Go to a back website!

[Dreman]

I can hear it already, but y'all have always come through for me before...



I have back pain, especially when I stand up from sitting. It makes it harder to walk until I settle into the "upright" groove again. It's been slowly settling down, but at this rate I'll feel fine again in about 5 years! I've been to the chiropractor, had an MRI, been to an orthopedic surgeon, and they both agree that the MRI shows me to have an "extrusion" of one of the disks in the lowest part of my back that is touching a nerve. No loss of muscle strength, but it still hurts.



My question is this, has anyone had orthoscopic back surgery before? They surgeon says they make a little incision in my back, stick a little tube in, and work through the tube. He will trim off the offending piece of disk and pull it out with the tube. It's just an office visit (no hospital) and I should be good to go in a couple of days.



Any comments?

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

My wife had back surgery L4/L5 in 2000.



In three months after surgery she was swimming again and mtn biking on single track. She casually gets a stiff back if she is standing for hours.



Her back is the best it's ever been.



Keep in mind once you have surgery you must make sure to keep up with your ab and back exercises or you may be in the same situation again down the road.



My wife has a 6 pack now with all the ab work she does.



She had a very similar problem such as yours. She went to a Chiropractor and he screwed it up even more.

 

[Dreman]

Yeah, I need to cut out the keg, and go for a six-pack!

 

[Darrel Chaney01]

I had back surgery about 8 or 9 years ago. The day after I thought I had done the stupidest ever. I was in so much pain I didn't even want to get up and go to the bathroom. I had two things wrong. My L3 disc was bulged out and I had a bone chip pushing on a nerve causing me lose all feeling to my right leg. I went through 3 months of rehab and 3 set of spinal shots, but it didn't help so I had to have the surgery. The surgeon went through my stomach, removed the L3 disc, fused my spine there and removed the bone chip. By going through the stomach I only had to be off work for 6 weeks, where going through the back I would have been out of work for 3 months at least. the muscles in the stomach heal quicker than in the back. Mine was a complete success and the only problem I have is that I don't exercise like I should so sometimes I may move wrong. I have x-rays and MRI's since the and the screws and fusion has not changed at all. The next day after I had it done the nurse's got me up waling with a walker, didn't want to use one of them till I was at least 80. Then the second day they came in with a cane. It take long till I sent them back for the walker. The walker is better cause you can balance you weight between your left and right arms. Make sure you check out your surgeons record. Really I think the worst part before was watching the video that explains what is going to happen and everything that could go wrong. They could clip a nerve and you be paralyzed part or totally, they could clip a vein and you could bleed to death and so on. Thankfully my surgeon hasn't had any of those happen and I kept it that way. I tried everything I could before I had the surgery, but nothing helped it only got worse. What I am saying is that I had great luck with mine and surgery has gotten even better now. Look at this way, think I much time you will have to be on the computer. Notice I didn't say to watch TV. I didn't have a computer when I had my surgery and believe me there is nothing on much during the day and after a while even at night it's seems to be the same. For me 6 weeks at home was a loooooooong time. Good luck Darrel

 

[Geoff Barker]

I expect you are going to hear from a few of us who have had back surgery and we will all have had different experiances. That's because backs are like snowflakes, you will never find two that are exactly alike. I have had surgery twice on 4-5L, once in 1973 and again in 1975. The first time was a laminectomy, the laminar being the soft center of the disc. The surgeon described it as cutting a 3 sided door on each side of the protrution and pulling some of the stuffing out. This was supposed to be effective in 4 out of 5 cases. I turned out to be one of the 1 in 5 where it wasn't. The second time I had the remainder of the disc taken out. I would describe the second surgery as a success, although things have deteriorated in recent years and I am going to have surgery a third time in about 6 months. Same 4-5L, this time I get fused. The biggest differance now for you is the fact that they can do it orthoscopically, this will make it hugely less invasive and thus has less downside even if it doesn't bring relief. One question, what has caused the disc problems in the first place? Is it due to a trauma or is it degenerative? I agree with Darrel, do some more checking on your surgeon, getting a good one is imperative.

 

[Rich Stern]

Getting a second, even a third opinion, is critical. Backs are tricky. Some people get great relief from therapy or alternative treatments, others need surgery. There is no one right answer.

 

[Michael Martin]

In 1986 I hurt my back while moving a piano (it ended up cutting my career as a Paramedic short), and used to be in such pain that I would have to lay flat on the floor for 2-3 days. All the MD's wanted to do is give me drugs and talked about surgery. This went on for about 10 years. Finally I decided to try a chiropractor. Now, 11 years later, no more back pains! As a paramedic, I ONLY trusted in the "medical" profession, but now, I have a totally different outlook on life!



Just like Rich Stern said above, "there is no one right answer". Couldn't hurt (pardon the put) any more than it does now.

 

[TomT]

Consider alternatives before surgery. Had a friend that went through this spinal decompression treatment and it really helped.

 

[Dreman]

I like chiropractors, and have used them exclusively for the past 25 years. But this time it didn't help. My chiropractor recommended the spinal decompression (basically it's computer driven traction) but my insurance won't cover the $2000 it will cost at all, and we're a little tight right now. It's not a "recognized therapy" or something like that. And the chiropractor said she would try it first, and then try something else if it didn't work.



I went to the surgeon on my boss's recommendation. This one will quite often recommend other therapies than just surgery. He recommended against surgery in my boss's case, but in mine he said it looks like the surgery may be necessary. And he said the surgery is 100% effective, since the cause of the problem is completely removed. If there aren't any complications, of course!



How do you check a doctor's history?

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Yes, get a few opinions from other doctors. Find someone that works a lot with athletes. My wife was lucky and had the Seattle Seahawks surgeon do the work.

 

[kil roy]

i have to agree on the "getting other opinions"

you are reading above.



my L1 through L5 are a catastrophy

2 herniated and 2 starting to buldge.

last doc i went to said if i didnt do surgery soon

i wouldnt be walking in 20 years.



to me surgery is a last resort so i looked in to

other types of treatments.

i have found that PT along with morning and evening

exercise and stretching so far are working.

i can barely get out of bed but once my feet hit the floor

i start stretching and within 15 minutes i start feeling

good enough to get through another day.

once that doesnt work anymore i have looked in to "VaX D"

which is spinal decompression and will try that next.

surgery would be the extreme last resort as far as im concerned.

 

[Dreman]

Ok, now for the another look at it. Anyone had the "orthoscopic" type surgery my doctor is promoting? He's claiming a couple of days downtime after a short office procedure, and then back to work as usual. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Darrel Chaney01]

I would ask him if you could talk to a few people that have had similar work done on them. I think they would tell you about the surgery and how they have done since then. Most of the time unless they had an experience that want to forget, they will talk to you. He may have to ask a few of his patients to see if they are willing to talk. I had a friend of mine that had a heart transplant that talk to the person and their families when they were going to have a heart transplant. Generally the surgeon already has people set up to talk to others needing the same type of surgery. But is sound like yours is going to be pretty easy and you won't have to worry too much about what to watch on TV or to keep you busy after the surgery. Sorry I can't be much help on the type of surgery you will have. Good Luck

Darrel

 

[Yardsale]

I have two friends who, coincidentally, had the same surgeon for arthroscopic back surgery. Both had glowing reports on the surgeon and the surgery. Both up and moving in two days. Little scare - about an inch long by a millimeter - ridiculously small.



The one friend is a RN and malpractice attorney, so she knows how to screen. Find someone who can check medical board actions for you.