I have a degenerated disk in my lower back and its pushing into the nerves. Neurosurgeon rekons spinal fusion is possibly the only way to relieve the pain.

Seems like a pretty serious opp from what I have read on the net but have been unable to work and havnt surfed or kited for a while. Have tried physio, kiro, stretching, exersizes etc

Any one had any surgery on their spine. Please share your experieces.

Pm me if you like.

Thanks

I read an article the other day that there's a surgeon in Baltimore or somewhere who is now doing total disc replacement instead of fusion.

Here you go:

www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-xpm-2011-07-27-bs-hs-ask-the-expert-0728-20110727-story.html

Sounds like a pretty good process as an alternative to fusion.

Every case is different.

My spine is fused L1-L3 with a TPS.


I had a flying accident, that shattered L2, fractured T4 & T5... and snapped some ribs.

Prior to surgery I was in pain but everything worked. After the 10hrs surgery I spent 2 weeks in HELL and another 4 weeks in hospital. I woke up and it was like the farker had been beating my thighs with a cricket bat, my right leg was paralysed and it felt like a bag of wood chips had been wrapped tightly around my knee down to my foot and retrograde ejac., muscle cramps, hernias, cattle prod like electric shocks in my legs.

4 years on and the only day I'm not in pain, is the day I spend in bed.

Have you tried external support, like a kidney belt? How old are you and which disc? Does he want to go in from the side or back?

I don't know how things would have turned out without the surgery, but I think I would have preferred to spend 6months in bed under traction.

Gday guys

Thanks for the replys.

I am 39, the problem is L5 S1 disk. Looking at the MRI its quite obvious whats causing the pain as the disc is pushing into the nerves quite badly

I talked about a discectomy with the surgeon and he said unless you have sciatica pain down the leg and numbness down the leg it probably wouldnt help and that fusion would be the only option.

Im seeing another surgeon on monday and hoping he can come up with another option cause what ive read about fusions it can quite often end up worse than pre op.

I spose years of doing silly things(car crash, motorbike, etc) and a few work incidents has taken its toll on my spine

"walked like a old man for a while, and had to wear a brace, but i am all better now and I feel fine"

good to hear a positive story capt morg

"4 years on and the only day I'm not in pain, is the day I spend in bed."

Thes are the stories that kinda scare me a bit. sorry to hear yours didnt turn out to well flysurfer. And the doctor says he wants to come in from the front just under the belly button

Any way thanks, guess ive got some big decisions to make.

Cyus

I was told it was my only option for terrible sciatica/leg numbness that I had for several months and which was getting worse.

But, after a lot of reading on the web, I found out about the effects of hamstring avulsions (detaching of the muscle from the bone rather than tearing of the muscle). I ended up having my hamstring reattached under surgery, and while they were there they cleaned a heap of scar tissue out of the sciatic nerve (it had been pulling on the nerve causing my pain). Problem gone straight away and a much less full-on procedure than having spinal surgery.

The surgeon reckoned that hamstring avulsions are misdiagnosed as hamstring tears really often, and that loads of people with bad sciatica/lower back pain are suffering from the after effects of a hamstring avulsion.

Definitely worth looking into for anyone with bad back pain/sciatica who has had a bad hamstring tear (or what they thought or were told was a bad hamstring tear) before.

Yeah Im not to sure if it was "that" accident Mick or just a mix of all the things from my youth coming to bite me. Did have quite a few nasty accidents on the trail bike, surfing wipeouts ,and a few work related strains.

Being a lightweight I spose my body is not really designed for the work I have been doing for over 20 years.

I will be trying to find another option other than fusion but if thats what all the surgeons say I will have to make that decision when I get there.

cheers