Recovery Series: Recovery After Lumbar Microdiscectomy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- Dr. Kimball explains the recovery process following a lumbar microdiscectomy procedure. Learn what to expect as far as recovery times, recommended activity levels and outcome following this spinal surgical procedure.
I just had a L3-L4 discectomy. 6 months of hip pain and inner leg numbness gone when I woke up from surgery! Praise the the Lord Jesus Christ! The King of Kings & Lord of Lords!
In 2005 I had L4/L5 miscrodiscetomy . I was back work in month and playing softball in 13 weeks . 19 yrs later not even an ache . I didn’t have any pain after 2 weeks post surgery . I may have got lucky but was best thing I have have done
Thank you for making this video.
Just had surgery and was not told these important things to know!!
Hi guys n gals! I had L4-L5 microdiscectomy. I’m on day 23 post-op, with no painkillers throughout. Only taking Naproxen and Gabapentin and 1 muscle relaxer in the evening. I’ve had 5 good days in a row, I’m down to a nagging sort of light pain in my spine! Awesome! The first few weeks I had surgical type pain and butt pain, kind of scary, but Naproxen really helps, and it’s gone now. I was on my feet for 4 hours yesterday and it came back a little in my butt. So, I got off my feet. I’m starting to feel ok about bending/ turning very carefully now. If it hurts, STOP. Still taking it very easy, this healing takes time. I would strongly recommend using a tight back brace the first couple weeks. It helps unwanted movements. Eat lots of clean protein and drink lots of water. Weeks 2/3 were a bit of a roller coaster, but keep your heads up! It gets better!
I just had L3-L4 discectomy, I have a back brace but the doctor specifically said not to wear it, they said it could make it worse.
Just had mine yesterday , it is not a pleasant pain at all. I am glad I went through your comment it gave me hope . Hope you feel full recovery soon
Hi Matthew - did the gabapentin give any side-effects? During my recovery I was prescribed Pregabalin which is a similar drug and honestly, it was horrendous. When my prescriptions finished I suffered a severe withdrawal, like a proper addiction thing. It was like a mini-psychotic episode for 7-10 days. Very scary!!
Surgery in 4 days ,this gave me a little more confidence to whats coming. Sounds like its going to suck but can't be much worse than life right now , thanks again
@@MyTormented I guess he died lol
How are you now?
I had this surgery done 3 weeks ago. I feel so grateful! I hope my recovery will go well and will never feel this pain again.
For years I have been sharing Water Exercises on my channel and teaching in person and have helped so many people with a back pain... and boomer! I herniated my disc myself :(
Thank for sharing these tips !
How are now can you please share your experience mam
@@gmedia9838 I am 5 months after the surgery. Feel great! I do lots of Aqua Aerobic and swim and bought myself an inversion table . I also do Pilates. No pain :) I feel so happy :)
@@ondemandaquaworkouts thnx a lot for your reply
@@gmedia9838 no problem. From my experience I can say: if you know what caused disk hernia ( being overweight, being a car driver, lifting heavy weights, or whatever) you can not do it again or I think it will happen again. That is why it is so important to understand what was the reason it happened and change the lifestyle. Surgery solves the pain problem. In most cases, but if you are not careful…. this problem may come back :( I wish you best of luck ! Check my channel for some Aqua Exercises which are the best!!!!
@@ondemandaquaworkouts hello I just found out I have a L5 s1 disc bulge to the left. I have back pain when I sit but no leg pain. Do u have a disc bulge/ back pain or only leg pain. Also I only hurt when I sit not when I'm trying to sleep. Did you heal up completely? If so how long did it take and what did u do to heal ? Please help 😊🙃 also my back used to get tight when I lay down for bed but since I started back exercises 4 weeks ago. It doesn't get tight when I lay down only when I drive or sit. Are u 100% healed or do u still have back pain? Did u get surgery? Are you having any complications after surgery?
Thank you so much for this information! I just had a microdiscectomy yesterday and this was so helpful!
How was it, could you tell me more about your experience please?
