had "microdisk" surgery, worse pain now

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claraa

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hi, i'm new here... i hurt my back in may, was seeing chiro for 6months. he then sent me for mri. had herniated L5 which was on my nerve, he said if i didn't have surgery it would kill all my leg muscles etc,etc. i had a microdiscetomy on dec. 1st. the pain was unbearable after the meRAB wore off, has been worse now then before surgery. went to dr. for the 2 week checkup and he said "i'm disappointed" you should be feeling better by now. i had app't friday. after having new mri. the mri showed no new herniation. but dr. said i had some scar tissue. then he said " i can't fix everyone " and said i need to go for ph therapy. i start pt as soon as paper work done. i go back to see him in feb. i have been reading about scar tissue, and now i'm thinking this is my new life, pain filled! has anyone had same problems with pain after surgery? i'm thinking my nerve was damaged, and this is never gonna get better.
 
Hi, and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you are in so much pain after your surgery. I would suggest getting a second opinion. If your surgeon is a neurosurgeon, then you might want to look for an orthopedic spine specialist and vice=versa. A second opinion is very important at this point. It seems to me to be very soon to have that much scar tissue.

After your surgery, did the dr. recommend that you walk a lot? Walking is the best way to keep scar tissue formation down and to keep what is there pliable. If you haven't been walking I urge you to start doing so, beginning with short walks slowly and then gradually increasing. That may help after a few days or a week. Still, I think a second opinion should be gotten.

I would assume that you were careful not to lift, bend, etc. following the surgery and that you haven't been overly active. If so, try to get more rest while you are trying to find another doctor.

And please, do let us know how you are doing....best of luck.

Carol
 
Welcome to the board. Carol gave you some good advice. I would agree that it is way too early for the doctor to tell you what he did, and to, in effect, be giving up on being able to help you.

Could you give us a couple more details? What type of doctor performed your surgery? What type of surgery did you have? Was it an open surgery or was it done with a laser?

I would recommend you get a second opinion, the sooner the better. If it is indeed scar tissue that is your problem, you might want to look for a physical therapist that can work with you, to stretch out the nerves surrounding the disc and surgical site, and whatever other help that might be available.

You are still very early in recovery...far too early to just accept this news without further investigation.

Oops, just reread your post and see you are starting PT soon. Good. Sometimes PTs have more useful information than do surgeons. Be sure to look for a PT that is very experienced with spine issues and, hopefully, mostly treats spinal patients. Then tell him or her everything relevant about your case. It is important to address the scar tissue issue aggressively at this point.

If it is determined to be nothing else wrong other than scar tissue, you might want to consider acupuncture in addition to PT. When done early enough in the game, acupuncture can help to prevent the attachment of scar tissue.
 
Hello and welcome..I am sorry to hear about the pain you are in and I can honestly say I know what you are going through. I had a fall at work work which herniated the L4-5, with everything that blew out was piching on the nerve to the left leg. All the while while I waited for the surgery the pain was so bad in the leg I wanted someone to blow or cut my leg off, I spent entire saturday in the ER because it felt like I had a knee sock on that was on fire...told it was the nerve all they could do is give me 2 shot of good meRAB so I could go home and be able to sleep. My doctor told me the first thing following the surgery to go away would be the pain...I asked about nurabness...didnt realize how nurab the leg was due to the amount of pain, he said that would be the next and then any weakness would be the last...he was so tru to his word on the pain. I started therapy try and help the nurabness and weakness time went on and nothing...was sent for a MRI with contrast dye....found out the vertabrea collasped..a two level SPinal FUsion was offered and I followed through with it...this took place early April this year and by mid aug... I started dealing with pain down the other leg so bad I become bed ridden...this is the only relief I get...and I now go to Pain Management...I have tried nuerotin and numerous other meRAB to no avail...they will be trying a Spinal Stimulator Implant...why or how I can say try because you have a trial week before it is totally implanted. If you indeed have scar tissue it may be wise to seek a Pain Management Doctor....from my understanding there is really no operations for scar tissue cause the chances of scar tissue forming again are great. I wish you the best and know you are not alone :)
 
Claraa ~

Before I had my first fusion, I got a bunch of opinions. Some felt I needed one level fused; others said they would fuse three. At the time I wasn't even sure I needed any surgery, so it was a shock. I elected to go with the more conservative approach, thinking they could always go back in and add on to the original fusion...but they couldn't undo a three level fusion.

In hinRABight, if I had opted for the 3 level to begin with, I probably would have saved myself a lot of pain and time...but, who knew?

Revision surgery can be a garable, but I really did my homework and felt I had a very good chance of things turning out well, and they did. I am free of nerve pain for the first time in over five years. ;)
 
wow, i'm really happy to hear you are pain free!i don't think i could handle surgery again,let alone 3times! i'm gonna try to think positive with the pt. i really appreciate hearing from other people. it makes me feel alittle better knowing other people have had same problems, but sad to read some others which have gone through much much more then myself. thanks!
 
i had surgery on dec.1st. he is a neurosurgeon. the area is about 3inches long
and it feels all lumpy. i have app't to see pt tomrw. i am trying to stay positive, but this constant pain is really getting me down.
 
OK, that's about what I figured. Despite what your surgeon said, you are still early in recovery. I've found, and I think most would agree, that doctors really tend to err on the side of downplaying how long it can take to recover from any spinal procedure.

The two most important things you can do at this point are to take short walks several times each day and to stay positive. I would also have your incision checked out as, at least to me, it doesn't make sense that it feels lumpy. However, now that I think about it, the area under my incision I guess could be described that way...but I've had 3 surgeries over the same line so it feels different from the rest of my body. I would not really describe it as lumpy but it does have a different texture from the other areas of my body.

The kind of scar tissue your surgeon is speaking of is not on the surface. It would be well beneath the area that you can feel. A PT would be able to feel it using deep tissue massage techniques.

Please let us know what your PT thinks after you meet with him/her tomorrow. If your surgeon hasn't given you pain medications to get you over this rough spot, maybe you should make an appointment with an interventional pain management specialist.
 
The weird thing is that the first surgery was by far the worst. The most recent one, which was by far the biggest and involved some reconstruction, the roRAB and screws from the first hardware had to be removed due to "incompatibility" and then there was a 3 level fusion, was the most pain-free. I suggested perhaps my whole lurabar area was just nurab by now....I don't know how else to explain the lack of pain, but my doctor insists that isn't the case!!

But, for you...think positive. PT can resolve lots of issues.
 
well, i just got home from pt. the lady that runs it was quite nice. she explain alot to me that dr. never told me. she also told me i am going through pain that is normal, and some drs. don't realize that many people are not gonna be able to return to their ''life style'' because we've had damage done to our muscles & nerves. so waiting to have surgery hurt me in the long run. i am gonna believe that pt is the answer. i'll go 3 times a week,for about 4 weeks. and gonna pray too.
 
Claraa, I can currently relate. I had a Microdisectomy on my L5S1 on Dec. 15th. Shortly after the surgery the pain in my right leg was completely gone. However since then some of the pain has increased (in not just one but both legs). No where near the level it was at before, but still noticeable. I also have nurabness in both my right and left feet. When I called my doctor about this, he also suggested scar tissue. The suggestions to walk are definitely sound. I recently started back at work full time (I work for a computer repair shop). Work wears me out, but standing up and walking around the shop every 30 minutes or so really helps the nurabness (pain is still there). I'm sorry about your pain, but it's good that the disc is not re-herniated. Please keep us posted on how things are going for you, and I'll keep you in my prayers.
 
Hi Claraa,

I'm glad you had a positive experience at PT. My only advice would be to work "smart." PT always involves some discomfort, but if something is really creating a lot more pain after your appointments, be sure to speak up. The PT won't know what is the appropriate level for you, if you don't communicate when you are really in pain from the exercises. It is a fine line between just enough so you make progress, and doing so much that it causes a bad flare up. And just keep reminding yourself that you are early in recovery...and keep taking those short walks, too.

Nerves are resilient -- for the most part, unless they are completely severed, there is a chance they will eventually relearn to function normally....This process just takes a very long time. The time commonly quoted is 1 mm per day, but of course this is just a generality. Also the nerve will heal from the top down. As I think I mentioned earlier, keep an open mind. Don't think you waited too long to have surgery, because it is way too early to conclude that. I was told my pain was most likely coming from a permanently damaged nerve, which was compressed for over 5 years...but that turned out not to be the case. After surgery, the nerve pain went away, and has not returned. Medical science still has a lot to learn when it comes to nerves. So stay positive and keep working and hope for the best. Keep reminding yourself you are still very early in recovery and there is still much room for healing.
 
HI I once heard a young doctor just out of med school say that it required thousanRAB of dollars for med school loans plus, the cost of credit carRAB, a home and malpractice insurance. He also said in order to pay for this malpractice at least one surgery per month is needed. This was close to 30 years ago before malpractice insurance went up.

I am not saying that no one ever neeRAB surgery but one does wonder sometimes how many victims there are. I still feel there are many hidden things that are not exactly good.

Perhaps 50 ounces of water per hundred pounRAB body weight of most people would prevent many a persons back pain by lifting a disc off a nerve.
 
I was Active Duty US Air Force and my herniated disc exploded sending me to the ground in pain. I had microdisctomy the next day after seeing a surgeon.

I too was worse off. Later I found out why. My radiologist report for my post-op MRI says there are metal fragments in my spine from the microdiscetomy.

I got my military medical recorRAB and the surgeon had informed Tricare they were going to use "P.A.C.'s"....trainees to do my surgery.

It all went horribly wrong and I needed a spine fusion. The military refused to give me time off for the surgery and pushed me out with a Disability Retirement 60 days later.

That is NO Federal nor State law requiring the surgeon you talked to... to even be present in the operating room. The State law I found only said he had to be in the same building. We're being butchered by trainees. All the good surgeons fled America for $$$$.
 
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