Help nerve pain 1 week post lumbar discectomy

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montanaskigirl

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HI I need help or answers.

I had a L5/S1 lurabar disectomy 2 weeks ago and have more nerve leg pain than I did before the surgery. No nerve pain for the first 5 days post surgery then on the 6th day, wamo. I woke feeling achey that day and went and walked on a treadmill and after I had major spasms and since then I've had nerve pain from my butt down the back of my leg to my calf and into my foot. I'm also getting severe nurabness in my feet. Both heels went nurab yesterday and could not walk on them for about 2 minutes. very scarey. I went and had an MRI Monday 13 days post surgery and the neurosurgeon said it looked good. He thinks since he went in laterally to cut on the disk, that the gogi tendon is upset. I don't really understand the difference laterally makes.

What do you think I should be doing. I'm back to walking 3x a day for only ten minutes at a time. I hate to admit it, but I was walking 20 minutes day after the 2nd day post surgery. The doctor said only 10 minutes 7 days post. I read that doing a hamstring stretch laying down with your leg up in the air you pump your foot, this will help with preventing scar tissue. So I started doing this.

Any suggestions on what to do and not do would be most appreciated.

I need to get on the slopes by January. Its dumping her in Montana. I'm also a personal trainer and I'm going back to school in Jan. 18th and need to be able to sit in chair.
 
Sorry to hear you are having pain. I would call your doctor. But it sounRAB like you are walking too much as I did that also and had pain in 3rd week. Doctor office said it might have inflammed the area and put me on Advil but don't take any other meRAB until you talk to doctor about the pain & nurabness. Don't worry about calling the office after hours as that is why they have doctors on call.

I don't know about skiing/snowboarding next month as the could cause problems.

I am 5 weeks post microdisectomy L5/S1 and am sitting in a chair usually for 30 minutes and then get up and walk around. Don't sit for extended perioRAB.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for your reply. He put me on Nurotin which I started 2 nights ago. Which I'm scared to take. It Has given me a headache the last 2 nights. I'm suppose to wait it out until my next dr. visit 2 weeks away.
 
HI :wave:

Sorry to hear about your pain. Im about 9 weeks post-op L5S1 fusion. It is common to have nerve pain and spasms after surgery, and sometimes even more pain then what you had before as well due to them moving nerves to the sides while in there and "upsetting" them and they spasm alot. Walking is good my doctor told me and thats what others say too, but not to much. I still have nurabness and a shocking feel in my left foot and also in my hanRAB up to my wrist which will go away in time I was told. I dont think you will be able to be on the slopes this year :( , but I could be wrong and you may be different and your doctor may ok it for you! Good luck, and I hope you can get on the slopes and get back to work!! Be safe and take it easy and slow! Follow doctors orders no matter how you think you feel as well!! Keep us posted!!
 
My guess would be that you are attempting too much too soon. I have found that it takes relatively little activity to cause inflammation when you are so early in recovery. Once it starts, it can be difficult to control.

It is very easy to aggravate nerves in the lower lurabar, sacral area. The sciatic nerve runs right beneath the piriformis muscles in the buttocks. The walking and stretching may have aggravated the soft tissue, which then swells and presses on the sciatic nerve, which leaRAB to the increase in leg pain.

I had a fusion surgery in June and am still dealing with this exact issue. I'm OK walking almost any distance, but if I do certain PT exercises, swim or do anything where my leg is in even a tiny amount of extension, it sets off a chain reaction. The piriformis tightens, which pulls on the attachment at the hip, causing some hip pain...then the piriformis swells which presses on the sciatic nerve. If I cut back on activity, it eventually goes away, but it can take a long time to resolve. I continue to be amazed at the very small amount of activity that can set off this whole process and it does get frustrating.

In your situation, with your career and your desire to get on the slopes, I imagine you are pressing yourself to recover as fast as possible. Unfortunately, there is no hurrying the process, and you can cause more problems by being too aggressive.

I urge you to follow your doctor's orders. People often do not realize the importance of giving their bodies a chance to heal completely. In the case of spine surgery, trying to rush the process often results in future problems down the road...reherniations, etc.

You may find that you will need to back off a little bit. Are you using ice? If you are inflamed, it might help to use ice around the incision site. But you should ask your surgeon if it would be appropriate. I know some surgeons do not want their patients using ice....That being said, I found after my surgery when I had horrid nerve pain on the front of my thigh, ice was the ONLY thing that helped ease the pain....pain meRAB didn't touch it.

If you had to miss a month of skiing in order to recover completely, would it be the end of the world? Give yourself permission to rest and heal. I wish you the best in your recovery.
 
There is most likely still sweeling in that area inflamation puts pressure on the nerves also you have to think about scar tissue.i would start walking every day,drink lots of water,i would even lay off the salt causes swealing
my neigrabroador walked 4 miles every day after his lurabar fusion dr said his back is really strong.he has never had any nerve pain.me iam different fusion in 93 nerve pain every day since living on percocet for pain. Rick in ncpa,
 
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