7 weeks post microdiscectomy l4 /5 herniation 6mm, ongoing , burning sensation still shins

the future is bright..

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/new-surgical-breakthrough-repairing-damaged-spinal-discs

Well i have managed to work out that losing my lumbar arch when moving is a key irritant of my nerve pain flare ups. I walked up a slight hill yesterday and was using a heel strike first which flattened out my lumbar and according to my physio puts the sciatic nerves at full stretch...ouch im paying for it today with a light increase in nerve activity in my legs... letting it settle down now . So ive learned from my physio that uphill, go flat footed slightly on your toes, down hill stay straight and use your heels to relieve nerve tensions, and it does work! This makes sense as if im stretching a damaged nerve trying to heel, want to avoid that!

JS, what you have going on is normal. You still have a lot of healing left to do. You are very lucky to be doing as well as you are right now, this does not happen for a lot of people. To be honest, you seem to have it in your mind that once you had surgery everything would be perfect within a few months, it just doesn't happen. It is rare to see someone ever go back to their pre-op days. Perhaps, in time you can lower the bar on your expectations & be very glad that you are progressing so well.

Your GP may be correct, you do appear to be somewhat anxious because of your expectations after surgery. As you said above, think my anxiety is on overdrive again worrying about my future, GP says anxiety, I know its not, although its worse when I'm anxious, feeling a little stressed. Don't get me wrong, having a positive outlook after surgery is a must, but we have to be realistic at the same time.

I have seen thousands of every type of spine surgery over the years. Recovery is a long. Even with all of the new techniques being used today with surgery, drs have not learned how to speed up the recovery time. They never will, our bodies are a unique piece of machinery. For what its worth, I think you are doing great at this point.

JS, I have been a little hesitant in replying but here I am, lol. You have raised a valid point about the positioning of your body during surgery. This is really a possibility. There are old threads here about people having various surgeries & later developing symptoms in other areas not related to their surgery. And yes, it was how they were positioned during surgery. The spine is an intricate body part, these new symptoms could very well be related to surgery itself & hopefully will go away in time as you heal. I look at it this way, knowing you are in the healing process & your particular surgery, you could very well have nerves that are just now waking up & coming alive in areas not related to your back.

The fact that you are physically fit & healthy aside from the surgery is a huge plus for your recovery. But, at the same time never having any serious health issues such a surgery like this, in a way this is working against you. Unfortunately, with your high expectations & the dr giving his usual speech about the recovery time frame you feel doomed at the moment. Your dr gives the same speech to every patient he does surgery on because when he learned how to do micro-surgery this is what he was read & was taught during the learning process. Those books do not apply to real people!! If he is doing an open surgery such as a 2 level fusion on a patient, I assure you he will give every patient the same spill about recovery time from a fusion. IF, these surgeons were truly honest about the recovery from these surgeries, believe me, they would be doing fewer surgeries. Most people are not financially able to be off work for months at a time, many had no idea how long & hard the recovery can be too. Personally, I wish each surgeon would undergo one of the surgeries they perform. They need a reality check & then let them see what surgery is really all about.

Again, even with the problems you are dealing with now, you really are doing remarkably well at this point. Instead of concentrating on what you cannot do right now, remind yourself constantly of what you are able to do. Best piece of advise I can give you is this;

(1) lower the expectation bar on yourself. Beating yourself up over this is not productive, this was not
self inflicted.


(2) the no pain, no gain thing, lose that theory. That was proven to be wrong decades ago. Listen to
your body, you know your body better than anyone. The idea of pushing yourself too hard will not
speed up the healing process.

(3) Time & patience will go a very long way with your recovery.

In the meantime, when you feel like venting bring it on, we are pretty good listeners.

JS, do you have a copy of your MRI done prior to surgery? If so, compare the two reports. If you don't have both obtain a copy. The term "slightly narrowed & touching the nerve", would not send me back into the operating room any time soon. Now, again I am saying if this were me. I would be much more comfortable letting things settle down & continue to heal. Having multiple surgeries close together increases the odds of not having the perfect outcome. Sure they can fuse those two levels but there is no guarantee this is going to alleviate the pain. I am not surprised that when you woke up you still have nerve pain, thats normal.

Sitting puts a lot of stress & strain on the back & most drs will tell a patient to avoid bending for awhile. I don't know when you see the surgeon again, but perhaps after seeing the recent MRI he will talk about a medication to help with the nerve pain. There are several medications that can be tried that are non-narcotic, narcotics have little effect on nerve pain.

Keep doing what you have been doing with your PT & everything. Try not to let this new MRI derail your thought process. That will serve no purpose except kick up the anxiety a notch or two. Getting stressed out puts a body in a tensed up state & that will not help anything.

Js100:
Hold on. And take a breath.

Your MRI report is not dire. Do not let your internal thoughts and dialogue derail you.

Inflammation and swelling is a normal component of the healing process, for surgery involving the spine and most other body areas. “Swelling” is the body’s normal and expected means of bringing to the surgical area restorative white blood cells, macrophages, collagen, fibrin, and more that constitute the framework of the healing process. That you have an MRI with inflammatory markers and fluid accumulation is to be expected.

I would be extremely reserved and cautious in looking at an additional surgery (at this time) as providing benefit and reducing or eradicating your residual postural related nerve pain. Additional surgery = added trauma = additional inflammation, fluid influx, and swelling. You could very easily find yourself in a worsened state post- operative.

