Post OP L5-S1 Disectomy questions here..

Question

Monday (23rd of August 2010) I had a micro-disectomy performed on my L5 S1 region of my back. Today is Thursday and I have no relief whatsoever.. 

I am wondering if anyone here has an idea of how long it should take to recover from this procedure.. going into it I was told that it was possible that I could return to work the very next day.. obviously that was either a lie (to get me to agree to the surgery) or something went wrong in surgery that I haven't been made aware of.

If you know how long it should take me to get better from this any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance..

anuragsrivastava · Accepted Answer

Hi, Common complication of a normal discectomy is that there is a possibility that another fragment of disc will herniate and may cause similar symptoms. Therefore, endoscopic microdiscectomy is appropriate in some specific situations, and you may check this with your treating neurologist. Besides recovery from a discectomy procedure takes time (standard is six weeks) and as everyone is different it may vary as well.  Most of the times, one may experience back and leg pain during the recovery period. However, essentially you should avoid prolonged sitting, lifting heavy objects, bending, twisting and excessive exertion for the first three weeks. It is not like that you restrict all activities but you should gradually increase your physical activities over this period. Hope this helps.

Rld73 · Answer

Thanks Dr Srivastava,

I can actually move around a bit now.. but I am still having severe leg pain (nerve pain) 

I am going back to the Neuro-Surgeon next Wednesday so I will ask him what more needs to be done then.

I will say that I am shocked that I wasn't made aware of the intense recovery time that this procedure takes to get over.. I was told that this was a minimally invasive procedure and should be back to 100% very fast.. that was not at all the truth. If I have to have this done ever again I am going to request in-patient to be honest.. I don't think I should have even been at home that first day or 2 because of the intense pain and the fact that I was completely helpless during that time.. I couldn't even get out of bed by myself the first day.

Kalvin · Answer

I don't how long you had pain before you had surgery, but it makes a difference. If you had a nerve that was being pinched, it takes time for it to heal. I think you need to give it a little more time.

I don't know that much about these micro- disectomy surgeries, I had a traditional open back procedure and I could barely walk 4 days after surgery. Just give it a little more time.


Take Care

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