Disk herniation bad one, Microdiscectomy vs time and therapy

Got a bad one, pain has subsided with alot of rest and a epidural injection last week. Have some leg numbness which I really never noticed much before the last week, hard to really tell, have been having bad back pain since mid November, and finally sent me to ER mid Dec, now finally getting docs with open appointment calenders. One doc says try therapy and see if symptoms persist and heals on its own, but may just need surgery any way because it is so bad. think they said 11 or 13 mm really compressing the root nerve on L5 and the "thecal sac"?, another doc seems to think should have surgery as soon a scheduled. Trying to get in to a 3rd spinal surgeon from another town that was recommended by a few orthopedics associates of a family friend. Hard to know what to do, but my concern is length of heal time, avoidance of permanent nerve damage, getting back to normal strength n the next 6 months, and just not make it worse regardless of choice. I have read of horror stories in the past, but even the Noninvasive back specialist said not to worry about a Microdiscectomy for this. Anxiety level is very high. Too many people/home farm work depending on me to get better

Might as well give up on getting back to normal strength if you are over 40.

trust me on this and watch it real close,you said anxiety high. that alone can make things alot!!!!worse. if things have to change than so be it your health is more important you will come to find out. farming yea ther is life after and whole lot better. i put all i own in gov pay program and cash rent rest involved with. farming never been so good and now positive all the years since went this way, good luck.

Have you consulted with Dr. Gerdes in St. Cloud? My chiro highly recommends him. I"ve had consult with his partner, IIRC, Dr. Lynn Miller...

I had a disectomy about 4 years ago and in 4 months i was back on my skis on the slopes---i was 65 then and with therapy i got all my strength back

Back in Jan of 1996 I had the L-5-S-1 removed which is now way the doctor forced me to retire. Doctor also said 1 inch scare but after surgery I have a 5.5 inch scare. But before the surgery I lost my left leg and had to have help getting out of bed. So yep know what your going threw

Dave, I had a L4 L5 ruptured disk. Fought it for years as at that time I did not know what was causing the pain. Had the surgery no more pain but have numbness in my left foot caused from having the nerve compressed for to long.

Been about 20 years ago so my memory of recovery time is a little foggy. Young enough I did not need any PT therapy. You have plenty of time left this winter to have it done and be ready for spring. Even more so since you live in the Arctic north.

I had a partial disectomy, with no fusion, three winters ago, still hurts a little, but tolerable.

Went through the same thing back in 79, life will never be the same, don't wait, get it done or you will lose function in your foot, mine is half numb, just enough control to function fairly normal. With micro you should be back on your feet well before spring. I had major and had to make lifestyle changes, took a long time to heal and settle. I stay lean and strong and get along pretty good to this day.

Hurt my back bad in a snowmobile accident just a few miles away from you. Did chiro, therapy, rest, strength, steroid injections, etc for over 30 years. Bad to worse to fine to bad to worse. Finally it got so bad I could not sit up. Had surgery in oct of 2012. Was back on a snowmobile that winter.

S5-L1 microdiscectomy. I consider my surgeon a miracle worker.

Send email if you want his info.

Everyone is different. I had a laminectomy for a herniated L5 in 1968 as a result of an injury in the Marine Corps.

I really didn't have much choice. If I was on my feet for ten minutes, my right leg went numb. The operation was done by a neurosurgeon of national recognition, even though orthopedic surgeons do the same operation. My family doctor told me he wouldn't question anyone else's skills, but if he had to have the same operation done he would just as soon have Dr. Gogela do it. That was enough for me.

The operation was done in May, and I did stay off water skis that summer, but by fall I was pretty much full speed. Over the years, though, I've learned quite a few tricks to protect my back. I'll NEVER lift something heavy with someone else for fear they'll mess up and throw it all onto me. My wife always wants to help me, but I tell her, "Just leave me alone. I'll get it done my way".

Faced with the same situation, I wouldn't hesitate to have it done again. Still have a bit of permanent numbness on the surface in my right thigh but that's a non-issue.

I under went an L4-L5
laminectomy...January,15,1997.......followed all Doctors orders and was back at work (power Engineer) in 120 days. However,I never again Parachuted, never again jumped down from a height greater than 12",never again allowed my weight to exceed 195 Lbs.(5'11") and my waist to never exceed 36". I make sure I never stand on one leg on a stepladder. I only were a belt if walking and never while driving a vehicle. My wallet is never in my hind pocket. I wear only well made shoes that take the impact of walking. I consider the medical team to be Saints! They performed a miracle on me. The pain before was terrible! Now I have possibly 10 bad days per year....only because I forget to use the hoist to lift or a cart to move something. I have a well made thick cushion on my CASE 830,JD 520,TEA 20 Ferguson. I purchased a bed and matters with as many springs as I could afford. I've never been sorry I had the surgery. I did check with a family member(RN) as to whom was possibly the highest regarded Neurosurgeon in the town.
Shoveling snow and running a vacuum cleaner is sure to cause my L4-L5 to give pain.