How was yours ? Can you tell me about yours? I had mine done 11/30/21
@@Drzwheeliez How do you feel now? I just had mine yesterday and still have the same pain radiating from hip down the leg
I had to have another microdiscectomy in December on L3/L4. I now feel almost zero sciatic pain. I spent a day and a half in the ICU on Ketamine after the second surgery due to a botched nerve block. Which also left me with nerve pain going down my left leg for about a month, slowly went away thank gad! I would recommend this to anyone with sciatic pain. And don’t wait. The longer the bulging disc presses on the nerve the less effective the surgery is as far as pain relief. My surgeon told me think of your nerve as a memory foam pillow on steroids. So the quicker you can get that pressure off the nerve the better! DONT WAIT! DOOO IT!
@@Drzwheeliez I just found out I have a L5 s1 disc bulge to the left. I have back pain when I sit but no leg pain. Do u have a disc bulge/ back pain or only leg pain. Also I only hurt when I sit not when I'm trying to sleep. Did you heal up completely? If so how long did it take and what did u do to heal ? Please help 😊🙃 also my back used to get tight when I lay down for bed but since I started back exercises 4 weeks ago. It doesn't get tight when I lay down only when I drive or sit. Are u 100% healed or do u still have back pain? Did u get surgery? Are you having any complications after surgery?
Had a l4l3 discectomy a few weeks ago. Pain has not changed from before the operation. My main problem was that it took me over 2 months to convince the medical profession that I was was in pain. They wanted me to go to physical therapy even before they would give me a MRI. I spent 2 months living in a recliner in my family room. The muscles in my body wasted away. Now I not only have the pain, I have weakness all over. Still living in my recliner. 80 years old and ready for the grave.
Where is the next video for after 1 week for nerve gliding
Hello doc. I have underwent a lumbar discectomy surgery last month.. is there any permanent restrictions for me to follow throughout the life!!
Very helpful, I had my surgery 2.5 weeks ago, no back pain, but throbbing ( inflammatory) L5 S1 pain especially after sitting, no weakness , no numbness walking is helping, the pain is much less than what it was before surgery, for pain, combination of Naproxen & gabapentin
Hi, I’m getting this Monday. How long after this will I be able to drive? Also do you lay down on your back while recovering for the first week?
@@MrGutierrez701 I just found out I have a L5 s1 disc bulge to the left. I have back pain when I sit but no leg pain. Do u have a disc bulge/ back pain or only leg pain. Also I only hurt when I sit not when I'm trying to sleep. Did you heal up completely? If so how long did it take and what did u do to heal ? Please help 😊🙃 also my back used to get tight when I lay down for bed but since I started back exercises 4 weeks ago. It doesn't get tight when I lay down only when I drive or sit. Are u 100% healed or do u still have back pain? Did u get surgery? Are you having any complications after surgery?
How are you now Bob?
Hi everyone, so this is my MRI opinion result the rest is normal
(L5-S1 degenerative disc disease with disc protrusion in the midline. There is bilateral sS1 nerve root encroachment with mild displacement of the left S1 nerve. There is mild left foramen Stenosis.)
I am terrified in doing surgery I did retraction, physical therapy did not help, took every muscle relaxer you can think of so work some didn’t. My nerve is irritated not damaged. I have sciatica nerve pain so everything hurts on the left side and dew to compensating for that side the right side of my leg is killing me.
Any information would help because I’m terrified of the surgery along side the recovery.
Do you know much about the Barricaid Annular Closing Device?
Hi Doctor
50 yr old male. Had double microdisectomy L4-L5 & L5-S1 10 weeks ago. The L5 one was the bad one with big rupture, had to be done.. the surgeon said he did the other 'while he was there' as there was potential for it go in future.
I never had back pain prior, I just woke up one day and was unable to move! The symptoms were all in the butt and left leg. Since surgery I had bad spells 1-2 weeks after and then about 4 weeks after with horrendous sciatica and spasms etc. But they passed in a few days each time.
