Middle Back Pain After ACDF Surgery

First, I apologize if I was supposed to post this somewhere that already exist.... I could not figure out how to add my exact issue to an existing post -

OK, in a nutshell, I am trying to figure out if my middle back pain is something to be expected or something to be concerned about.....

On Mar 3, I had a 3-Level ACDF - 4-7 being replaced with ? and then all being fused with plate and screws..... So, tomorrow I will be 5 weeks post-op. First 3 weeks I was in collar - saw Doc 3 weeks, 2 days post-op... was told everything looked good / X-Rays showed plate to still be in correct place so no worries there / incision healing/healed... etc - Told to come back in 5 weeks for another checkup - told to walk/stationary bike/ but no other real exercising yet - ok -

Problem is I have fairly severe pain in the middle of my back now - My shoulders/neck (reason for surgery) are fine - I mean, still stiff and I am still not pivoting my head completely or as quickly as I would like, but realistically I wouldn't expect to be able to just yet -

But, my middle back is really concerning me..... I am fortunate enough to be able to work from my house when I want to - So, clearly the first three weeks, since I couldn't drive I would work from my home office - The first week, I didn't really work much... the 2nd/3rd week, I could focus for about 20 - 30 minutes at a time and would have to lie down for 15 - 20 minutes from fatigue -the forth week, after post-op visit and getting out of collar, I drove to office 4 days that week and worked about 5 hours at my office - Didn't really feel like I was pressuring anything but here is the issue - My middle back feels ok if I am sitting - It feels ok if I am standing - It feels ok if I am lying down -

But when I move from sitting at my desk to standing, the pain is severe while trying to stand and straighten out - and I cannot really bend at the waist to bend down and pick something up - not heavy, but like if I drop a piece of paper in my office it is a 3 minute ordeal to get it - So, my real question is 5 weeks post-op am I just pushing too much or should I expect back pain, or what the heck is the deal -

I also had umbilical hernia surgery with mesh insertion about 1 month before I had the ACDF, but I felt fine from that at the time I went in for the ACDF - anyway, sorry for being so long-winded but I just wanted to get everything out there -

If anyone thinks this is strange, or better yet, if anyone thinks this is normal and the pain will go away in due course, I would appreciate your input - Oh yeah, I am 54 year old male if that makes any difference - again, pain is pretty much isolated to when I am changing positions and is very severe right in the middle of my back.....

And I can tell it is not tethered to anything like my shoulder pain was tethered to my neck before the surgery - even though my shoulder / upper back hurt, I could tell it was connected to a specific spot in my neck.... This pain is just out there all by itself ................. OK, thanks in advance for any input ...

I have made some paragraphs in your post to make it easier to read. Some of our members have tracking problems when reading.Thanks.

Post Edited By Moderator (straydog) : 4/6/2015 7:41:59 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Abilene -
First, thanks for the reply and for the info.....

So, basically I am doing this to myself..... and the 5 week mark is nothing is what you are saying..... OK, then I probably should slow it down a little.....and see what happens.... All I could think before is "man, what now".... but, if it needs to be 8 weeks instead of 5 so be it.....

To answer your question: My work involves a lot of travel and working from a desk when in town... my doctor said I was not to travel for business until after the 2 month post-op time frame... but I kind of just returned to working from my desk on my own..... No matter, I appreciate the advice and will definitely cut back some ....

Hello ATLNick & welcome to the chronic pain forum. Actually you did post in the correct spot, as we ask new members to make a separate intro post so that everyone will see it. Had you posted on someone elses thread not many people would have seen your post.

I see Abilene has greeted you & explained that you are being your own worst enemy at the moment, lol. We see this all the time with people recovering from surgery doing far too much too soon. This very sort of thing is what can cause you far more grief than you can possibly imagine. I would really hate to see you fall victim to something that could have been avoided.

I am not sure if realize the trauma your body has gone through with the hernia repair but good grief spine surgery on top of that. Yes, your incision is all healed but things on the inside are not. It takes a fusion months to heal & become solid not weeks. Add to the mix your body is trying to accept all of that hardware that was not there before. In all honesty you are looking at at least a year to be completely healed from this surgery provided no issues crop up.

Slow it down, you will thank yourself later for allowing yourself to heal properly. Sitting at a desk is about one of the worst things you can do with that neck right now.

I urge you to use our search feature here at the forum & type in 3 level cervical fusion & look for some of those threads where our members have documented their recovery from start to finish. I think you will find those threads useful. We do ask that you not post on those threads & if you have any questions just post them here.

As Abilene said, slow down & think fusion.

Take care.

Nick, what we run into with drs, they tell us patients before surgery oh you will be healed up in 6 weeks. Unfortunately, that is text book talk, something all those medical books he read have in them. Those books are putting every patient in a cookie cutter category & they have nothing to do with every day life of a patient recovering from surgery, nothing more than a guideline for a dr but certainly nothing to do with the average patient.

Reality is if these drs were completely honest with folks about how long it takes to heal most people probably would not be having surgery unless it was an emergency situation. Sad but true. These times frames talked about at this forum are a tough reality, however, you want the very best outcome for your surgery. Redo's of one of these spine surgeries are not worth risking because of improper healing, do yourself a favor & consider what you read here.

Take care.