I was diagnosed with DDD at L4-S1 at 34 years old. At first, the pain in the backs and sides of my legs was intermittent and stopped at the calf. After three years, however, the pain (aching, burning) was almost constant and went into the bottoms of both feet (worse between the calf and heel). Over this same period, MRI's/CT showed more compression of the central spine and nerve roots.
I tried the conservative treatments, but finally decided to have a laminectomy in 2006. My legs felt great for a couple weeks after surgery, but the pain quickly returned to presurgical levels (and worse). An EMG ordered by by surgeon came back normal.
I recently had a revision fusion (translateral with instrumentation). I was told that the lamina had regrown to an inch thick! Again, my pain relief was almost complete after surgery. Now, 10 weeks later, the pain feels very much like it did before surgery (same quality, intensity, location). When I asked about this at my 6 week follow up, I was told it was still early considering the surgery (cutting through the inch of gnarled scar and bone).
My question is whether "it's still early" is still a reasonable explanation for my pain? How long might one expect nerve pain to linger after decompression? I'm starting to think my leg pain is unrelated to my back. What other conditions should I know about? A little hope would be nice, but reality is more important to me. It's disheartening to recover from two surgeries, missing months of work, only to learn they didn't work. A new path to explore would at least give me something productive to think about. Thanks!