-s1 discectomy. The first 4 weeks were great. Besides the soreness from surgery. But now I have been experiencing lots of back pain, burn mostly when I lie down which makes sleep difficult to impossible. I have experienced similar pain before surgery along with leg pain.Now I dont have leg pain just back pain, worst while trying to sleep. Im on lots of meds but am extremely frustrated and depressed. Any opinions or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Brit Fear - hang in there and try not to do too much too soon. I'm almost 4 weeks from my discectomy (L5S1) and I still have a few aches and pains that come and go. Especially if I try to do too much walking or sitting. Right now my left achilles feels like it is asleep, this started yesterday and got a little worse last night.

I still have a cramping sensation in my upper left hamstring. I called the Doc about these and he said it is normal to have these sensations over the first 6 weeks or so. The nerve that was impinged during the rupture is "waking up", he said it takes about a month for 1 inch of nerve to heal.

Take it easy and don't try to do too much even though you feel much better. I have to remind myself that everyday, better to take it easy for a month or two and let it heal than to rush back and make the next several years miserable again.

Good luck.

Hello everyone,
just an update since my microdiscectomy. I had my discectomy in August of this year and like everyone else most of my symptoms came back around the sixth day post surgery, I was unaware that this was part of the healing process which caused some stress to say the least. I am back to work full time as a firefighter and everything has been going well until I recently over did myself because I was feeling great. I went off shore scuba diving and the next day I had some fire training which lasted all day. I woke up the next day and I couldn't move due to tightness and mostly pain in my back. Fortunately a few days later it seams to have settled down. So... note to self and everyone else. If you feel great post surgery take it easy, your body is not the same as it was prior to surgery and more than likely never will be.

Take care!

The fact that you are back at firefighting again is phenominal and scuba diving.. whoa! That's great! That is about has normal as it gets gal! Congrats. Even with flare ups.. still, that is great! Good point to self though.. always be aware of your spine moving forward. You take care. Tammy:wave: