scar tissue from back surgery

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dear kerry63, u r very lucky that it has worked for u and helped...i wasnt so lucky. i wont bore u with all the details but i did my 5 day trial with no improvement!! in fact, the middle of my back(like where a bra strap would go)feels kinda funky now...like rubbery nurab,like when u take off a lidoderm patch. i have been treating for 5 yrs,have had 27 injections and 2 surgeries and take a constant flow of medicine..in which i CANNOT move without...yet it still feels like day 1. i wish u continued success with it...its actually nice to know other people "like me" exist....
 
dear kerry63, u r very lucky that it has worked for u and helped...i wasnt so lucky. i wont bore u with all the details but i did my 5 day trial with no improvement!! in fact, the middle of my back(like where a bra strap would go)feels kinda funky now...like rubbery nurab,like when u take off a lidoderm patch. i have been treating for 5 yrs,have had 27 injections and 2 surgeries and take a constant flow of medicine..in which i CANNOT move without...yet it still feels like day 1. everyday is a struggle,yet i know people have it worse than me..so i just thank god for what i have (great family &frienRAB) and try to go about my business...whatever it may be at that time. i wish u continued success with the stimulator!! :angel:
 
I am looking for some help!!!
I herniated l4-5 disc on the job tried several non-surgical options injections pt vax-d nucleoplasty. Nothing worked. I gave in and had microdicetomy/laminectomy in 6/06. Herniation is gone but i have developed scar tissue around the l5 nerve root. i am seeing chriopracter and ortho doctor at pennsylvania hosptial. I am in worse pain now than before surgery, the pain radiates down left leg and into foot all day and night. I take lyrica which makes me forgettfull and oxycontin but that only takes a small bit of the edge off. New doctor wants to put a spine cord stimulator in to relieve the pain but i am not sold on this, i am told that injections will not work on the scar tissue. I am sure that i am not the only one that has to live this kind of life, so if there is anyone out there with similar symptoms i would like to hear from you. I have three kiRAB and a wonderful wife, but after two years this has taken a toll on all of us, at this time i am not sure why she stays with me. Any thoughts or suggestions
 
Hi there and welcome to the boarRAB!

You sound just like me pretty much, and I was also hurt on the job. However I had 2 lvl fusion L4-L5, L5-S1, with lami and discectomy Nov 06. I also feel worse then before my surgery. I have been diagnosied with post laminectomy syndrome, also known as failed back syndrome. Last month I asked what caused this, was told scar tissue was main cause. My pain is like yours but all in my right leg, hip and foot.

My option as well was the spinal cord stim implant, I refused. So, basically I am going to have to take meRAB to help with the pain (not that they help much) until modern medicine comes out with something new. I am currently taking Methadone 40mg twice a day, Cyrablata for depression and nerve pain and Feldene as an anti inflammatory.

I am sorry I don't have any suggestions for you, other then have you gotten a second opinion? I did that on the recommendation of others on these boarRAB but sadly the diagnosis was the same for me.

Living with the pain daily is not fun, but we here understand what you are going thru and I am sure someone will come along with some sort of advise for you.

Wish you the best of luck!

~hugs Niki
 
I too have FBS. I had L5S1 Microdis in '04 an had fusion and lami in 2/08. I was I very active athletic professional, now I am a stay at home dad to a 1 and 3 yr old boys. I love my new life, but I am in constant pain that is unpredictable in its severity. My wife works overnights and we have a nanny to help because I cannot do it myself. I am trying hard to lose weight, but I have only lost a couple of pounRAB in 3 months, however, I did stop the weight gain, so that is good. I am giving PT another try, and I have just finally got a TENS. I have radiculopathy esp in both shins and big toes and feet. My lower thighs hurt so much when I squat to pick up things the correct way, so I bend a lot of the time. My lower back feels so sore and when I stand in one place for a few mins I have to hunch over and then sit down. I have had a rough time accepting that this is for the rest of my life. I have always been able to put my mind to something and get it done, but not this. My wife too has carried such an increased burden with all the extra lifting and giving birth to 2 boys and doing the lions share of the physical work. Now she has developed back problems and just went thru a series of 3 injections.. I am curious how the methadone is working for people. Anyways, it is good to have this board.

Brett
 
I know what you mean about the weird, nurab, rubbery feeling. I did not get that from my stimulator, but I have a patch on my back from when I had shingles that feels that way! I wish you good luck. I am new to this message board, and it is really nice to know that other people are dealing with the same issues I am. You start to feel so alone, like nobody else understanRAB! Take care of yourself and I hope you get to feeling better!
 
Same problem here...Failed Back Syndrome. I have had my spinal cord stimulator for a little over 1 year. It works great for the nerve pain in my legs, but now the doctors want to put a pain pump in for my extreme pain in my back. I am supposed to take 1-2 Vicodin and 40mg of Methadone 4 times a day (most days I only take half of that) and the doctors want to get me off the oral meRAB. Wish I could have my old life back!!! But all-in-all....the spinal cord stimulator is GREAT.

