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Back Disc Pain: Anyone had surgery or the outpatient treatment?

4Waters

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Went through what they call an I.D.E.T. procedure years ago (L4-L5, L5-S1). It is very similar to the discectomy just done with wire and heat. I'm not even sure they are still doing it, but it worked the first time around for me. Re-injured it a few years after and my department along with the Agreed Upon Medical Examiner wanted to retire me (L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1). Their recommendation was fuse the bottom two and put a disc replacement on the top one. I said Fuck No and went to work on rehabing it myself.

A TON of back issues come from a weak core. If you do not stretch a lot, then more than likely your hamstrings and calves are super tight too, which only makes the back and core issues worse. My honest suggestion would be body weight exercise, big emphasis on the core, and stretching.

My .02c's Find a Good Physical Therapist/Sports Medicine/Chiropractor that deals with athletes and rehab. I wish I found mine years before because it probably would have kept me from any type of surgery. I have been barely walking, go to see her(my chiro) and back to running at full speed within a couple weeks.

You also need to look into your feet. Many problems in the back stem from unbalanced feet issues which throw your knees and hips out of whack.

Sorry for the not so direct solution, but each back problem is unique.
^^^^^This would be Dave Sommers^^^^^
 

Willie B

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Wow lots of options. Thanks for the takes.
Pain killers are useless so I went with steroids. Going to start out simple and work my way up the severity treatment scale.
... keep an eye on your blood pressure with the steroids...I checked my blood pressure a bit after getting my first Cortizone shot in my back and it skyrocketed to 213/100...yikes...
 

OCMerrill

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My wife developed a bulging disk during pregnancy with our son some 18+ years back. It was painful and after he was born we settled on a new procedure where a small hole is drilled in the vertebrae, they go in and trim the disk, and she went home same day. No pain since.

This was performed by a Neurologist who said he pioneered the procedure. I would use a Nero regardless and not an ortho IMO.
 

TPC

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Amazing adventures and takes in this thread.

If a kidney stone is a 10 my pain was at 8.5.

The MRI showed 3 discs outta place and pinching nerves. Physical therapy was aggravating it.

Three doctors suggested get pain relief in the meantime, then get to a Neuro surgeon. I have degenerative spine condition and more than an adjustment is called for.

Before I was able to make it back to this thread or take 4waters doctor suggestion I went to a Chiropractor that could take me now in hopes of at least some pain relief.
The agony kept booking passage on three nerves - physical therapy was just misery.

The chiropractor also ran a driving school and when the doctor got back from a lesson with a student put enough pressure and in the right position to get the pain down to a manageable 5.

"Go home and lay on the floor with a tennis ball on the pain spot and work those discs off the nerve." That helped too. I'm down to about a 4 in the pain scale and it comes and goes. It's going to keep coming and going so a more serious approach is to be considered.

So we found the top rated, minimally invasive procedure Neuro surgeon at UCLA (University for Chinese Living Abroad according to Maynard) for the next step and I'll let you all know how that works out.

Prednisone is THE only drug that helped with the pain management. It has to be used in short span, minimum, once in a lifetime careful doses. It's like doing lines of really good blow.
 
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t&y

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Sounds like progress. Back problems are the worst because it is different for everyone. Hope it all works out for you.
 

HBCraig

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Wow lots of options. Thanks for the takes.
Pain killers are useless so I went with steroids. Going to start out simple and work my way up the severity treatment scale.
TPC
I have an 8mm bulge and an 11mm as well at L4 L5

Mine gets really bad at times ans I never really believed people when they said they were locked up. I have had that happen twice ans it's the worse thing ever. I get pain killers and muscle relaxers but use them when I really need them. But, I guess I have gotten used to the pain because it's not as bad as it once was while baffles me because I am old and fat.

I will tell you what works are anti inflammatories and i purchased a STIM unit that is actually an interferential unit that gets deeper penetration. It cuts my pain in half.
 

HBCraig

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I had stem cell injections in my spine about 4-5 years back and have never had a problem since. Regenexx was the company. Worth a try before fusing or doing a laminectomy. because ur just buying some time with this procedures.
Did insurance cover that? Ball Park price? If you remember.

Thanks
 

MSum661

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Climb in your car or truck, most all modern day age trucks have this issue that goes un-noticed until your brain realizes it, relax in the sitting position and try to comfortably center yourself in your seat first, then reach for the steering wheel, put your feet on the pedals and see if what you feel comes close to matching the 2 illustrations below. If so, this forced seating position can open up a can of worms of all kinds of problems like pelvic tilt, offset arms & shoulders, leg and feet angles that can start the process of any variety of back pain's, spinal issues, sciatica pain, leg pain, etc. etc.. Try it, you know it in 10 seconds. Can't fix pain issues unless you can target the source of the problems first.

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LowRiverLoom

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Did insurance cover that? Ball Park price? If you remember.

Thanks

no it did not. but insurance wanted 15-20% of the surgery anyways which was more than I paid. I did it twice because I had such good results after the first go around. I spent 6k on thew first and 4k I believe on the second because I spared the facet joints.
 

Not So Fast

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All I can say is be very careful with surgeon you pick, REALLY check him out and then its a crapshoot. My regular surgeon told me he wouldnt touch a back becase they are so complicated.
Ive had discectomy, laminectomy (sp?) and then developed a spinal cord fluid leak, man, the headaches were about all I could take and they had to go in 2 times for that fix, all in all 4 times in 6 weeks in the same location!!!!!!! Got a hole in my lower back that you could lose a golf ball in, but Im walking so Ill take it. Good luck
NSF
 

Echo Lodge

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Fused C5-C7 few years ago and had no issues. Seeing Dr Watkins JR for L5-S1 now. Office only takes Sports Pros and first responders. When it's time to get cut for my back I am super confident in my doctor. Surgery is always a last resort when I see him.

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EmpirE231

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Did insurance cover that? Ball Park price? If you remember.

Thanks

I almost went with this treatment as well... was quoted $2100. The prices vary depending on how levels / joints you target.
 

cheezpanel

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Fused C5-C7 few years ago and had no issues. Seeing Dr Watkins JR for L5-S1 now. Office only takes Sports Pros and first responders. When it's time to get cut for my back I am super confident in my doctor. Surgery is always a last resort when I see him.

View attachment 1009580

Almost me to a tee. C6-7 fused in 2016. Then L5-S1 discectomy about 3 years ago. Immediate relief in the neck following surgery. It's taken a couple years of chiro, twice daily massage gun and the tens machine, along with daily focus on core/low back/hamstrings at the gym after my workouts to get to pretty much no pain in my low back/sciatic nerve. The key for me with the back is staying loose and keeping the blood flowing down there. Waking up in the morning and getting going is never easy...but I'm always good after leaving the gym.
 

Echo Lodge

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Almost me to a tee. C6-7 fused in 2016. Then L5-S1 discectomy about 3 years ago. Immediate relief in the neck following surgery. It's taken a couple years of chiro, twice daily massage gun and the tens machine, along with daily focus on core/low back/hamstrings at the gym after my workouts to get to pretty much no pain in my low back/sciatic nerve. The key for me with the back is staying loose and keeping the blood flowing down there. Waking up in the morning and getting going is never easy...but I'm always good after leaving the gym.

Left leg is always numb, still have strength but I often stub my left toe as I don't lift my leg up due to nerve issues. I have had 3 epidurals over past 3 years. Pretty pain free unless I do something stupid. I can't ski 4 times a day anymore and limit it to once a day when at the river. