I had a discetomy/lamindecinomy of my lumbar spine (L4-L5). I still have pain in my back and pain in my right leg. Doctor said that the nerve in the right has damage and it may or may not even recover. I go to PT 3-4times a week. I have a bad gait with my right leg.
Does any one else have these type problems being so far out from surgery? Should I being asking for more treatment?
hi im 15mths post op and still in horrific pain i have been to several new drs and what they have to say varies next week im off to sydney and the outcome is either the beginning or the end. Depending what the outcome of the tests are, if my nerves are pinched thay can be fixed if not they are damaged and nothing can be done they will continue to deteriorate and worst case senario is ending up in a wheelchair. in hindsight i would not have had my fusion and disc replacment done as it has caused more pain than i was in before. any how i dont want to frighten you but thats how it is with me i hope in your case it is different.
cheers rachelmc
Hello BMWPower:
On Aug 16 I will have One year and one month post surgery. I still have pain but it seems getting better. I had the same surgery than you: hemilaminectomy/discectomy on L5-S1. Now I can go without a pain killer for about 4 to five days. I mean considering I was taking a painkiller everyday every so and so hours. I am still tired of it, but life is so much better. My legs still hurt and sometimes my hips hurt when I am getting closer to closer to finally take a painkiller. I don't have nerve damage, but doctors say these things take longer to heal. I don't consider another surgery. The more you do to the same disc the worse it will get. If I were you, I would just continue to wait. Are you swimming or doing some time of exercise? I don't do PT because I noticed it was doing more harm than anything. But I do swim every other day. Every time I swim things get better. Of course there will be days that nothing would do any good.
I am glad I went through surgery.. Even I am not as well as I used to be before everything started, I see there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am now able to do more things and my days are brighter. Things will get better...
In the scale of 1-10, what is your pain level? Are there days in between that you feel free of pain?
rachelmc, I am sorry to hear you are still in so much pain. Are you doing some type of therapy to easy pain? I am not referring to PT.. (don't like that), but I mean, Yoga, swimming, relaxation? I still have pain as well, but mine is not as bad as before surgery.. Mine improves very slowly, few months I thought there was not improvement was so ever. It basically started to get better about 2 to 3 months ago. I won't do another surgery, I think I will just deal with this. As long as I can do my daily life things and do some type of work out everyday I am fine. Have you gone to the doctor for another MRI to see if there is still herniation or another bad disc? How do you know that you have nerve damage?
hi im 15mths post op and still in horrific pain i have been to several new drs and what they have to say varies next week im off to sydney and the outcome is either the beginning or the end. Depending what the outcome of the tests are, if my nerves are pinched thay can be fixed if not they are damaged and nothing can be done they will continue to deteriorate and worst case senario is ending up in a wheelchair. in hindsight i would not have had my fusion and disc replacment done as it has caused more pain than i was in before. any how i dont want to frighten you but thats how it is with me i hope in your case it is different.
