Pain in Butt after 2nd Laminectomy - piriformis?

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travelkitty

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I had a laminectomy in 2008 for a herniated L4 L5 on the left side. Less than 2 years later the L4 L5 has again herniated, only this time on the right side. I had a wonderful experience with my 1st laminectomy. I woke up with all of the leg pain (I was fully sciatic both times) gone and besides the inconvenience of not being able to lift anything more than 5 lbs for 6 weeks as the single mother of a then 2 1/2 year old, the pain was gone and no more problems. This time I appear not to have been as fortunate. I tried to avoid surgery but ended up having another laminectomy almost 6 weeks ago. This time I have yet to have any relief from the leg pain. In fact today, my butt and leg pain are are pre-surgery levels and I am getting very concerned. I will see the neuro-surgeon on Wednesday but his solutions thus far have mainly been to put me on steroiRAB. I have been on 2 steroid packs since the surgery. I will admit that they help with the butt and leg pain but not the nurabness and tingling I get in my right foot. Now that I have been off the most recent steroid pack for a little over a week the pain is almost unbearable. I don't know that I think the disk has reherniated, although I don't know for certain. I almost wonder if I am dealing with a secondary problem like piriformis syndrom. Has anyone had experience with this? I mentioned piriformis to my neuro surgeon and he was pretty dismissive. At this point I can really not find leg pain relief from any position. Walking seems to offer the most relief. Has anyone had a similar experiece? What has your treatment course been? I don't know if the Dr. is going to recommend another MRI to see what's up and I am VERY nervous about another surgery. I just need to get relief as the vicodin and muscle relaxers are not offering any relief. Thanks for any help!!
 
I'm not well versed enough in back surgery issues to tell you if Piriformis Syndrome is the cause of your pain, however, if it is, then physical therapy can really help this. The key is to find a GOOD, experienced physical therapist. (Hint- not a 22-year-old PT assistant). They can sometimes even help make the diagnosis. I feel for what you are going through. I have had SI joint problems now for 4-5 years. Not fun. Best of luck to you.
 
>>>>>> Gosh, your story sounRAB exactly like mine when I first started down this path. A lami at L5-S1, got decent relief for a short time, then the pain started again worse than before. My neurosurgeon said I needed another lami as more of the disc had herniated. So, I had it done. The pain didn't subside much and slowly got worse and worse. My ns put me on steroiRAB which helped quite a bit and we tried pain meRAB and steroiRAB for almost a year at which time I demanded that he do a new MRI. He refused and intimated that the pain was in my head!

I promptly started looking for another doctor and this time I found an orthopedic spine specialist and it took him about 3 minutes to tell me I needed a fusion at that level. I just burst out crying. He sent me for an MRI which showed that there was hardly any disc left and that there was pressure on nerves, so I ended up with a fusion. It was quite successful but 2 years later I began having problems again. This is NOT to say you will.

Please spent adequete time in finding a new specialist. You need someone who will listen to you and who will talk to you, explaining what is going on and what options you have. Then get a second opinion if surgery is recommended!

Stay in touch with us, please, and let us know how you are doing.

Carol
 
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