Herniated Disc

[akrapovic]

I herniated my L5-S1 and L4-L5. Pain is brutal. I've been doing physical therapy which has helped but it seems like results are mixed so far. I'm set up for a steroid shot in the back tomorrow and was looking to see if this has helped anyone with a similar injury. If this doesn't work I'm looking at surgery so wish me luck!!

Thanks in advance

[98ssnova]

I hope the shots work out for ya. Never had back problems hopefully never will but I am only 30

[awr68]

Oh man, I've felt that back pain before after a crushed vertebrae!! :wow:
Best of luck with the shot tomorrow and the rest of the recovery!!

[akrapovic]

Oh man, I've felt that back pain before after a crushed vertebrae!!
Best of luck with the shot tomorrow and the rest of the recovery!!

Thanks, brutal isn't it.


I hope the shots work out for ya. Never had back problems hopefully never will but I am only 30

Thanks, I hope they work too. I'm not a triathlete but up until my injury I ran 3 miles 3-5 times a week at 7-8 minute pace. Point is be careful, don't lift and twist while balancing yourself on a latter.....By the way I'm 29.

[mazspeed]

I have had the same thing on many occasions. I never considered surgery though. I took a lot of vicoden and saw my chiropractor, and used a lot of ice. Heat will make it worse. All the doctor would do is perscribe vicoden, and the chiropractor treated the problem.

[jbutlr]

If you have not already, try spinal decompression. It saved my old man from having surgery.

[camaro2nv]

L5-S1 For me. DONT DO SURGERY! Its just not worth the risk of making things worse. Ive had three surgeries and I still have a TON of pain. Im 34 and have two rods and screws in my back. I also have a full disk replacement. My back will never be the same. I now have upper back cramping so bad theres days I just cant take the pain. I feel for you but if I had to do it all over again I would have just lived with the pain I had.

[Spiffav8]

Stick with the physical therapy and take it very serious. In the long run that will help more than anything! It sucks...I know! Once your done keep going and working the areas that need it the most.

Best of luck to you!

[deuce_454]

most of the time it will limit it self and surgery wont be nesecary, most of the pain you are feéling isnt from the herniation but from the resulting swelling from the inflamation, so the steroid shot will help greatly and bring fast relief....

and surgery is somthing you should do if its nesecary, if you loose bladder or rectal sphincher controll its acute and surgery should be done within 24 hours if you want to regain contenency.... so its not a do or dont issue, but before you let a surgeon talk you into surgery (its his job and he had house payments to pay) be sure that its needed...

anyway, i wish you a speedy recovery

[bulldog19]

The shot will help. As the others have said yes continue the PT and do so for the rest of your life! I ruptured a disc when i was 22 visited a chiropractor for months then went to a Orthopedic surgeon who prescribed PT and Pain Management. After 6-months of this did not get any better so surgery needed to be done. I'm 39 now and have since had 2-discs removed and fusion since then. The disc removal/degeneration/fusion was a result of the original ruptured disc. In my case both operations were necessary. I got 3-opinions B4 making the decision on both surgeries. 1 thing that was discovered was that i had a narrowed spinal column that when there was any inflamation/swelling i would feel more discomfort than the average person. Keep up with the PT and follow the Dr.'s orders in regards to lifting, sitting etc. Also one thing that the chiropractor told me and i still do to this day is to no longer carry your wallet in back pocket but front pocket. Sitting on your wallet throws off the balance of your spine.

[Tiger]

pain down the legs.. ohh yes I know what you are talking about!
I had a major hernia, I and had my surgery nov 2007.
It wasnt indeed a normal surgery as they had to take the disc out and put two titanium spacers in instead, then it was four months waiting for fusion.
Some pain is still present from time to time but surgery had to be done because I was risking to be paralized.

If I were you I'd get three of four opinions and do the surgery if needed.

[chevyIIpost]

IMO 8 out of 10 Chiro's are qwacks!and just in it for the money. I have been to 12 Chiro's since is was 21 (now 44) and I have enjoyed the positive benefits of 3 of them. I still go once a month to Dr. Lockhart for maintaince and occasional problems. First injury was on the job resulting in a bulged/herniated disc that just about made me helpless because I was youg and tuff for too long. The good Lord was looking out for me and my First Chiro was a good one and he cared. I did all my PT and more and followed the Dr. instruction to the "T" and I have never had any further problems with this part of my Lumbar area. A motor cycle accident and a compression fracture in the T5 dicsc still gets grumpy if I don't take care of it. I do stretches and exercises regularly for maintainance. I also have an inversion pod that helps with decompression. IMO surgery would be my last stand and only done after alot of research. I have a friend that is a nurse at an orthopedic hospital. From what she has told me and described Doctors are much like mechanics, some bad, alot of average, and a few very good ones! Find the very good one as it will make a hugh differance if you go that direction. Start looking now while your head is clear and you are motivated because when you are at the point of needing surgery you will not be in a good frame of mind to make the BEST choice.

