Lumbar Spine Surgery
Posted , 7 users are following.
Almost 5 weeks on:- Post Decompression + Foraminotomy Surgery [no fusion] for Lumbar
Stenosis.. This was carried out by a top neurosurgeon who deals predominantly
with"Complex Spine" problems in the UK
I have Still got some leg pain but now much better,
however now i have terrible lower back + tail bone pain , i did not have this
pain prior to surgery i only had leg pain. i am now getting quite worried about
this & the success of this surgery.
i am finding difficult to walk any distance due to this
LOWER BACK Pain which i did not have before the surgery, so the pain is now
much much worse than before the surgery, there is a good improvement in the leg
pain, but i now cannot walk [ dont want to walk] due to the lower back pain
which is much worse than the leg pain i had prior to surgery.
I am hoping some one who has had this surgery can
reassure me that it will get better...right now i am regretting having had the
surgery
0 likes, 8 replies
Seafarer123 Greebo64
Posted
When I had my back surgery in 2010, an L4/L5 decompression surgery, I was the same way. My pain was entirely in my right leg, I had no significant pain in my lumbar region.
After the surgery I had some relief in my leg pain but I did have some pain appear in my lower back. I chalked it up to the surgery, especially since the pain was on the same side of my lumbar area as where I had the surgery. The pain was definitely there 5 weeks after the surgery.
It probably took me almost 12 months, inclusive of some regular physical therapy, for my back pain to go away and for my leg pain to drop down to just being a bit of numbness. I would say, though, that my back pain after surgery was never as severe as you describe - it might have prevented me from, say, running or exercising intensively, but it didn't prevent me from walking. And it wasn't all the way down to my tailbone, but I don't know how low your surgery was (was it L5/S1?).
The other thing I would mention - although I don't think it is connected to your post-surgical pain - is that about 3-4 years after the surgery I did start getting some lumbar pain again, and it grew to be moderately severe - and it is at that level as of today. When I went back to the surgeon he said that it was a new condition, basically arthritis in my spine. I was never clear as to whether this arthritis was caused by (or accelerated by) the back surgery or if it was just something that was going to happen, but it is definitely not fun. And slowly but surely I can feel the leg pain coming back, which is apparently the result of newly developing compression. Sadly back surgery does not last forever and does not protect you from newly developing problems. Although I would be surprised if arthritis is the cause of your current problem - sounds more like pain from healing from the surgery, which can last quite a while...
Greebo64 Seafarer123
Posted
Hi
I have had lower/lumbar back pain on & off for 10 years ,stenosis + arthritis & pain was initialy & mainly right side facet joint... but the leg pain came on aprox 14 months ago when i lifted something heavy that i should not have lifted on my own ..the area of of surgery was L4 L5, i know i have issues with S1 but i dont know if the surgeon touched that area ?, i am sure it was just a clean up decompression of L4 L5 + foraminotomy ..during the surgery my Dura was torn [the sack around the spinal cord] but that healed quite quickly. i do know that this condition can return especially in people of an older age, sometimes quickly & sometimes after a few years , my surgeon told me i should be OK for 6/7 years, but i am not going to hold my breath, if fusion is added to the surgery this stabilsers the area & can prevent the return of this problem but my surgeon would not offer me fusion even though i requested it, i reckon its because a more expensive op' & at my age i wasnt worth spending too much of the NHS bidet on me...thats my thought anyhow
Seafarer123 Greebo64
Posted
I forget the exact statistic but I remember reading it at some point that at the five-year point following a basic decompression surgery, 50% or 60% of patients are back at the same pain level they were when they first opted for the surgery. Essentially back surgery tends either to fail/reverse eventually or to be replaced (as it was in my case) by some other spinal malady that causes roughly the same amount of pain (or more). For me I got about 4 years of relief from sciatica with my decompression surgery only to have it eventually replaced by facet joint arthritis (which as I'm sure you know is not only a pain in a different location - lumbar vs. leg - but is also a different kind of pain, i.e. sharp pain rather than the deep dull ache of sciatica). I think that is why the spinal surgeons call it the "degenerative cascade," because once you start tinkering with the back surgically you just bring on more problems later (as my GP warned me prior to my first back surgery: "be sure you want to do this, because in the long run, back surgery begets back surgery").