However, my issue is even now, I still have sciatic symptoms in lower leg and ankle area. And also my left hip is so sore. Sitting down for any period sets this off. I have had my 1 and 2 month follow ups with my surgeon and the disc(s) is fine. But for 2nd monthly follow up I had an MRI with the dye in my system and it showed considerable fibrosis in the area of the surgery.
Does this go away? Will this fibrosis cause the issue to be permanent? I am walking and swimming but the pain is causing me to be paranoid about doing strength exercises. Should I start some more intensive physio for example?
Thank you
Has the fibrosis gone now ? facing a similar problem .....
@@samali6109 Hi Sam. I'm happy to say, yes the fibrosis did go away. I posted my comment almost 3 months after my surgery. I would say that the issue took another couple of months to fade gradually until it was no longer evident.
During that time I continued physio to regain almost full mobility in my back / hip area. Then, once I felt confident enough, I flew to stay with a friend (also my boss) who is a master Pilates instructor and for 6 weeks he worked on my back / core etc. with me and so in January this year, 7 months after the surgery, I would say that I was 100% confident in my back again and was symptom free. I even started playing golf again in Feb / March this year without any problems.
Now, I am just a little stiff each day in the lower back and hamstrings when I wake up and needs to stretch it out a little..... but I think part of that is just getting older too and I know I will always have to just 'manage' that area now.
I would say to you that, having been through the process, I completely understand it is hard when having had the surgery, the 'fix' doesn't appear to come quickly enough. Every day felt like a week and every week like a month just waiting and waiting for everything to settle down and return to normal. But just do the right things, look after yourself and when it becomes possible, work on the specific area that needs repair / strengthening and you will get there. It doesn't happen overnight and was a gradual process, but you will get there. Seeing your comment made me remember that period, but now just 1 year on (my surgery was 22nd June last year) I never think of it at all.
I truly hope that like me, 9 months from now (which I know seems forever when the pain is there as it is for you now), you will have made a full recovery.
Good luck!! :)
I am on week six and I have severe pain from bending over, I am still very sore. Is that normal?
Just thinking about falling on my ass right now, today 3 weeks post op it hurt just thinking about it. Omg, I won't be falling on my ass.
Hello,
I have a question regarding core engagement. I just recently had a microdiscectomy (5 days ago). And I had previously learnt how to engage my transverse abdominals correctly. My core is at its strongest it’s ever been and have learnt how to engage pretty much all the muscles around my torso (obliques, rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques). I wanted to know how much I should be engaging my core at this time and if there is any danger in engagement at all? I was worried I would put too much compression on my lower back by too much engagement. . Or is it good that I am engaged, I’ve heard it supports your back like a internal corset. Could you advise please?
Thank you very much doc. I’m considering a microdiscecomy as I have herniations at L3/4, L4/5 & L5/S1. I’m wondering as you said the muscle damage will be minimum, I’m assuming that was talking about a single level discectomy. If however in my case it is 3 levels, would the muscle damage be significant and therefore would surgery be unadvisable?
Hey Ahmed. I wanted to reach out quickly to see what you’ve done with this, if anything.
I found out on 4/11 that I the exact same thing as you with a smaller herniation at L3/L4 and the L4/L5 at 9mm-causing a tear at the L5/S1. I had the jelly from the disc leaking out and that led to severe pain in the upper part of my left leg (down through the back of my knee), numbness and tingling in my foot, and a loss of strength in my big toe.
I had a discectomy at L4/L5 on 4/20 (I work for the hospital and am a single mom to a young toddler, so we moved very quickly with this). I’m now 4 days post-surgery and would be happy to share my story with you as I go through recovery if you’re looking for any guidance. Of course each person may have a different outcome, but the similarities in our “injuries” might make us more similar with our experience.
To answer your question about the muscle damage, it would depend on whether or not the doctor suggests you get multiple discs removed. For me, they said the L4/L5 was the primary culprit of the issues I was experiencing, and suggested we only do surgery there in order to relieve the pain; I am guessing the thought is that the other issues will begin to resolve themselves while I am in recovery from this surgery-but to be honest I never truly bothered to dig further into that. After working in healthcare for more than a decade, I tend to go with whatever the doc tells me (which may or may not be a good thing...).
