Herniated Disc Surgery

I spoke w a Neurosurgeon for my bothersome disc. He thought the success rate was not enough to encourage the surgery. I get relief from; stretching regularly, then icing. Finding a good massage therapist is beneficial and an adjustment every couple months helps. Drink lots of water! Ive also heard that magnesium supplements help and taking baths in epsom salt.

My husband was around your age when he herniated a disk, for the life of me can't tell you which ones. This was before I met him. He was off work for over a month doing therapy but never had the surgery. He will turn 47 in a few weeks and beyond stretching it every morning has no issues with it.

Guess I am saying it sounds like surgery you can put off.

Oh he has a fairly physical job.

No!!! I haven't but a good friend did and he is a disaster... My husband on the other hand went your route and I think he had numbness which eventually went away. But he's been pain free for years etc. Maybe a flare up sometimes but really a non issue. Now we watch our poor friend as he ended up with 2 surgeries as the first one didn't help at all. We kind of feel he didn't really stick with any PT before the first surgery - and maybe not after the 2nd. I'd give it more time before surgery. Surgery is so irreversible. I know someone else who had surgery and I think it helped but only for a little while. My elderly mother worked through a disc issue with no surgery and again, minor flareups some times but she's way better off than our friend. I would only turn to surgery if you were in severe pain for well over a year. I may be skewed by our friend's experience but it's been HORRIBLE.

I ruptured a disc...the gel like goo on the inside oozed all inside me spinal column and hardened into calcium like deposits...and two other discs were bulging.

The spinal surgeon told me that if I could make it through the pain I would heal in about nine months...and that about 50% of the people could not get enough pain relief and would have the surgery out of desperation. So I had a 50/50 chance of needing surgery to just get the pain to stop.

I could only stand...could not sit or lay down. Got spinal injections, took off label anti-depressants for nerve pain...and thought I was going to loose my mind...I was such a mess they couldn't even send me to PT.

My husband did all the online research he could and determined that if I could tough it out and heal on my own the odds of reinjury or needing a second surgery were much much lower.

I toughed it out nine whole months and it took every bit of that time. The best thing I did was pay out of pocket for a massage therapist. She never touched my back but kept all my other muscles that were tight from the constant pain loose and I credit her with me being able to make it.

They told me I would never get the feeling back in my leg from the knee down. After my third message all the feeling came back.

If you are NOT in pain do NOT have surgery. Let it heal on its own and thank God...you do not want to start having back surgery it just keeps making you need more and more...good luck!!

Hi, I fell off my deck and ruptured my C5-6 disk. If I'd have had a gun I'd be dead. That's how bad the pain in my right arm, neck, hand, shoulder, etc....was. It was unbearable. I would beg my husband to take me to the ER just to get a shot to knock me out. The only position I was comfortable in was sitting up and leaning over with my head on my right arm. Like when we play Heads Up 7UP as kids.

I got to the point of having a nervous breakdown. I wasn't sleeping, I was in excruciating pain, couldn't move, couldn't life my right arm even with my breast, and more.

My MD took one look at me and prescribed a Medrol pack. It's a powerful steroid that comes in a punch out package. I took 6 pills the first day, 5 then next, 4 the next day, and so forth.

By the 2nd day I could move. By the 3rd day I was pain free. Then the following month I felt better than I had in a long long long time. I had not realized how much pain I was in due to other inflammation.

When I did physical therapy, with the inflammation down I could work on the injury, I did a lot of stretches and movement to try and get the disk moved back. I did stuff at home too.

You know when you're putting a pillowcase on, how you hold the pillow with your chin and pull the pillow case on it? That is such a wonderful exercise.

Making your chin push down stretches the neck out in ways that it normally doesn't move. Doorway pushups are another way of stretching out he rib cage and straightening out the torso, the spine sort of syncs up too. These are where you stand just outside a household doorway then you put each hand on the door frame. You lean forward until you feel a wonderful stretch in your front ribs and sternum. Then you stand straight for a moment and then do a few more. Slowly, stretching, not painful, just enough to pull those ribs and sternum out a bit.

There are so many stretches you can do that will strengthen the area you injured. I'd work on the inflammation, get rid of it, then do the stretches that help you fell better, this will heal you overall better than any other thing.

If your disk just does not go back at all I'd consider the surgery but it would be a last resort not my first option.

Ice is the best thing in the world for nerve pain too.

I freeze water in Styrofoam cups. Almost full to 2/3 full. You're going to peel the top rim off to expose the ice hump anyway. Make sure none of the Styrofoam is scratching you.

Have someone use the cup of frozen humped ice to massage you very good. Firm but not painful. The ice makes a hump in the center because it expands as it freezes. Learned that on McGyver....lol.

As the ice melts the person simply peels more cup away. The cup insulates the ice and their hands don't get cold, maybe tired because you'll want to do this all the time. It will feel so good.

My husband had 2 herniated discs and a broken disc. He had one surgery to fix the broken then the herniated happened. He has permanent nerve damage, which is the tingling and numbness. He saw a neurosurgeon. THat is what I would also recommend. The numbness is from the nerves. My husband has titanium spacers in his back because it was so bad. It is a recovery, not easy. My husband spent a week in the hospital with hip replacement patients and they pretty much compared his recovery to that. However, it is not always that bad, depending on what has happened.

Now he is fine but has problems sometimes if he does too much

Sorry you are going through this. And I know what you mean about that polar vortex!

I've seen some people do okay with the surgery, and certainly you don't want to go on feeling miserable. I've seen others who did not respond well at all. I have a friend who was miserable for a year, had surgery in the summer (August), missed a ton of work (she's a social worker - nothing physical, just sitting in a chair and walking), and still, as of March, she is in pain. The only thing that she enjoys is water-walking in a pool. The water seems to support her weight, and while the water resistance is good for her legs, nothing is really helping the back much. I sing in a chorus with her, and she is either in a chair and unable to get up, or she's up and lying down or kneeling in another area of the rehearsal room. She works in a hospital and has good insurance, access to "the best" care and all that.

The problem is that you just don't know how much damage there is and when it will flare up again. And you don't know the side effects of using medication long term. But with all the work in cellular improvement/nutrition, there are other options.

I have quite a few other people I work with who've used a natural anti-inflammatory with phenomenal clinical studies and safety, for a variety of skeleto-muscular issues including discs, knees, shoulders, ankles and other inflammations. Some have used another patented product for increased blood flow and reduced inflammation as well, either alone or in combination. Both are food-based so there's no down side or overdose. For the second one, sometimes there can be a short-term issue as blood flow increases - there can be some increased pain as there is when your foot falls asleep and then blood flow resumes. (There's more pain when the blood gets to the area but overall that's a good thing.) Even so, that usually resolves in 2 weeks, and with the first anti-inflammatory, the pain can be managed even better. You could continue to use NSAIDs and prescriptions for the brief duration, if this should happen to you. What I like, as a nutritional consultant, is the presence of patents - very hard to get on a food product, but when a company or food scientist takes the time to do this and prove safety, effectiveness and uniqueness, you know you've got your hands on something you can trust.

My concern with you is that you're doing better now, which is great, but you haven't solved the problem - you've just treated the symptoms with medication. And you can't continue with that indefinitely. As your kids get bigger and heavier, you'll have more strain on that back. So perhaps you want to get to the root cause and actually repair the cells with what I'm suggesting as an alternative. You could do this for some months, and if it works, great. If not, you could resort to surgery but at least your recovery would be much reduced. I've worked with people who have needed ACL, rotator cuff and other surgeries but they breezed through it with much less time in recovery and less time in PT.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I had herniated disc surgery at age 51 and did well for about a year, then it went downhill. I developed scar tissue, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease, a long road of doctors, physical therapy, chiro's, steroid injections, narcotics and more debilitation as time went on.
I developed sciatic nerve pain, numbness in my leg, foot drop and one day fell on concrete floor....... became totally disabled, walking with walker, cane, lost my job.
I went through traction, acupuncture, more injections, more drugs, lots of testing, with orthopedic's, chiro's, pain dr's., psychologists, neurologists, and 5 different neurosurgeons trying to get help.
After ALL THAT, they told me surgery would make me worse instead of better because ALL my discs were bad. I had a pain control device permanently implanted in my back and two months later was back getting more steroid injecitons and was riding the wheel chair cart at the grocery store. I will spare some of the sordid details..........

