I had a microdiscectomy on April 5th and have been feeling better and better (with the exception of nerve pain in my legs returning three days following surgery for about 36 hours which my dr. said was normal).
But three days ago the sciatic leg pain came back and has been quite bad since, not as intolerable as before surgery but close.
Does anyone have any ideas why this might be happening? I have been walking a mile or a little over every day since surgery per my dr's orders. I also have done some stretching on my own. I was feeling great and now feel pretty awful again, very concerned please advise if you can...
sounds all within normal limits this far out with the exception of sciatica. IF it's true sciatica and it continues - you may need to see if doc will order a new MRI. Only speaking from MY experience but my sciatica post op worsened, I had reherniated.
I had a fusion procedure in May, 04, prior to the procedure I was having a lot of leg pain and even foot drop from nerve compression. After the procedure I was amazed because it seemed like I noticed improvement in the leg pain and foot issues almost immediately. Most of the post-surgical pain seemed to be from the sight of the incision. About two months post surgery (I had been doing a lot of walking like you), I noticed a lot of sciatic type pain occurring. I was very concerned about, but my Doctor seemed to think it was normal and my MRI was ok. He put me on neurontin and it really has helped. My only concern is I've been on it about 9 months and don't really want to have be on a medication indefinitely, but it has help with the leg pain. I hope you get some answers very soon. Keep us posted on what you find out!!
I had a lamencetamy (l4-5) feb 18th. After about 10 days the nerve started to act up again. Nothing like the pre op pains. I still have them still. They say because the nerve was pressed so long(8 months) that it still is damaged. I need an advil every 12 hrs. That gives me complete reliefe most of the time. I am wondering if I will need them forever or if this pain will eventually go away. I am worried about long term effects. In any case It would be good to compare notes with you as we hopefully make our way to a full recovery.
Jimmy
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Last edited by moderator2; 04-25-2005 at 03:06 PM.
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They don't always necessarily remove all of the disc.
If one does reherniate afterwards, some of the disc was left in hopes that it was intact enough ... to hopefully stabilize the spine.
Last edited by Bionicwan; 04-26-2005 at 12:17 AM.
Reason: typo
Is the pain similar to that you had before surgery or different? In some instances patients can develop irritated nerve roots following surgery. This can be treated with an anticonvulsant such as Neurontin, oral steroids or an epidural injection. If it persists despite these treatments then a much deeper work-up is probably needed.
The pain is the same as before surgery--burning leg pain--though somewhat less severe than it was then, and today it mostly went away after being up and around for about an hour and a half (and taking Vicodin).
Thanks again for your thoughts. This is a great board.
Could be a reherniation or just nerve irritation. I developed scar tissue about 10-12 weeks post op. Felt great them WHAM same back and leg painand worse. Does seem a little early for scar tissue. An MRI with contrast is a good way to tell if scar tissue (epidural fibrosis) could be the problem.
Trystero, I had a micro-d in August of 05 and like you felt great afterwards. A few weeks later, I started getting echos of the old pain. I still get them now but it is usually a reminder that I am overdoing it. My guess is that you may be pushing your recovery too hard. You are what, three weeks post op? Take it easy on yourself. Let your body heal. If you do overdo it, try an ice pack for about 20 minutes. This works wonders for me. Best of luck, I hope it is nothing major.
Well, my surgeon examined me and based on what he saw he felt sure I had not reherniated. He believes this is nerve irritation because I overdid the walking in my recovery (I definitely did do more than he advised because I was feeling up to it.)
That said I am back to being in the same kind of terrible leg pain I was before I had the surgery. The doc said it might last up to another two or three weeks--it is just so hard for me to understand how I could have been feeling so well only a few days after surgery and now feel like the surgery never even happened. He prescribed oxycontin 10 (twice a day) and perc 5 for breakthrough pain and these drugs are barely making a dent at all.
This surgeon is very reknowned (widely published, on lists of best drs in the country etc.) but I am scared and wonder if I should just get another MRI.
Re: Nerve Pain Post-Microdiscectomy 
