Hi everyone. I've had back surgery and had disc L4/5 disc excision on the 5th of october last year and for the first time in 6 months i was totally pain free. Last month i had a fall and undone all the surgery to the point where they were talking more surgery but at the same time the Dr also had to consider having broken bones in my back. Now i hate needles with a passion (but can handle tattoo's) my back surgeon was not at all wanting to rush into another operation as i'm only 22yrs old. So the suggestion was to have a caudal surgery (needle in my spinal cord) to see if i would have any relief from it. Surgery day was today and my fiance was panicing about it thinking what could go wrong and if i was totally asleep during the little operation. I went in at 1pm and was out by 2pm. Im over the moon with the starting results (will take up to a week to have a full effect). Any one who is having disc problems and there Dr or surgeon has suggested it i would be trying it and seeing how it goes. I have been told i will be in a lot of pain over night with it but my fingers are crossed i'm not in any pain at all at the moment. If everything goes to plan i'm hoping to be working by the end of the year again and i'm so pleased i tried this before rushing into surgery again.
Back pain problems
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pseudechis4740
Well-Known Member
Back problems at 22; thats got to suck. Hope it all goes well and you get back to work as soon as anticipated.
Albino93
Very Well-Known Member
sorry to hear about ur back and glad that hopefully u will be pain free, maybe i should recommend it for my dad he's always complaining about his back and that he can hardly bend these days (tho i think its all in his head), anyway glad u avoided any major operations and now on ur way to recovery 
shadowchazer
New Member
good to hear your caudal surgery whent well bec.... i hope you have a speedy recovery and all the best.... no one else has said so i will say it, all the best to your partner as he supports you through your ordeal. i can imagine it would be hard for you to be going through this sort of thing at your age, but also cant be easy for a loved one to be seeing you go through it... hang in there both of ya and good luck.....
My dad has the same problem, it scared the **** out of me when he got paralized by a fallen tree, but thankfully he recovered after a few months time but still has his back problems.
I'm glad yours getting better and I wish the best for your recovery. Fingers crossed for ya mate!!!
I'm glad yours getting better and I wish the best for your recovery. Fingers crossed for ya mate!!!
Jande
Well-Known Member
I totally feel for you as I have similar problems. I'm glad the surgery has given you good results so far. Hope it continues to work for you.
Thank you all for the kind words. I have had 2 nights of no tingles down my left leg which was also part of the problem and my pain is at a 0 for the first time in a while i will admit. I'm very lucky to have someone who will support me regardless and i think he know's im greatful for that. For the second time i cleaned all the snake tanks out with out any help from him and he was shocked. I'm actually able to bend down with out pain in my back. Now 1 more week till the plaster comes off my arm and than i think i will be more relaxed.
Hey shell477 its a needle they inject into your spinal cord and if in the right spot can help. There is no time frame they can promise it will help for so that is still an unknown problem. I've been through the surgery and it isn't a good thing to go through. I realise one day i will need the surgery again but i plan on being older and not have the complication's i had during the first surgery. I have a blood problem where i get blood clots quiet often with out knowing. During the first back surgery i had a blood clot go to my heart and i had a heart attack and stopped breathing. The surgery just is not an option at the moment as my heart surgeon has said atleast 12 months from my surgery to have anything else done where i will be totally out to it.
Sounds like you have been through a lot Thanks for answering my question.
My brothers doctors do not want to operate because the chances of the operation being successful are very slim, and if it fails he will be in worse pain and have worse movement than before. It is a hard thing for him because it hurts so much already. I just hope time will help, although its been nearly 5 years.
Is the caudal operation one that can be used for bulged discs?
Also, did they replace the disc with something synthetic or fuse the vertebrae together?
Thanks for answering my question. My brothers doctors do not want to operate because the chances of the operation being successful are very slim, and if it fails he will be in worse pain and have worse movement than before. It is a hard thing for him because it hurts so much already. I just hope time will help, although its been nearly 5 years.
Is the caudal operation one that can be used for bulged discs?