:cool:
 
It is nice to hear that i am not the only one going though this, although i am sorry to hear you too are going though this. Yes i have failed back syndrome which i take that as having scar tissue and i have had numerous of mris to support this. I feel like i have tried evrything and i have seen many of specialists over this and not many options except this spinal cord stmulator. I am going to try acupunure from recommendations from others seems like the only thing that i have not tried. Thanks for replying to me b/c it does help me know that i am not the only one going though this terrible situation. If you have any suggestions please let me know b/c at this point i am willing to try anything to help get rid of this pain other than taking pills all day like i am now.
Thanks!
 
I had my multi-fusion in October of '07 and in much more pain now then before surgery. In fact, now, I can barely function. I would give anything to be like I was before surgery. I finally found a PM doc that diagnosed me with Post Laminectomy Syndrome aka Failed Back Surgery Syndrome. Mine was caused by scar tissue as well. If you put these into a search engine, you will find out that this is back pain that is the same or worse after a fusion or lam. There are other causes as well. You will also see the various treatments for this. For me, I was just started on generic Oxycontin, Tens Unit and Pool Therapy. I am early in my treatment so I don't know how much this will help. I have the pain in my mid-back, L knee and toes. Sometimes, it wraps around to the front of my ribs. So, you are not alone. I know all too well what a shock it can be to find yourself worse now, then before surgery. Just hang in there. I know there is hope for all of us :angel: janiee in Cleveland.
 
I has a L-5 S-1 discectomy lamectomy with complications on Aug 8th. Last hospitalization was 9/12. MD's don't want to prescribe pain meRAB so primary finally gave me methadone, it made me so sick and I was on a low dose! I felt like I was in a chemical restraint, i could hear my daughter talk and ask for things and I would be passed out again. I was also aware of my pain. Beware that methadone is used for heroin addicts so when I went to a nuerologist for a previous head injury and showed him my back stuff too wrote I was being detoxed off Med's and because that is in my record now the person who prescribed the methadone won't prescribe anything else so I am just left to suffer. When I read my last MRI it had a lot of new results, herniated disc bulging disc, scar tissue surrounding nerve root at s-1 and a 7.5 cm seroma that could not rule out infection. and still I was treated like a common street druggie. If I had known this was a possible outcome I would have rejected the meRAB in the first place and never had a drug detox on my medical recorRAB.
Best wishes
 
I have to say this before I say anything else....please stay away from the chiropractor! Unless he is highly skilled in treating patients with back trouble, he will cause more harm than good. That may be the reason you are in more pain now than before!

Has your surgeon not recommended you to a pain management specialist? They can help with the pain from the nerve that is trapped; and physical therapy might also be of some use to you. An injection into the nerve root, might quiet that nerve down some ... it's certainly worth a try. Have you been walking? When I was going through the same problem, my doctor pushed me to start walking every day, gradually building speed and length of my walking. Within 4 days, I was noticing an improvement in the pain levels. Walking seems to stretch the scar tissue causing it to put less pressure on the nerve. It certainly can't hurt to try it.

For sure you don't need to just suffer with this; there are options and I hope you will talk to your dr about this.

Carol
 
The neurostimulator implant is actually very effective!! I had one placed in January, and it has reduced my nerve pain by about 75%!!!!!!! It is not a cure all, and only works on NERVE pain, but it sure helped! I still have structural pain from failed back syndrome, but at least the leg pain is better!
 
Hey Brett,
The Methadone helps me quite a bit, but I still can't be totally pain free. If I take a Vicodin HP and 3 Methadone, my pain drops to maybe a 3-4 on a 0-10 scale. However, if I take 4 Methadone at once, as prescribed, I start to vomit. We all know how that feels with a bad back. My leg pain is also getting bad again....the spinal cord stim is starting to lose its effectivness.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Mike
 
contact Laser Spine Institute, they took care of my leg pain in 2007 by endoscopic surgery, up and walking for 45 min two hours after surgery and no pain since. Mine was L-3 L-4 area.
 
I feel for all of you and believe me I have been there. Just know what works for one may not work for you.

I have had 5 back surgeries. I do have a soinal stimulator that saved my life. However they work on nerve pain but not structural pain. So many people are disillusioned when it doesnt help. Part of this is because 1. there pain is in there back due to the bones or an actual structual deformity or injury.
or 2. the relief you feel is 100% based on where your lead wires are placed. This is entirely on the doctor. You MUST seek out a very very qualified doctor when considering a spinal stimultor implant. meaning someone who has placed many.
I also talked to other patients he had put them in. Also the trial only gave me about 10% of the relief the permament gave me due to the wires not being set.

Nerve pain is so difficult because it doesnt respond to pain medication like other problems. So then we are forced to go routes like lyrica, neurotin, topomax and such which have so many side efffects it is insane.

Good luck to you all and I wish for less pain today than yesterday and more grace tomorrow than today.:angel:
 
I also suffered a work related injury which herniated L5-S1 and actually broke off a piece of disc, had a laminectomy and ended up with scar tissue and more pain, failed back syndrome. That was 2 1/2 years ago and I still have back and leg pain, relieved somewhat by pain meRAB. I see a pain management specialist. I keep hoping that someday there will be a way to treat scar tissue that doesn't have the risk of making more scar tissue and increased pain!!

Deb
 
Hello,

I had lurabar fusion in Septeraber 2009...scar tissue was removed, bone grafts added and NO MORE LEG PAIN. The fusion worked great. I am in physical therapy now, so there is some pain from that, but overall, a huge step forward. :round:
 
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