physical therapy after laminectomy - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

sunshine221 · 10-23-2005, 03:11 PM

I'm 7 weeks post op. Mentally feeling real good, working full time (no choice I own a small consulting firm with 7 employees), driving, light housework. At 6 week post op I started feeling a lot better with upper body strength, although I can still feel pressure in the stich area if I lift more than a gallon of milk. My walking, the original problem that sent me to a neurologist, is ok, better than pre-op but far from great (foot drops), numbness and tremors in my right arm are better than pre-op but definitly still there.

The doctor says I'm doing great -- he says nerves take a long time to regenerate -- its a little frustrating when I read of so many of you that had almost instant abatement of your symptoms. He says give it a year (and he has said this all along, even pre-op).

At about 4 weeks post op I did some exercises that I think I probably shouldn't have -- got horrible shooting pains in my upper right arm. Thankfully that has pretty much gone away.

I started with PT for the gait problem. While the PT office said they had worked with cervical laminectomy patients - they were clueless!! I'm trying a new PT tomorrow at a different practice - they claim to be knowledgeable too. The PT is certified in the MacKenzie method - but from what I'm reading that seems to be more for lower back. Does anyone have ideas on how to find a PT (outside of a major city) who knows neurological function cause and effect?

-Gloria

feelbad · 10-25-2005, 05:37 AM

I am trying to figure out just exactly what kind of pt they recommended for you.Is this for the upper only or are they doing it for your leg issues as well?Just where was the lamenectomy done in relation to your spine?(do you have other spinal issues as well?)what were your symptoms like pre op?I know,I am nosey,just trying to get a handle here on exactly what you are dealing with.How exactly was it that your legs were affected by your C spine problem,was there compression of the cord that also affected an actual tract within the spinal cord?I know i have big leg problems due to direct spinal cord damage at the C 7-8 and T 1.this also damaged my spinocerebellar and the spinothalamic tracts.my sympathetic nervous system took a big hit too.the C 8 does run to some extent down to the little toe area.Also if you experienced any sort of damage to your corticospinal tract,this would also show up in some cases in the form of some spasticity in your legs to some level.are your leg reflexes hyper?

I know for my c spine surgeries for my herniated disc(C 6,7)i did not require any sort of PT,but for my last surgery from hell,because of the extensive damage to my L leg and my fine motor in my L hand,after a little over two weeks at the university hosp where I had had my actual surgery done,I was immediately(instead of being able to go home)transferred to a wonderful rehab hosp for acute pt and ot.spent a little over two weeks there too.They worked absolute miracles there.In just that short time,but with very very intensive therepy three times a day,i got back at least some function of my L hand and really wonderful results with my L leg.post op,my L leg could not hold any weight at all and every time i would attempt to actully place weight on just my ankle,it would just completely "fold over".what sort of excercises have they had you doing so far and do you feel they are actually doing "anything"?sorry to ramble,i get like that sometimes,Marcia

sunshine221 · 10-25-2005, 07:37 PM

I had "severe" spinal stenosis C5-C7 with some stenosis and a bone spur C4. My main symptom that got me to the neurologist was a gait problem that was getting worse with some right leg and arm numbness. A also started getting some tremors, primarily on the right side. The neurologist said I had neurological Weakness on that side (reflexes, etc.) No pain!!!! But they said that made the condition all the more dangerous.

The laminectomy was C4-C7. The surgen isn't necessarily big on PT. I want it to make sure I'm doing all I can to recover properly. The first PT I saw was looking at the gait - but she had no knowledge of the neurological effects. This new person I saw yesterday totally understood my surgery (and agrees with my doctor that we can be looking at 6-12 months for "total" (if possible) recovery) but I think he can help me do what I need to do to optimize the recovery (posture, etc.). So I'll see what happens. I work full time and this PT is a 20 minute drive each way where the other was a 2 minute walk -- so it has to be worthwhile to keep with it.

-Gloria

feelbad · 10-26-2005, 06:22 AM

Did anyone,like your NS ever explain to you just why you had/have such extensive leg problems due to an issue stemming from your c spine.I know that in my particular case,my issues are from the dirct spinal cord and tract damage,but it really seems rather odd that with having just the stenosis,it would give you such dramatic leg problems,do you know what I mean?Have you ever had a complete( from top to bottom) MRI scan done to check for other problems?Or could there possibly something else going on in the c spine area.i am only asking as like i said,this is kind of an extreme,and from what i have done as far as research,really rare in nature with such dramatic affectation of your legs,espescially when your c spine problems do not include any affectation of the c 8 nerve.do you actually have your own copies of any and all rad studies that were done on your spine?I don't know,but something just doesn't "click" here for me.i mean I am far from any sort of NS but i have done some rather extensive research on the C spine and spinal tracts just to be able to really understand what I am dealing with with my spinal cord damage and I really don't see that 'connection' of it all as compared to all of your symptoms,you know?it's like something is missing here.maybe it's just me,lol,who knows.just sounds kinda odd thats all.sorry if i am just confusing you even more,it was not my intent.Marcia

sunshine221 · 10-26-2005, 08:57 AM

Yes, I had brain, cervical, lumbar and thoratic MRIs done. All three of the neurosurgen consults, the neurologist and even a chiropractor said that the gait problem is consistant with cord constriction in C6-C7 - they all went on to say that there is no absolute promise that the surgery would fix it.