Also, did they replace the disc with something synthetic or fuse the vertebrae together?
Yes shell that is what they like to try before going any further. When i first seen my back surgeon my back was to the point where they operate now and hope i can still walk or leave it and they could garantee me i wouldn't be walking. I had no feeling at all in my left leg or foot to the point someone could touch it and i wouldn't know about it. When i had this fall straight away i knew i had done damage to my back and the back surgeon got the ct results faxed to him and i was in the next day to see him. His over the moon to see i am having no pain at the moment but has also warned it will not last for ever.
I have 40% of my disc missing as they can't replace disc's like that "yet".
I have 40% of my disc missing as they can't replace disc's like that "yet".
SteveNT
Very Well-Known Member
I broke my back in '89. 3 major ruptures in lower spine. I had a painful 6 months recovery but I'm good now. Your back is never the same though. I had a couple of recurrences because I didnt react to the danger signs. These days I do.
So listen, walking is the best thing you can do. Back injuries never heal completely IMO but 20 years later I'm choofing along fine (but very careful of the signals).
Good luck.
So listen, walking is the best thing you can do. Back injuries never heal completely IMO but 20 years later I'm choofing along fine (but very careful of the signals).
Good luck.
Thanks for your advice.
Because of my blood clotting problem i have to walk around alot and cant sit down for to long. Long trips (more than 2 hours) involve injections to stop me from getting blood clots. My fiance actually said to me this morning your not in any pain with your back are you? my response was no why? and than he said well you weren't tossing and turning all night. Things are good if he can even notice a difference.
mungus
Very Well-Known Member
Hope all goes well for you - fingers and toes crossed.
You really need to protect yourself from any dangerous sports or hobbies, as one mistake will
cost you for years to come, especially being a female and possibility of child birth down the track.
Take good care of yourself,
Aleks.
You really need to protect yourself from any dangerous sports or hobbies, as one mistake will
cost you for years to come, especially being a female and possibility of child birth down the track.
Take good care of yourself,
Aleks.
RSPcrazy
Very Well-Known Member
It is so rare to find someone close to my age, that has had the same surgery as me.
I was told 6 weeks and I'll be back at work. My surgery was over a year ago and I'm still in so much pain, limited mobility, can't lift more than 10kg's and so drugged up on just about every prescription painkiller they have, that I still can't work (I've tried going back to work 3 times and only last 20mins).
My L/5 S/1 disc literally exploded and was also pinching my left sciatic nerve. I was told, I had about 2 months tops before one of the disc fragments cut my nerve or spinal cord, plus I was loosing the use of my left foot. I still don't know how I distroied 3 discs in my lower back, I just woke up one day and my back hurt. (I only had surgery on 1 disc).
I was in surgery 2 weeks after seeing my surgeon. I also had a complication in surgery. My sheath got ripped (the sheath carries the brain fluid down your spine, if you loose your brain fluid, you die). Luckily he patched me up quick enough.
What I've learnt about people that have had back surgery, is for starters, it's the most painful experience of my life and nothing has ever come close to even describing how painful it is. But no two people will have the same amount of pain for the same length of time.
I've been in pain for over a year. My friend had the same surgery a couple of months ago and was off all medication and thinking about starting work again 2 weeks later.
The only time I'm truly comfortable and almost pain free, is when I'm in the heated pool at physio twice a week.
My fiancée is also very helpful and understanding, she worrys alot about me now.
I'm sorry to hear about your back, I truley am sorry that someone else has had to experiance that sort of paint, physically and mentally. If theirs any advice I could give, it wouldn't be how to help your physical pain, it would be, keep your mind active, spend time talking with friends, get carried away with a hobby, anything to keep yourself from getting depressed or just going brain dead.
Sorry if I got a little carried away there, I'm on a number of painkillers at the moment and I find once I get started on something, I just can't stop.
Good luck with everything.
I was told 6 weeks and I'll be back at work. My surgery was over a year ago and I'm still in so much pain, limited mobility, can't lift more than 10kg's and so drugged up on just about every prescription painkiller they have, that I still can't work (I've tried going back to work 3 times and only last 20mins).
My L/5 S/1 disc literally exploded and was also pinching my left sciatic nerve. I was told, I had about 2 months tops before one of the disc fragments cut my nerve or spinal cord, plus I was loosing the use of my left foot. I still don't know how I distroied 3 discs in my lower back, I just woke up one day and my back hurt. (I only had surgery on 1 disc).
I was in surgery 2 weeks after seeing my surgeon. I also had a complication in surgery. My sheath got ripped (the sheath carries the brain fluid down your spine, if you loose your brain fluid, you die). Luckily he patched me up quick enough.
What I've learnt about people that have had back surgery, is for starters, it's the most painful experience of my life and nothing has ever come close to even describing how painful it is. But no two people will have the same amount of pain for the same length of time.
I've been in pain for over a year. My friend had the same surgery a couple of months ago and was off all medication and thinking about starting work again 2 weeks later.
The only time I'm truly comfortable and almost pain free, is when I'm in the heated pool at physio twice a week.
My fiancée is also very helpful and understanding, she worrys alot about me now.
I'm sorry to hear about your back, I truley am sorry that someone else has had to experiance that sort of paint, physically and mentally. If theirs any advice I could give, it wouldn't be how to help your physical pain, it would be, keep your mind active, spend time talking with friends, get carried away with a hobby, anything to keep yourself from getting depressed or just going brain dead.
Sorry if I got a little carried away there, I'm on a number of painkillers at the moment and I find once I get started on something, I just can't stop.
Good luck with everything.
im an incomplete para due to being hit by a car in 98 had l1 burst fracture witch i underwent hours of surgery to fuse it up then they stole bits of bone from parts of my body to put into other parts,,, and im going in for the same procedure soon.... used in the correct manner, medijuana works a treat, its a lot better than a handful of painkillers every day..
Frozenmouse
Very Well-Known Member
I have a ruptured disk in my lower back when it plays up it normally incapacitates me. I react badly to most pain killers and get very bad indigestion and reflux , I always thought of medijuana but i nearly go into psychosis when i smoke weed so its not really a fix for me.
i had a fairly bad car crash when i was 19, not got a 20%crush in my L6 vert but i kept a positive look on things and uses a floor to celling ball (boxing ball with strechy rubber from floor to roof) for 2 mins a day after 6 weeks of rest recovery and slowlt built up the time and got back to work after 9 week (as a butcher doing big lifts and shifts) and now im a glazier that only dose 10mm glass very heavy work dont realy have much pain at all cause i constaly build the mussels around the spine.
this has been my exp not saying it will work for anyone else but giveing your body a help by building the mussles that help your back is a good start
Cheers Daryl
this has been my exp not saying it will work for anyone else but giveing your body a help by building the mussles that help your back is a good start
Cheers Daryl
@RSPcrazy
reading your story I actually had to go back through it cause it sound so much like mine. I woke up one day in complete pain and could hardly more. It took me seeing more than 4 drs to even get a scan done. The pain your talking about I know it only to well. I found the pain medications didn't help after 2 weeks of trying all the ones out there. But that may be due to the fact prior to my back problems I have had 8 knee surgerys. The dr that arranged the scan for me suggested the pot idea to me but it wasent something I would of thort about anyway. After the surgery your ment to be on your back flat for 2 weeks. I couldn't do that cause of my clotting problem. I can lift up something's with out an issue except the pain will be there.
reading your story I actually had to go back through it cause it sound so much like mine. I woke up one day in complete pain and could hardly more. It took me seeing more than 4 drs to even get a scan done. The pain your talking about I know it only to well. I found the pain medications didn't help after 2 weeks of trying all the ones out there. But that may be due to the fact prior to my back problems I have had 8 knee surgerys. The dr that arranged the scan for me suggested the pot idea to me but it wasent something I would of thort about anyway. After the surgery your ment to be on your back flat for 2 weeks. I couldn't do that cause of my clotting problem. I can lift up something's with out an issue except the pain will be there.
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