By one of my former cancer patients, I was introduced to "patented nutrition". After 5 years of disability and narcotic addiction, I skeptically got on the stuff and in SIX MONTHS, I was back to work off all drugs and in 10 months, the numbness was gone in my leg. The stimulator is still in my back and have not used it in 8 years!!! I am medication free and not disabled. As long as I consistently use the nutrition, I have no problems and now am 65 years old. Not only that, I have had great results with IBS, diverticulitis, energy, depression to name a few.

I would not advise surgery unless a "last resort" and I know many people who have avoided surgery.

Read Diane B's post.

ooooo, i'm so sorry!
my poor husband ruptured two of his. i thought he would be wracked up for the rest of his life. terrible pain. he went the injection route, which helped, but not that much. for a year we inchwormed closer to the surgery solution.
it took every day of that year, but his back DID get better. he's now training for a marathon, and climbing ladders and weedwhacking and carrying feed bags out to the barn for me again.
i hope it works out that way for you! but it does take time.
khairete
S.

Talk with your doctor. I had a discectomy Feb. 2009. My relief was immediate! But my disc was a complete mess. After my doctor looked at the MRI he told my husband he couldn't believe that I could walk much less stand upright!

He wanted to do surgery THAT day. I had the surgery that Friday (Friday the 13th).

I worked 1/2 days that next week and did physical therapy 3x week for 6 weeks. I felt amazing. No real after effect except pain free. He did warn me that 20% of patients who have this surgery may been to have a fusion because their disc collapse. I thought that with an 80% chance of NOT needing that I was okay. No - a year and a half later, my disc totally collapsed and I was not able to walk. THAT scared the hell out of me!!!

So, I had another surgery to fuse my back. I have had amazing results. I was out of work for 5 weeks. I did aquatic physical therapy which was amazing! I did that after the first surgery as well.

To me, surgery is the last resort. Sounds like you are responding to non surgical treatment. So I would wait until you don't.

Side effects - the only thing I really notice is the weaker legs and a slight bending over all the way down mobility or lack there of. I have some pain every now and then but I think that is age related. I have a much better quality of life. I'm very happy I had the surgeries but to be honest, I really didn't have a choice. Right now, you still do. Good luck!!

One last thing, be sure you have the upmost confidence in your doctor. If he is going to cut on your back, you want to be sure he is good!!! Also, I had the choice of having the surgery cut on the front or the back. I decided on the back. Good luck!!! If you have any questions, PM me.

You would have to consult with a Neurosurgeon on that.
My Hubby had a herniated disc.
And herniated discs, MAY affect the nerves, because it may start to abrade the nerves. Hence you get symptoms of that... numbness/pain/tingling etc.
That means the nerves are being affected.

Anyway, my Hubby saw a Neurosurgeon, who was the best in our city.
He had the surgery.
It is better now.
But he still continues his PT exercises, when/if needed.
And keeps his back strengthened.

Each case, is different. It is not a one sized shoe fits all.
So keep that in mind.

Had microsurgery in 2001. I blew a disc in Aigist 2001. Was totally out of commission soon for two months. Then slowly got better except for my leg. It kept buckling out from under me. I kept falling. So I decided to,see a neurosurgeon (orthopedic surgeon wanted to do a big fusion surgery). Had the microsurgery on 12/26/2001 and was at a New Years Eve party on 12/31.
Stayed overnight I. Hospital. Some pain for less than 24 hours but nothing that I could not handle. Twelve years later still good. My foot is numb but that's about it. That's because it was so bad. The damage was done before the surgery.

Again, neurosurgeon is who you want to do it. Personally, I would stay clear of orthopedic surgeons.