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Surgery Monkies...

blackohio

Generous jaywalker
Mar 12, 2009
2,773
122
Hellafornia. Formerly stumptown.
Anyone here hah lower back surgery? Every 6 months or so now I completely blow my lower back out, putting me in the most severe pain ever. Last time was so gnarly I had to go to the hospital for a Dauladid shot and a $800 bill.

So, I'm seriously considering this and wanted to see if anyones had anything like this done. I hear mixed reviews of it being a waste, of being a problem solver.

what I feel like when this happens at 37
http://www.800painfree.net/Images/BackPainOldLady.jpg
 

Deano

Monkey
Feb 14, 2011
233
0
im 38, have a lower back issue with a disc, not serious enough for me to risk surgery, but once or twice a year i blow it out and am in bed for 1-2 weeks straight.

I have had good results with acupuncture - and im NOT a fan or believer of alternative methods.

but after years of chiropractors etc, and other experts putting me through varous kinds of torture etc, i caved in and used acupuncture, and its done me wonders.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Had a friend with surgery but he had degenerative disc disease because of weight lifting. It helped him a lot. I'd say find a doctor that works a lot with athletes and back problems is his specialty and see what he says.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Have you tried physical therapy? Strength Training? Chiropractor? Deep Tissue massage? Those are all things you should try first before even considering surgery, for anything basically. Surgery should always be a last resort.
 

rgunn26

Chimp
Jun 12, 2011
37
0
This is a tough issue,with so many Dr's opinions all over the board.The cautious approach would be to dig deep and do everything you can to avoid surgery(phyisical therapy,strength training,diet,decompression.)I had a partial discectomy of both L-5 and S-1(the two lowest discs) 10 years ago. This march I had L-5 herniate again,along with S-1 buldeging. The nerve was so pinched I lost reflexes and some movement in my foot. When I seen a surgeon,I was told surgery was needed asap, and that because it was a repeat injury, a radical multi-level fusion was needed.
I opted to try physical therapy before surgery. I'm on my 5th week of pt now and seeing great results. Turns out I don't need surgery, and should be working again in a few weeks. I'm aiming for Aug. to DH again.
Different things work for different people. I'm seeing results with diligent p.t.,decompression,and diet.
If it's disc problems, there may be helpful info here-http://www.healyourbulgingdisc.com/best-resources.html
 

squiby

Chimp
Jul 26, 2010
91
13
My Dad had 5 vertebrae fused in his late 30s almost 20 years ago.

He did pretty good for the first 10 years but has had issues since and is in bad shape now. He has problems at each end of the fused vertebrae as his spine is no longer a continuous supple curve. The fused section creates leverage points and this is where his back is breaking down now.

This was nearly 20 years ago so the surgery proceedures used may have improved now. I think physiotherapy has improved too, so he may have had better results with todays techniques if he had followed through with the exercises and core strengtening etc.. What I take from it is that the surgery is a last resort and once you have it done you can't go back and in his situation you can not do it again. So your done.

Using other things to relieve the situation and techniques to strenthen the vulnerable area woulld be the first thing to truely exhaust. Then if you eventually do need surgery you will be a step ahead with the conditioning of your back, better able to follow through with the physio and continue strengtheniing post surgery for a longer recovery.

Good luck with it!!
 
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Laminectomy, foraminotomy, discectomy may be a reasonable solution if you have documented radiculopathy and legit mri findings. The mechanism being a bone spur or chronic herniated disc impinging on nerves causing inflammation. Thusly, surgery to remove that impingment should help. I would pursue surgery only if PT and/or steroid injections have failed.

My opinion on fusions, unless there is myelopathy (pain + tingling/numbness +weakness), is they dont work well, at least not over time. When you fuse segments of vertebrae together, the load/stress just gets redistributed to the ends of the fusion, eventually premature wearing occurs in the adjacent unfused vertebrae. In almost all cases, redo fusions extend the length of the original fusion because of the aforementioned mechanism.

Also, no offense intended, but if u are overweight, losing weight also will help.
 

jwick

Chimp
May 19, 2008
60
0
If you haven't seen it yet, this thread has a lot of discussion...

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f19/bulging-disc-outcomes-248597/

I posted in there somewhere about my two lower back surgeries.

Depending on how bad the mri looks you should probably exhaust any and all PT type work first imo.

The underlying problem can be a difficult and illusive thing to pinpoint. Be patient and conservative. Remember, whatever a surgeon cuts out is not necessarily going to grow back or leave you in a good position later in life. I'm quite happy the outcome and with where I am now, but I'm only 38. Fingers crossed for the long haul.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
My opinion on fusions, unless there is myelopathy (pain + tingling/numbness +weakness), is they dont work well, at least not over time. When you fuse segments of vertebrae together, the load/stress just gets redistributed to the ends of the fusion, eventually premature wearing occurs in the adjacent unfused vertebrae.

Bingo, it's just mechanics, not magic. Your back is designed to work a certain way, with certain moving parts and certain ways to bear loads, etc. Anytime you change that...well...it's not ideal. I don't think I know anyone with a join replacement, fusion, etc. who is "happy" with it, or maintains sufficient mobility to do things like DH or moto as well as they had hoped.
 

blackohio

Generous jaywalker
Mar 12, 2009
2,773
122
Hellafornia. Formerly stumptown.
There's honestly more than enough info here to keep it off as an option. I dont 100% trust anyone saying I need something where they could potentially benefit financially from creating that motivation.

I've always had a **** back, seems most men on my fathers side do in the family. Mines a bit more complicated as 20 years of skateboarding, boozing and whoring have done a number on my spine. Ive always had chronic lower back pain since my early 20's and most of the time being 6'2" ant at most 190lbs. Now I wont lie at 37 I could stand to loose weight and thats certainly something I work towards. I've not done legit PT but I had a roomie who played rugby and had lower bad surgery and did well afterwards and followed his PT routine at the gym and home when/how I could. Things were good for many years. 2.5 years ago riding some urban DH I cased a big stair section and it immediately felt like someone stabbed my spine with a molten lead spike. I almost literally crawled home where I remained for the better part of a week and a half in severe pain until a street pharmacist got me some pain killers. I did alot of stretches, workout after that and things were well until one day here in portland I bent over to pick up my dogs **** and crumbled. 20 minutes later I was yelling at my girlfriend because of the pain. Trip to the hospital and a shot later I was strolling around like haters gonna hate.

This am's situation was much the same but minor. I still soldiered up and rode houseman and thrillium and I think that simple act of not resting has helped me today.

I think im gonna look into some PT as well as acupuncture/chiro on the short term side and let the weight loss/strengthening work in the long run.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
I find regular situps and core strengthening do wonders for my back, I have sh1tty posture and sit at a computer all day which leads to back problems literally every time I stop working out.
 

worship_mud

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2006
1,464
2
Anyone here hah lower back surgery? Every 6 months or so now I completely blow my lower back out, putting me in the most severe pain ever. Last time was so gnarly I had to go to the hospital for a Dauladid shot and a $800 bill.

So, I'm seriously considering this and wanted to see if anyones had anything like this done. I hear mixed reviews of it being a waste, of being a problem solver.

what I feel like when this happens at 37
http://www.800painfree.net/Images/BackPainOldLady.jpg
:eek:

more and more i wonder, why anyone would be AGAINST mandatory health insurance....

on topic: i hope your back heals well!
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Literally it cost me $800 to have a doc walk ask a few qUestions then have a nurse give me a shot. That was it.
Do you not have insurance? If so then that's another HUGE reason to not have back surgery.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Literally it cost me $800 to have a doc walk ask a few qUestions then have a nurse give me a shot. That was it.
And you paid asking price? NEVER pay retail with medicine, never ever ever. There is no relationship between what it costs them, and what retail price is. Just demand to pay less.