Life after spinal fusion

[watsnext]

Well my question is pretty simple. In dec '09 I had my L4/L5/S1 fused, since then I have went through several tests, exams and pt. Now my current MRI shows that the L5/S1 disc is bulging and I have Arachnoiditis disease. According to my doc, he says this is all normal. That is my question. Is this all normal and am I going to spend the rest of my life in this type of pain? The pain feels like I never even had surgery. I hope this will all go away, so I can get on with my life with my family.
Help please

[Kellyjean62]

Dr. please read more carefully. The pain is severe!!! Just like mine. I know about scar tissue etc... Those soft tissue damage does not cause the amount of pain we are experiencing. It gets very tiring going around the mountain over and over. Just want a solution weather it be more surgery or what. The pain is too great for that. The question is with bulging disks after fusion will we be needing more surgery to help deal with the immense amount of pain with this???? Thank you .Kellyjean, dying in pain.

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you for your question. Your symptoms could be suggestive of either some nerve injury or a pressure on the nerve after the fusion surgery. Another possibility in your case could be damaged the soft-tissues such as muscles or underlying skin. However, it is essential to clarify that nerve injury does not necessarily mean complete injury to the nerve and it may be either edema or some type of compression of nerve by a blood clot or scar formation. I would recommend you to see a neurologist who can evaluate the details of your case and could better determine the insight of your situation. Hope this helps.