As for your surgeon refusing your request to do a spinal fusion and to just do a decompression surgery, I don't think that is just an NHS budget thing. I live in the US and it is my understanding that would be a common reaction here in the US as well. Spinal fusion is not a first line defense, it is usually done in reaction to failed back surgery. So I'm not surprised your surgeon said no. A spinal fusion operation is a much more invasive operation and leads to a much more restrictive lifestyle, so they choose not to jump to it right away.
Two things to consider, especially if your spinal arthritis is now more aggressive than your sciatica. The first is to consider a radio-frequency ablation, also known as a rhizotomy. That is where they "cut the nerve" (so to speak, although not actually), to prevent the pain signal from going to the brain. It can last between 6 to 12 months until the nerve regrows. The other is to have a spinal cord stimulator installed, which uses implanted electrical signals to similarly confuse the pain signals to the brain. I had one implanted and while it was not a panacea for me, it did reduce my pain by about 50% and allowed me to reduce my daily pain med regimen.
Greebo64 Seafarer123
Posted
Hi
i already had facet joint pain as well as the bilertaeral leg sciatica pain, but i could cope with facet joint pain as it was not anywhere near as bad & it would come & go, i was suppposed to have had a Rhizotomy 4 years ago but it was cancelled....
i was messed around for too many years now so i had no choice but to opt for the decompression as i could not stand up straight 1st thing in a morning, however it got better as i moved around through the day but i really could not do anything too physical, the shock pain in the legs was really getting me down.
at the moment i am feeling really depressed just as was before the surgery.
The main reason i opted for the decompression is because i have to have hip revsion surgery on my left hip which i done 17 years ago & its worn out, but the hip consultant told me earlier this year he would not want to do this this surgery with my lower back being in the condition it was in, he said it could make my back worse..hey ho
i've got a follow up appointment on the 4rth Decemeber with the neuro surgeon & the one with the hip surgeon in May 2019, dont know where we go from here.
doreen18567 Greebo64
Posted
I'd say its very early days. I had all sorts of aches and pains post surgery and had the leg pain for a few weeks and then lower back pain. You dont say whether you're still on painkillers, and I assume you are given the pain you're experiencing, but give it time. Its a 3-month recovery period but Id give it another month and see how you are then. However, if you're worried about it get back in touch with your consultant and he will most likely arrange an MRI scan to see whats going on. That was what my consultant was going to do had my pain not subsided. Hope this helps.
lloyd32048 Greebo64
Posted
4 weeks and back pain leg pain doing what and as what i think is sensible,
no rush,
day by day ,
healed up nice
numb foot i have i had before back pain i had got a bit of a swollen leg foot and ankle but waiting on a double inguinal hernial operation my back surgeon said 3 months to be strong enough for the next operation ,
he said it wont take all the back pain away and might not bring back feeling to the foot but pee poo walk is the main thing when it gets to surgery level so no rush cheer up as mine aches as well and i think its normal so not to worry .
lloyd32048
Posted
well i say cheer up 😃 sorrry but ment not it in a nasty way as i feel the pain to so not to worry.
smile at the world and the world will smile back is another one i get told to do 😃 anyway wish all the best and slowly but surly onwards:-)
barney34567 Greebo64
Posted
I too had lumber spine surgery. During my convalescence often I would have spasms in my lower back. No pain in leg at all.
I was Rx'd flexeril which targets the central nervous system.
It worked BRILLIANTLY and I NEVER let the bottle out of my sight.
I used it on and off for a few months.
As others have said, the recovery is at least 3 months, so don't worry too much.
Pain following such a procedure is horrible but expected. Managing it well is the key.
Best of luck!