My cousin had spinal fusion I don't know what part was fused just lower back. She says she now has nerve damage from the surgery causing numbness in her leg and foot and the pain is still there. My L5 was all jacked up and my doctor told me surgery was my only option. I found a chiropractor that got me better. Chiropractors are not for everyone but worked for me. Just curious how old are you?
you might want to try drinking more water, stretching you hamstrings, strengthening your core, and drinking more water hope things work out for you
Thanks, stretching definitely was helping for a while. I've gotten to where my muscles aren't spasming which reduces a lot of the pain and allows me to move. Doctor recommended drinking more water to help fill the disc back up, but it's beyond repair at this point -- it was just total black space on the MRI.
A good acupunturist who's knowledgeable on the musculoskeletal system and does deep tissue massage on your problem areas will relieve a lot of your pain. Treatment is excrutiatingly painful, but worth it. Look up Tong Zhang acupunture in the bay area, California, and see if you can find someone with similar knowledge and skill near you. Hope that helps.
My boss said the same thing. I spent a lot of time this weekend researching the procedure, and I have to tell you, I'm having second thoughts. The pain at times is unbelievable, especially at night and in the mornings. I take showers at like 45 degree angles because it takes 30 min or so for my back to loosen up each morning. I can sit for most of the day, but can't slouch. I have more issues standing for 10+ min, or walking fairly long distances (can't make it through a grocery store run without starting to tense up by the end). I pushed for the surgery because I've been dealing with this for four years, with flair ups every 4-6 months. The last flair up was in Jan/Feb and has never really gone away, although I wasn't able to sit for over a week and after PT I have no issues. My doctor said no recovery time, no physical therapy, just general soreness from the incision. That's not what all the reviews online about the procedure...maybe I'm rushing into this, but I'm so sick of being stiff and in pain and not being able to be active.... ugh, what to do what to do
45 years old, dealt with back pain/spasms on and off for 15 years. When things flare up, I could not get relief without muscle relaxers, anti inflammation meds, ben gay patches. After things calmed down, the key was stretching hamstrings and low weight, high rep core exercises. It absolutely worked. But life, laziness and complacency sets in and the pain cycled back. Later in life, I learned the right mattress firmness made a huge difference. Sometimes slept on the floor on my back with legs slightly elevated. Today, I feel better than I have in fifteen years. Preventative exwrcise, plus a sleep number bed. The bed is far and away the best money I have ever spent and we got the cheapest model because it was firmest. Look into it.
So I had surgery this morning. Though it's still way too early to see if it will successfully eliminate all or most of the back and leg pain, so far it feels pretty good. I was able to walk a bit within hours of surgery and the only pain is the soreness from the incision on my abs, albeit I'm in pain meds. Anyways, just thought I'd update those of you who gave me advice. Expecting to go home from hospital tomorrow.
