Spinal Fusion- How long will the pain last?

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adamswife0324

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I had a microdiscectomy and laminectomy at the L5 S1 level in October. It helped with my back pain quite a bit, but I still hurt alot more than I could deal with on a day to day basis, and the disc that was "fixed" seemed to me narrowing more and more so my orthopedic surgeon decided to go on to do a spinal fusion. He did the fusion through my stomach and used a cage and allograft(spelling?) That was done in May and I am now 14 weeks, 5 days post-op. I still have awful back pain. On an average day, I'd rate my pain to be about a 7 or so, some days I hurt so much I can barely drag myself out of bed. I have pain that radiates from my back, down into my butt and into my thigh. It's a shooting/burning pain. Is this normal? I haven't started any physical therapy yet, my doctor hasn't done any x-rays to check the fusion or anything, so I don't know if it's showing any signs of fusing or not. I am just getting so frustrated, I'm tired of hurting all the time. I walk every day for about 20 minutes or so, and by the time I'm done, I have to lay down for a couple hours because I hurt so bad. I'm currently taking ultracet, which has been pretty much useless in relieving my pain.
I don't feel like my doctor is taking my pain seriously at all. I don't feel any better than I did before my surgery. I had a period of about 2 weeks last month where I thought things might be looking up and then the buttocks/leg pain started getting alot worse. I just don't know what to do, I'm so discouraged and frusttrated. Do I look for a new doctor, do I try talking to my current doctor? Is all this perfectly normal and I'm expecting too much too soon?

Any answers or advice anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
 
I had a aspen fusion done (L5-S1) Deceraber 17th 2010. It is now only been 2 weeks and 3 days. I am not having as much pain as right after surgery but I am have just as much constant pain as before my surgery (make sense?). I am 28 years old and have a long family history of bad backs. The surgeon mentioned that the area was so arthritic and damaged that there was no cartilage even left. I am on controlled release Oxycontin 20mg ever 6 hours (which I might take one every 8) Soma 325 every 8 hours (which I will not take because it makes me moody) and Roxicodien 15mg every 4 hours. I just want this pain to go away! How long will this take?! I am so impatient! But how long will I be in pain to where I need meRAB? Some say 3 months is this true?
 
Hi...sorry you're still in so much pain. I'd schedule an appointment with your surgeon, ask for xrays and tell him about the severity of your pain. Nerve pain meRAB can be prescribed to ease the burning sensation (I take Neurontin) and since this is such a major surgery, it takes months to heal. I haven't used Ultracet, but I've been taking Oxycontin for over 2 years with no side effects and good results for pain control. If the surgeon seems to be dumping you, ask him if he has an affiliation with a Pain Management doctor and ask for a referral to help with your pain. Don't give up...be persistent! Good luck.

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Had posterior lurabar interbody fusion at L4/L5/S1 on Jan. 30,'01 with 6 pedicle screws, 2 Steffe plates, 4 Brantigan carbon fiber cages and my own hip graft for spondylolisthesis. Wear leg braces (afo's on both legs)for drop foot from nerve damage.
 
Hi. It is still very soon after your fusion so try to be patient and give it some time to heal. I know that is very easy to say, but I truly do understand as I just had 4 levels worked on in Oct. and am still recovering. It does take time.

In the meanwhile, be very careful of what you do, resting often, no bending, lifting, twisting, etc. Follow your doctors orders. The one thing that will help the most is walking. Short, slow walks at first and then gradually increasing as tolerated.

I don't know if you had any nerve impingement, but if you did, keep in mind that angry nerves take a long time to settle down, months sometimes. You might want to fill us in on what was wrong at at what level as that could help us determine better just what may be going on at this time.

I do hope that things gradually improve for you and that the coming year brings you much less pain.

Blessings.

Carol
 
First of all are you in WaRABworth, Ohio? I had a posterior lurabar fusion at level 4-5 on July 9th of this year. My followup appt was July 29th at which time they took xrays to see how it was coming along. Everything looked great. I started doing a couple of exercises two weeks ago and going to physical therapy for two weeks to have some stimulation done to my back muscles. Wednesday will be 6 weeks since surgery and I can honestly say that I am doing a lot better now. Yes I do still have pain. I walk 15 minutes 4 times a day which is really helping me. I am no longer wearing a corset as of 2 weeks ago. I wish I could say that I am 100% but I.m not, but I am better than before.

They say that it takes time. I believe it. Also pain in leg and buttock may take even longer to go away because nerve was pinched for so long. One thing I found out was that when my back swells a little it does put pressure on nerve therefore intensifying pain. Also the weather plays a big part. Saturday I felt like I was a walking barometer.