Day 1 (post-op)- I felt absolutely amazing the day after my surgery. I was still on my meds and the pain was completely gone. Not searing/burning in the butt/leg, and not numbness or tingling in the foot. I walked as instructed, drank a gallon of water (I do this each day, anyway), ate healthy, and moved every 30 minutes unless I was sleeping. I was so pleased with my decision to have the surgery!
Day 2 - almost identical to day 1, though I did notice more swelling this day. I found log-rolling in and out of bed was much more difficult on the second night than it was the first, however.
Day 3 - Yesterday was difficult. I started to wean off my meds as early as possible so I can return to work remotely by May 3 (even though I could take a full 4-6 weeks, I do not feel that is necessary when I have a job that I am lucky enough to be able to do from home. Plus I get bored when my daughter is at daycare). I noticed first thing in the morning that the pain in my leg was back as was the tingling in my foot when I was in certain positions, or when I was walking per the PT instructions. I am very lucky that my mom was able to be here for me to help with socks, shoes, and pants-because I absolutely cannot do those things on my own without bending or twisting. Getting in and out of bed continues to be the hardest part of the day for me. I should note that I am 5’9”, 180, so a bit high after giving birth-and I think this definitely contributes to some of the issues I’m having. I also sat more this day than the others, and sitting is the worst position to be in during the day since it puts the most pressure on your spine.
I twisted last night on accident and was in excruciating pain for about 5 minutes before it went away. Unfortunately I think I’m not unconsciously keeping my lower body tense to avoid BLT, but that is not good either.
Day 4 - Today I felt better when I woke up, though I still have the tingling in my foot and pain in the back of my thigh and butt. The doctor warned me that this would likely happen for at least 6 weeks (if not longer) as my nerve recovered from the initial injury/compression from the bulging disc. I was up and walking more today that the past few days (store runs for the necessities!), and I think that has helped.
Not so cute issues below ‼️
The worst thing for me right now is-so glamorous!-the constipation. The doctors give you a heads up on this, but (for me at least) they made it sound like it wasn’t that likely. The oxycodone has definitely impacted me in this regard though as I am incredibly regular, but have now had issues since the surgery. In addition to just feeling full and gross, this also impacts your back pain. I finally went and got some milk of magnesia today, and am hopeful it will help me by tomorrow. (Please! 🙏)
Overall, I’m glad that I had the surgery. I do believe that it will help me in the long run-but the return of the pain/numbness, issues with the log-roll, and the constipation are things that definitely mess with your quality of life for the recovery time and should be considered.
Hey there! I had my microdiscectomy on my L4/L5 11/30/21 and your story is quit similar to mine, slightly overweight, day 1 dilauded no pain lala land, second day some slight pain/Numbness, & Even the constipation lol looks like it’s been 7 months since you’ve posted this. Can you give us newbies some good news? Hopefully you’re fully recovered and pain free! I don’t wish this on anyone!
@@Drzwheeliez How are you now?
@@nicoleay9356 I’m on day 6 post after a l5-s1 Microdiscectomy! My experience was very similar, at first, all my shooting leg pain had gone away but started to get worried when I felt residual leg pain on day 3 until now… does it go away?
@@analuciagarcia-rt3ht sorry to hear you’re having a similar experience-and sorry for the delay in responding!
The residual pain did end up going away after about 6 months-it just took longer for the nerve to heal because I had let it get so bad for so long. I just had to be patient and then it was okay ☺️
Then I re-herniated L5 shortly after the new year in 2022. I was mortified AND terrified about what that would mean, but took things easy for 6 weeks and was completely fine again after that.
I wake up stiff and occasionally have pain in the morning, but if I take ibuprofen before bed I’m completely fine! Just continuing to avoiding trampoline parks 😉
I hope you’re starting to have more relief. I know the waiting is the hardest, but it’s worth it in the end to go slow for now 😁 Best of luck!
Hello hows your back now you can do all moves now,,, plsss respond 🙏🙏
I would like to know also
If I had 3 BULGING amd 3 hernias L4 thru S1 surgery same recovery?
