HI EVERYONE. I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FROM A HERNIATED DISC AT THE T12-L1 LEVEL FOR 10 MISERABLE MONTHS. FUSION SCHEDULED OCTOBER 4TH. EVEN THOUGH THE PAIN HAS BEEN HORRIBLE, THE WORST SYMPTOM I HAVE DELT WITH IS THE BURNING & NUMBNESS IN THE GROIN AND THE INABILITY TO FULLY EMPTY MY BLADDER. HAS ANYONE ELSE EVER ENCOUNTERED BLADDER TROUBLE? IF YES, DID SURGERY HELP? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT. I WISH EVERYONE WELL WHO HAS/HAD BACK CONDITIONS. IT TRULY IS A DIFFICULT THING TO GO THROUGH.

well, kind of, my L4,L5,S1 caused me to not feel when I had to go to the bathroom until it was absolutly GO TIME! The BM was as if I had no strength to push it out. After fusion, I have better controll and feeling, and strength back, but a full bladder now plays tricks on a motor nerve down there and it is hard to walk when I wake, and until I releive my self in the morning. Then I am good to go. The Doctor said that until things get back to normal, that it would do that, as my nerves were getting mixed signals from the brain. Because the brain was talking to the nerves next door, when the regular nerves were cut off so long, and the mail was getting dropped off at the wrong address for so long that things had to be re-routed again, so to speak. Sorry, thats the only way I could relay it. Fusion mending is slow, and long, but worth it to me as I feel better overall now.

Yes I have had exactly what you are talking about. My surgery was at L5-S1 but symptoms mirror yours. I had stabbing pain in the groin and surrounding area. I also was numb on one side of the "groin." The numbness covered an area as if I were split down the middle and it was numb on one side only. THis was the side of the herniation. I was told that if bladder or bowels are effected, it IS AN EMERGENCY and that you should get in to the emergency room right away. I was told this by several different doctors, nurses and different personnel. I was told that once that starts it can be permanent. Well, my surgery was scheduled and about four days prior I had to go pee and couldn't. The only way I can explain it is this; I had to push to pee and then could not empty my bladder. I could only go a tiny bit at a time. It got worse and worse before the surgery. It continued for a few days after the surgery and then was gone.

I hope your surgery goes well and these problems go away as well.

Lavinia

HI! I have a protrusion at t12 l1! I am not alone!! :wave: Gosh, I keep telling ppl what I'm going through and I get blank stares!
I don't burn, I have numbness on my right side....I am the piddle queen.I have to go constantly. As a matter of fact, B&B troubles were the reason I went to the doctor in the first place. They thought I had Crohn's, diverticulitis, colitus..I had a colonoscopy and nothing was detected.
I hope that your surgery goes smoothly and that B & B issues are resolved!

Thanks for sharing all your experiences with me. It gives me hope to hear that others had the problem as well and that it can and does get better, although it can take time for those nerves and muscles to get back into shape. For me, I can take the pain better than this struggle to empty the bladder, I always do but it is slow and difficult sometimes. Lavina, I also read about bladder involvement being an emergency. Scared me a little too. I'm glad it disappeared for you in a few days. Ginabean, your right, your not alone, and this was the exact symptom the brought me to the emergency room too!!! I had no idea I had a herniated disk or how it happened. (No accident, fall, trauma, or heavy lifting in my job). Dr says that area of T12/L1 is very common to have some bladder issues too. Wish I new a way to strenghten discs in back avoid possibility of this hapening again. Had another herniation 7 years ago at L5-S1, but microdiscectomy fixed it and I've never had any problem with that disc since. MRI shows it still looks good there which is a huge blessing. Hoping you all continue to do well in your healing, and ginabean, I hope you get better soon. Thanks for the good wishes.