The resolution of the body’s normal healing flotilla can be 4-6 months for a simple, fairly superficial surgery. His timeline can be extrapolated to 6-8 months for a moderate surgery (laparoscopic appendectomy) and 10-12 months for a major/complex surgery (open abdominal surgery). I would casually place your procedure in the mold-moderate classification. You have lots more healing to do before you know where your bod/ healing process will leave you, your equilibrium point. The body has an amazing ability to heal itself. Have faith in your body’s instrinsic abilities to deliver you to a better place than you are today.

Trauma to a nerve (compression of a nerve root, as an example) heals on a trajectory uniquely different than other body tissues (bone, connective tissue, as an example). Nerves have memory. Nerve pain post operative is often nerve memory pain. The nerve is hyper-excitable and the sound volume of pain set at a higher octive. Nerve pain takes time and patience to recalibrate. A physical therapy program that is individualized to you can be immensely helpful - incorporating strengthening and flexibility and purposeful sensory input to modify errant pain signals.

Bottom Line: The utmost of caution should be exercise in looking at additional surgery(ies) for post-operative lingering pain. Added surgical trauma, alone, can cause grave harm.
Karen

Thank you so much Karen, i hope you are going ok 2. I will definitely try and slow down , relax if i can and take your advice and straydogs to action and give myself a 12 month window at least to see where im at with massage and physio therapy ongoing.

I dont think it helps that we see in the media ( im a sports minded person) that eg Tiger Woods has had his fifth surgery (fusion) and now is 100% pain free in 9 months and training for the pro tour again. Three micro d's and he kept getting injured so now a fusion. I think this gives some people the impression surgery is the "fix it all better" situation all the time and you can be better then ever.


You both give very good sound advice and i am eternally grateful, thank you both. I hope others reading this post will get a real world perspective, not a forced positive one of the challenges and reality of spinal surgery. Thanks sincerely to the people on this site for volunteering there time during there own healing processes to help others, so greatly appreciated.

Post Edited (js100) : 1/14/2018 1:22:58 AM (GMT-7)

Tiger Wood’s would not be a sports figure that I would read about and trust what is being stated or reported.

Tiger Woods has been arrested on DUI charges related to abuse of prescription opiates (in combination with other medications). He is a broken soul who is trying to reclaim a lost status in golfing’s professional circuit.

That you read in a sporting publication that Woods’ numerous lumbar surgeries have been 100% successful and that he is 100% pain free, I would be cautious in accepting this as accurate. Tiger Woods is in desperate need of a public relations re-do and getting the word out by his publicists that he is 100% is part and parcel for the times we live in.

Golfing places tremendous stress on the lumbar spine from a bio-physics standpoint. The torque forces are substantial. For professional golfer, the day-after-day repetitive traumas takes a toll over years of sustained high intensity play. Their passion for the game and potential for substantial tournament pay makes the lumbar injuries worth it, at some level.

Bottom Line: Do not read about Tiger Woods and his lumbar injuries and purported recoveries with complete faith that what you are reading is accurate. Tiger Woods is human, just like the rest of us. I am sure that his surgeries and recoveries have encountered bumps in the road. And I would suspect that he has some level of post-operative pain and limitation simply because the body is never its original self after any surgery - let alone multiple spinal interventions. Tiger Woods is seeking to make a re-entry into the realm of golfing’s elite, and he needs you (from a public relations perspective) to believe that he is 100%.

I think you are doing better in your recovery than you are giving yourself credit for. Practice patience. Above all, Be kind to yourself.

The process of gradual aging, alone, will find you greeting new aches and pains. Adapting and adjusting to what is at hand is a skill that will serve you well over time. Look at your recovery week to week, rather than to what you did or did not do yesterday. I honestly sense that you will be A-OK a few months from now. An occasional twinge or pain that reminds you of where you have been, but that you will be fully functional and comfortable.
Karen

thanks guys, i hope so, having found so many disc issues on mri is scary. Dont know i got thss far on my posts but i have minor bulges at c/5 c/6 T8/9 T/9/10 with no canal or thecal sac, or impingment noted tho..god feels like im falling apart. My physio mentioned this is normal findings on 40yrl sports or physical person.....gawd 5 bulges far out, doesnt seem normal

Apparently the c/5-6 small bulge is what's causing my arms tingling but the mri says minor bulge with no nueral impingement.....

JS, I am with the physio, the neck bulges have been there for some time. As far as C5-6 goes, there are conservative options to treat this without surgery. Take a deep breath, it tough, I know.

JS, sure you can ask you to be referred to a neurologist for an EMG, but I promise you it will be normal. Neurologist are worthless to treat spine issues believe me on that one. If you had migraines thats when to see one. If you think you have annoyed your drs now, I don't think it will set too well with them you asking for tests that are really not necessary. EMG studies for spine issues have about a 75% accuracy rating. I read so many normal EMG reports on clients that either had cervical or lumbar radiculopathy symptoms. Those were people with classic symptoms & MRI scans that hugely showed issues, but yet the EMG was normal.

You may want to ask your physio if he/she can recommend a good massage therapist, perhaps get some massages on your neck. It may be too soon to have one on your lower back, this is something the dr would need to ok.

Next, if you are on the internet looking up symptoms, stop. You are wearing yourself out & I don't even know you except on a screen & can tell your anxiety & stress levels are off the chart. You are shooting your own self in the foot going down this path. Dr. Google is never right. Your stressing & anxiety causes the body to tense up, that is a natural response. That is not helping you at all.

Do not take this the wrong way, but consider some talk therapy to help you maneuver through this stuff. That was the best thing that ever happened to me was seeing a psychologist. I didn't know what anxiety was until 2004. With the help of the psychologist its in my rear view mirror.

Once again, you are doing very well since surgery. Take care.

JS, if any of us can help talk you off of the ledge just know we are here & willing to listen.