I just found out I have a L5 s1 disc bulge to the left. I have back pain when I sit but no leg pain. Do u have a disc bulge/ back pain or only leg pain. Also I only hurt when I sit not when I'm trying to sleep. Did you heal up completely? If so how long did it take and what did u do to heal ? Please help 😊🙃 also my back used to get tight when I lay down for bed but since I started back exercises 4 weeks ago. It doesn't get tight when I lay down only when I drive or sit. Are u 100% healed or do u still have back pain? Did u get surgery? Are you having any complications after surgery?
Is it normal to have numbness and burning sensation in the foot after surgery?
How is it now
If you had nerve damage before then yeah. But things might get better over time.
Will get away brcause the spine canal recover from push
HOw long does it take for the sciatica to go after surgery?
I wanna know too, I barely started therapy and all of a sudden I started having back pain again.
How are you now?
in my case the pain was gone right after surgery. I got herniated disc in L4 L5.
Hello Sir, I have recently underwent this surgery, this vedio is so informative. The back pain is totally went but the numbness in right leg is still there. The doctors said it will take time to recover.
Please tell me
1. How long will it take to recover the numbness And do I need to do physiotherapy.
2. How long I have to avoid BTL? Even to tie my shoe lace and wear my cloths.
How long it took for you to go the numbness
Afternoon doctor I got a microdiscectomy 4 weeks ago and have massive siatiaca down the right leg I went to A&E sat seen a orthopedics doctor and was told everything was OK part of the recovery but could be reherniated disc the surgeon called me today and is sending me for a mri but he didn't really talk me through the op he said he was observation on the operation and a large part of the disc was removed I was fine for 3 weeks just a little niggle but now massive pain am on co codamol and gabapentin but not working I think I've reherniated what happenes if I have this is my 2nd L4 microdiscectomy since 2017 and 2020 can you please advise thank you I live in UK
How are you getting on now fella? I had L5 MD 8 weeks ago and still getting pre op symptoms. I’m worried iv reherniated. Gonna try an get referred for another MRI from my GP.
Cheers mate
@@DM-yq3pr how are you doing?! Seems we’ve had the same issues. I had my surgery about 3 weeks ago and was doing good. Doc said I should get some walking in. After that I’ve been in excruciating pain. What’s was your experience like?
@@Eriknorth87 hello mate.. I’m nearly a year post op now.. off medication all together still get some mild symptoms in my hamstring area.. nothing too intense tho. I went for private physio and he said it’s something called adverse neural tension.. the nerve still thinks it’s job is to carry pain signals down the leg as that’s what it done for the about a year so it adapts.. I like to think I’m coming to the end of it now tho..my back still feels a bit clunky but I think that’s down to weakness and instability as I hadn’t exercised for over a year
@@Eriknorth87 I just found out I have a L5 s1 disc bulge to the left. I have back pain when I sit but no leg pain. Do u have a disc bulge/ back pain or only leg pain. Also I only hurt when I sit not when I'm trying to sleep. Did you heal up completely? If so how long did it take and what did u do to heal ? Please help 😊🙃 also my back used to get tight when I lay down for bed but since I started back exercises 4 weeks ago. It doesn't get tight when I lay down only when I drive or sit. Are u 100% healed or do u still have back pain? Did u get surgery? Are you having any complications after surgery?
@@freestylebully4849 so far I’ve been doing great. It took about 3-4 months to be pain free. For a while I was getting worried because I had started getting better then suddenly I was in excruciating pain that would shoot down my leg, which before the surgery I never really had much leg pain. The doc gave me more steroids and it almost instantly went away. Since then I’ve been great! I’ll get some minor aches in my back but nothing like that nerve pain. If you do go the surgery route I’d look for a doctor that can do it Endoscopic that way you’ll have a shorter recovery. I’m nervous to get back to the gym though.
9 days post op and let me say wow this is a crazy experience
Can you specify I'm nervous and have a surgery scheduled Tuesday
I’m also interested, just had mine 11/30/21 end of day two as I type this. Some pain is retuning and some pain I didn’t have before hahah hopefully this gets better, as I really do not want fusion.