hurt my back on the job and the company dr said it was just a flesh wound.by the time i realized how bad it was the WComp time limit was gone. I mentioned something to them about it and they let me go as soon as they had a excuse.I found out i have severe spinal steneosis,spondilosis, and arthritus in L3-4 and L 4-5. Asked the dr when i still had insurance and he said i needed to lose more weight. I told him i already had and could do it better with my back fixed or something to help.He is now an ex dr. of mine. If i cant stand or walk more than 5 minutes losing weight sure aint going to be easy.I used to work out 5 nights a week and walk 2-3 miles a night to relax and deal with my restless leg.But it all worked out. I'm on disability now!

Dave, just had L4 &L5 disectomy done right before Thanksgiving. That was to alleviate leg pain, sciatica. The disectomy won't relieve back pain, at least not in my case, just the leg pain. It worked just as advertised, leg pains are no more, back pains are still with me. I'm going to start some PT soon to see ifI can do something about the back pain.

The surgery was a piece of cake, into the OR at 8:30 am, walked out of the hospital at 7:30 that night. The worst part was the kick in the head from the anesthesia, about two days after the surgery, but even that was just lots of fatigue, not bad. 2" scar. The hardest part was trying to follow the orders of limited weight bearing: none, then 10 pounds, then 15 pounds, then 20 pounds… I'm up to 25 now. Yes, it's a PIA to be out of action for a while due to surgery, but I was more and more out of action anyway...

One other piece of advice from dealing with this for many years - when you're experiencing leg pain, even intermittently, take your anti-inflammatories regularly. For me it was Aleve that worked best when you're having leg pains from nerve issues in the back. Don't just take them when you are in pain, take them regularly, every day, whether you're feeling good that day or not. They are working to reduce the swelling even when the swelling isn't so bad that it's causing pain at the moment. Again - a hard learned lesson for me - take them regularly, every day. That advice would be the same for anyone with a chronic inflammation problem - treat it all the time, not just when it hurts, and you'll find it hurts a LOT less often.

it's a tough one, I had a laminectomy at L4-L5 in 85 that did no good at all, finally found a real doc. in 09 that removed L4-L5, and L5-S1, did the fusion and I feel great,little numbness in one foot but that's nothing compared to what I did have,...find a doc that will get the offending discs out....my 2 cents worth

I had crushed nerve roots twice, to my legs and to my upper left side of body (via neck C vertabrae).
Both times I waited until the numbness turned to constant pain. At one point my left arm shriveled up. I finally got a laminectomy. Basically just having the bulged part of disk cut out to relieve the pressure against the nerve root. I argued against it and wanted fusion. I told the doc "trimming" the disk made no sense to me. My take was - if the original full size disk failed, then a trimmed-down smaller one with the same stress on it would fail even sooner. The surgeron did it his way. I was back to work in three months and six months later back in the hospital, worse then ever. 2nd time they fused my vertabrae using pieces of my hip bone. That was in 1992. Still holding up and I've done a lot of heavy work since then. With fusion -it took me 6 months to get my braces off and a full year before I could work hard again. Two 2-3 more years before my damaged nerves got better.

please listen !! I received a tainted steroid shot back in 2012 I'm one of the fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 64 of us and almost killed another 750 . Please check into some other kind of pain relief. After much review and consulting many of us developed arachnoiditus it happens when the dura of the spinal cord is nicked or pierced with the steroid needle. This is a disabling injury with no cure and only get worse with time. There finding women who had epidurals during child birth were injured or got arachnoiditus. Arachnoiditus is a automatic SSID disability , nasty stuff. Just be aware , see if there is a PT or even pain management with out steroid injection. I had the shots for 6 years to get me through work. Just concerned J.R.

I've had 3 back surgeries since 2012 to remove the fungus that was injected into my spinal cord. My life is still at great risk I was 227 lbs now 167 and still dropping I spent 177 days in the hospital . I just shudder to hear the word steroid injection ! But I'm biased. And I thank God everyday for still being here . There's 2 Facebook groups, arachnoiditus everyday, and fungal meningitis outbreak . Both have a ton of info on back pain and how to deal with it . Just cause I care J.R.

Hey Paul, could you email the info on the surgeon you mentioned in the comments?

Numerous surgeries and living with constant pain 30+ years. I have learned to compensate and know when I've done too much. Wish and hope for the best for you.
ETxJohn

A good friend had slowly worsening lower back pain for ten years. Doc was recommending a very extensive complicated surgery. He got a second opinion in Boston at Mass gen. New Doc says that the plan was old school, he has newer up to date very high success rate surgery. my friend had it done at age 59, and he is like new.