[Streetking]

I did the same thing about 5 years ago. My Dr. set me up for the shots. I did 3 in a row, one shot a week for 3 weeks. The first one helped about 15%, second one about 25% and the the 3rd one helped about 80%. He recommended me not to do surgery, he said that should be the last resort and he is a surgeon. He told me that I would always have some sort of back pain for the rest of my life and he was right. You will never be a 100% again, I can tell when I have over done it and you just have to take it easy..Hopefully the shots will help.

Good luck,

SW

[BRIAN]

If you needed surgery you would know it. Surgery is required when you have cord or nerve damages. If you have either you will loose strength in the associated part of your body. Certain middle back areas will cause you to loose feeling in your legs or even bowel control. Surgery does not usually correct pain issues unless the are associated with nerve damages or compression.

I think it is like 65% of Americans have herniated discs. Some do not know they even have them. Everybody has a different name from ruptured to slipped. If your disc was truly ruptured and hitting your spinal cord you would be in the hospital as you wouldn't feel a part of your body.

Injections do help but also be careful and make sure they are done by either an orthopedic surgeon or a certified pain mgt Doctor. Most back pain is muscle related caused by the body trying to correct itself from the disc movement.

Try a pilates based physical therapy and stay away from most chiro's. If you think your back hurts now think how it will feel after you operate on it. That is why you only get surgery to relieve loss of feeling or shooting pain not muscle pain in your back.

[Tony722]

Akrapovic, last July I pulled my back. hobbled around for 3 months thinking my back would get better. Back was killing me, sciatica made my foot numb and leg cramp. Finaly took advice from all friends and family and went to Doctor at Kaiser. Doc sent me to neurologist and ordered an MRI. Results came back. the Doc described my herniated disk as a "doosy". While waiting for MRI results, I consulted with a "cractopractor". Chiro. had a lot of experience with this kind of injury. He was an Olympic skier in the seventies and had similar injury. He suggested "spinal decompression". I went back to Kaiser Doctor to tell him about this spinal decompression. The Doc recommended a surgery. I told him that I wanted to think about it for a while and look more into decompressions. He smiled and said that the chiropractor would not hurt but that I would be back to get the surgery. I started decompressions in late Sept. It took almost 3 months for my back to unlock. sciatica pain faded but is still there. Chiro. said it takes 12 - 18 months for disc to heal. This journey has gone pretty much as the chiro. said it would. It's slow but it is working. I can walk normally and do most all activities but I'm very careful. Hope this helps and hope you fully recover.

[OLDFLM]

My wife has herniations at L4, L5 & S1... she goes in for her third shot on Friday. First one did nothing... second gave her relief for about a month... hopefully the third will get her to 80% like SW! It's really hard for her with our two small boys, 4.5 and 9 months! Especially with the baby weighing in at 25lbs and crawling around like he's got a 100hp NOS shot all the time! LOL

Best of luck to you!! Get the shots, do PT as eveyone has said, and stay away from the surgery if you can!

V/R,
Ty

[SS1156]

I'm in the same bost. A drunk driver hit me while I was riding my motorcycle. I was lucky enough to be alive, but my L3, L4 and L5 are ruptured. The best advice I can give is physical therapy and you might try accupuncture (spelling I know). I have done the chiropractic thing and it did help but I still have injury to my left shoulder and neck area. The chiro Dr didn't help that so I am going to try accupuncture next.

[cowboybob]

You definitley need to look into spinal decompression or actually google Vax-D (vertical axial decompression therapy) to find out if there are any Chiropractors or Doctors in your area with a Vax-D machine (I could get you the hook-up if you were in OKC).

You owe it to yourself to at least try this route before surgery. Believe me...I went throught the Vax-D therapy for two blown and three bulging discs and I'm so glad that I did that rather than surgery.

[Rybar]

I had a hernaited disc from playing hockey for over 2 years, many physio, chiropractic visits later, seeing specialists, x-ray, bone scan & CT-scan plus about 6 months or so of stretching and core excersises.