@@Drzwheeliez how is it I got mine and been in a lot of pain
I feel much better now! All is well! Hopefully you start feeling better as well!
@@Drzwheeliez I'm 10 months in of back pain. I found out I have a disc buldge at L5 s1 I've tried physical therapy, chiropractor, decompression exercises, deep tissue massages, medicine, etc nothing helps. I'm scheduled tommorrow for a steroid injection. My doc said if it helps with the pain surgery will help the pain go away. I have back pain on my left side when I sit not when I walk or stand. Has your pain went all the way away after surgery? Are u back 100% b4 your injury or only at 70%
I just had L5S1 microdecompression, microdiscectomy, and the H something where they shave the spine, yesterday 1/10/23, what tips do you have for bed? I can't seem to find a position that will help relieve the sciatic pain, and what feels like all my muscles are trying to cramp me into a taco. It happens after getting back into bed, finding my"comfy" spot
How are you now? Did they have to shave away bone to access the herniation?
@Chester Copperpot yes they did, I am better now, I still have the issues with being bone on bone at L5S1
@@celesteledesma3288 so because they removed the herniation you are now bone on bone? Or did your injury cause bone on bone ?
@@vlsr71 yes they did, I am better ish, I am still experieanceing some actual pain and nerve damage.
@@vlsr71 the injury caused the bone on bone. And caused my disc to fuse to my nerves. So now that I am about 4 months post surgey, I still have issues due to my "bag of rocks" as I call it.
I am currently 10 days post L5-S1 microdisectomy . I have been walking daily, but still feel nerve pain when I sit and I can not extend my left leg still and have a lot of nerve pain when I do that. Is that normal? I have been walking about a mile or so (slow pace) which walking feels good but will I get full ROM in my legs back? Is it too early to start some stretching?
Hi I'm 3 days post op
I've got no more pins and needles but more pain down my leg then I did before I had it done I hope this goes away
Sounds like they didn’t do the correct level. Which is what happened to me. 1st surgery was Nov 30th 2021 on L4/L5 and still had sciatic pain, 2nd surgery on L2/L3 Dec 11th worked wonders! Get another MRI and possible a second opinion if you can. Hope you find relief!
@@Drzwheeliez surgeon said its because of the amount of swelling is why I'm experiencing it . But we will see. Day 10 now slowly getting better I hope I don't need a 2nd op
@@paulchappell2552 How are you now bro?
@@Sunil-wi4yw I'm alot better thanks I had complications along the way. I.e severe muscle spasms and infection. But hope over them now. Not as strong as before. But will build up to that. Started non heavy exercises now. Walking good too. Only issue I have now. Still very stiff when getting up from sitting.
Can I ride my bike? Walk with my wife?
What about the depression after this surgery. Why not mention it to your patients that depression is common and to seek help after if experiencing it? This surgery ruined my life and my career.
I wish someone told me too. I might have sought help sooner.
How did it ruin your life? Genuine question btw.. I had this surgery 8 weeks ago.. interested to see how other people are getting on
@@DM-yq3pr I've lost my dream job and I loved the gym and anything outdoors. Now I am in pain almost everyday. Im only 30 and now have to live with chronic pain for the rest of my life. The depression affected my ability to think straight and I did something that I thought was helping myself but it was only hurting myself.
@@mathewarnold8624 When was your op? Have you been told things will not get better? Where abouts do you live?.. I’m lucky that I’m in the uk and prescriptions don’t cost a fortune and that iv found something that works for pain ( gabapentin) .. I too loved training.. gym.. martial arts etc.. iv been swimming a bit and cycling.. after my op I went from 16 painkillers a day to 8 and I’m told it will improve it’s just a slow process.. I really hope things improve for you fella.. I’m only 38 myself and have 2 small kids.. thankfully I done this injury at work and my work is government so they can’t exactly sack me. Stay strong lad ✌️
@@mathewarnold8624 feel you, I herniated my disc of 9mm at 15 weightlifting. I play baseball and still try to lift weights but damn it hurts so much. I’m praying for surgery to fix it