There is hope but we need to have patience. This was my 3rd back surgery and I too am tired of pain.
 
HI I am new to this board, I had back surgery 8/02 two roRAB and six screws w/fushion on L4-L-5 L5-S1 and a yr later I am in more pain now then ever. I went to the Drs. after reviewing my xrays he advsed me that L3 is now showing Degin. and he advs me to have a 2nd surgery to take out the roRAB and screws and get what is called a cage w/fushion. I am very scared of the outcome and am very tired of the pain. So if anyone knows anything regarding this cage w/fushion please let me know I feel as though I made the wrong decission w/the 1st surgery and do not want to repeat the mistake so please HELP!!!!! Thanks.
 
Welcome to the board. You may find that you will receive more answers if you begin your own thread. You probably didn't notice, but you added on to a thread from 2003.

I am afraid that no one can say how long you will be in pain from the surgery and recovery. The Aspen device is a minimally invasive procedure so you were no doubt told that there would be less pain than if you were having an open surgery. Sometimes this leaRAB patients to think that the pain will be minimal, but of course, that turns out not to be true.

The surgeon still had to cut through bone to insert the Aspen device, and your body will need time to heal and readjust to the new position. I don't know that much about the Aspen device other than what I've read on their website. Bear in mind that with any fusion, even though bone growth may start showing as early as about three weeks, it still takes about a year for the bone to set up solid and harden. As Carol stated above, it is really important to take care with all movement at the beginning. For now the only thing holding you together is the Aspen device, so you want to follow your surgeon's instructions to the letter....If you do not wear a back brace, which I am assuming is the case, really be careful to avoid ANY activity that involves bending or twisting at the waist, pushing, pulling, and lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk, or whatever restriction your surgeon has given you. Also, I was told to avoid walking on an incline, but again, follow YOUR doctor's directions~ ;)

Back to your question about pain medications, some people feel they no longer need them after a couple weeks, and some are still on them a year after surgery. There is no "common" or correct period of time. There are too many variables for anyone to even guess what is an appropriate amount of time. You can ask everyone on this board how long they were on pain medications after surgery, but it is really irrelevant. You will take them as long as they are needed, and if you were to have more surgery in the future, you would probably end up with a different time frame with each surgery.

You can increase your chances of a smooth recovery by learning to listen to your body. Realize that you have had a BIG surgery and it will take time for the body to heal and recover. There really is very little that is "minimally invasive" about having your spine rearranged! During the time the body is growing bone, all your energy should go toward that. It is important to rest and to walk. Those are the two most important activities that you will be doing for the first weeks after surgery. Do not be in a hurry as there is really very little you can do to rush the process along.

Good luck to you. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are progressing.
 
Thank you so much for all your help...I am so glad I joined this board and hope I can be of help to others in the future. Do you think the artrtic damage will cause a longer healing process?
I will keep you posted as I recover
 
Well, I have an appointment with the ortho on the 28th. Hopefully they'll do X-rays, but if not I'll be asking for a set. I'm also going to discuss different pain medication and pain management. I want to start PT as well.

I've been using ice more often and it helps the back pain, but the nerve pain is still horrible. It's so hard not to think, it's never going to get better, I'm always going to feel like this. It probably don't help that I have an upper respiratory infection and everytime I cough I get that lovely shooting pain down my butt and leg.

magnetlady45-Yes, I am in WaRABworth, Ohio. I know what you mean about feeling like a walking barometer. If the humidity is over 40% (seems like lately it's almost always over 40%), I notice a major increase in pain.
 
I would think optimistically, if I were you. I'm sorry but I do not have enough knowledge about the Aspen procedure to be able to even render a guess as to whether the amount of arthritis means it might take longer to heal. It may be that there will be more bone that will need to grow to fill in, but I am speculating. Ask your surgeon if you are curious.

I think once you are about six weeks out, you will start seeing more rapid improvement...but, it is a long process and sometimes goes in spurts...a couple steps forward, and on occasion, especially if you do "too much," you end up with one step back. ("Too much" is in quotes because you usually do not know it is too much until after you've done it!!)
 
I see you're in Florida. Walking back and forth in hip high water is a wonderful beginning therapy exercise. When your incision is healed up, be sure to ask your surgeon if that might be an appropriate activity for you, assuming it appeals to you.
 
Unfortantly I left out the fact I am already back to work. I do not lift anything but it requires much standing I don't have a choice in the matter I had to go back for finacial reasons. I take it very slow and figgured since there's no labor involved it would not hurt. I have a feeling I may have to take time off again to ensure proper healing. I really apperciate everyones input...this site is a god sent!
 
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