I finally started to feel better after after forcing myself to sleep on my back and geting a new memory foam mattress (I sell them so it was a no brainer)

I'd recommend one of these mattresses and FORCE YOURSELF to sleep on your back.

[warren1328]

I had a similar problem after years of Aus rules football & a desk job. Lasted about 1 year with all sorts of injections, physicl therapy etc. Finally saw a surgeon & after a bit of convincing, had the job done. Was laid up for 8 weeks bdfore I could do any exercise.
When I could get back into movement, he advised me to work myself as hard as I could & let my body (pain) tell me my limits. Ended up fitter than I'd been in 10 years & now, 4 years later, my back is still as good as ever.
My only suggestion to you would be, make up your own mind. Don't listen to the horror stories of the past or old wives tales, listen to your doc, & the little man in your head.
And good luck! I still remember the pain of that year & wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[bamadale]

i do MRI's daily on patients.IMO i would not have surgery unless depended on paralysis or urinary incontinence . i would also be very particular about the neurosurgeon,etc doing the surgery. do your research! i do scans on pt's that have had multiple surgeries and they are no better than before. do everything you can before having surgery. if you have surgery follow therapy and everything you possibly can.

[awr68]

Man we sure are ruff on our backs!! :faint:

[70rs]

Im 38 now and after surgery on both knees, right shoulder three times now and several back and neck injuries, I can tell you that surgery is not always the right way to go but it does work at times. Also physical therapy and chiro are very helpfull and have saved me from the knife even more than I care to remember. Bottom line is get several opinions and good doctors.

[akrapovic]

Well, 24 hrs later and I feel just about the same. Immediately after the injection my pain levels were brutal. The Dr. explained that the fluid injected may cause more pressure on the nerve root that was already being affected. There was pressure to say the least.

The good news is that the teeth grinding pain has subsided, the bad is I have not experienced immediate relief. The Doc said to give the steroids 3-5 days to start working. Wish me luck!!!!!

[akrapovic]

Spoke too soon......Pain is worse than before. I'm going in for a surgical consultation the first of next week.

[Spiffav8]

My wife had the injections done and it did help, but took few days to really kick in. This might sound odd, but we recently bought a new bed and that has done more for her back than anything! If I had only known! Might be worth looking into before you go under the knife. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

[akrapovic]

Well, apparently I need surgery. I'm getting a microdiscectomy tomorrow. Wish me luck! Looking forward to getting healthy so I can go back to a "normal" life.

[BRIAN]

WOW that is a quick decision by the surgeon. Be careful!! Like I said if you think it hurt before wait till you f with your spine. Hope it gets you the relief you want but most surgeons unless emergency surgery will have you on specific muscle relaxers and anti inflamatory medicines first. Didn't want to see the outcome of the series of shots?

How do they operate if you have been taking medicine? Usually you have to wait a week or two. How did you get an insurance co to pay that quickly? Usually only emergency room situations get that kind of action.

I am going to assume this is some sort of in and out laser surgery. Expensive and no warranty.

Hey good luck and be ready for some long therapy after.

[waynieZ]

Good luck with the surgery. I had the shots in my back they only helped a little, and then not at all. Mine is not herniated it is bulging and the next lower is sliding out to the side. But luckilly I don't need the surgery. Again good luck. My friend's son works for a company who make the replacement disc's He instructs the surgeons in the O.R. He said they do amazing stuff now a days.

[akrapovic]

Brian, I tried the anti-pain/inflams for 2 months. Tried a steroid pack followed by an epidural injection that made things worse. It got fast tracked because I have no feeling in my foot accept for my big toe. I have been sleeping about 1-2 hours a day for 2 weeks due to my "discomfort." I have exhausted every viable treatment which in addition to the above include physical therapy, accupuncture, spinal decompression, traction, chiro and stretching/manipulation by a D.O.

Long story short I appreciate your advice. I also realize you have no way of knowing the above info so this is not me crapping on you post. Thank you very much for the well wishes.

[sunset68]

One thing I have noticed over the years in my profession is everyone you talk to will have horror stories about surgical procedures. If you do your research when finding a surgeon, all will work out well. I've noticed the discectomy is a good option for people if spinal surgery is a must. It should mean a quick recovery and the integrity of the spinal joints stay intact at that level. Other surgeries, the fusion and laminectomy, involve a sacrifice of spinal mobility at that level, which over time may affect the levels above and below and generally involve a slower recovery\increased post-surgical pain. Good luck, I am sure all will go well.

Chris.

[awr68]

Best of luck! I hope you can get back to normal life soon! :cheers: