Back Pain - Back Surgery and Rehab

If anyone had told me how long and painful my back surgery and rehab would be I might have put off the operation and tries other non surgical treatments. As it was I had injured myself at work resulting in a herniated disc and sciatic pain. Now I did try a couple of standard conservative treatments including rest, Tylenol, ice packs and physical therapy. Although all of these gave me some help the results were temporary. The pain always came back. Probably because I was still working. For six months my life consisted of go to work come home, eat supper and lay down until it was time to go to bed.

Finally the doctor sent me to have an MRI. The MRI showed a herniated disc in my lower back. I was told both by my doctor and the surgeon that I was a perfect candidate for surgery. The type they recommended was an “MILD” or minimum invasive lumbar decompression. This would be done as an outpatient procedure. I would be home in a couple of hours and my pain would be gone. My doctor even said I wouldn’t need physical therapy. I thought great let’s do it! I’m tired of the pain and wanted my life back ASAP!

Well the surgery was everything the doctor said it would be I went to the clinic at seven in the morning and by 10:30 I was home resting in bed without any pain! This is great! I thought. The surgeon did set me up for four weeks of physical therapy and in truth it made sense. My back muscles had weaken and I had muscle imbalance due to the months of inactivity.

However 2 weeks after the operation I started experiencing severe pain in my lower back and leg. I went back on Oxycotin and had to cut ack on my PT. The surgeon said it was due to swelling and that eventually it would settle down. That was six weeks ago. I’m still on Oxy and going to physical therapy. Although I’m still spend most of my time on my back and am out of work, I am improving.

Now I don’t blame my surgeon. He has an excellent reputation. However there are many risks involved with any surgery and swelling and pain is one of them. I wished I had explored more alternatives to surgery. But it all sounded so good and I was in pain. If you are suffering from an aching back I encourage you to seek alternative treatments. Although only a small percent of back pain sufferers require surgery anyone with a bad back can benefit from non-invasive treatments.


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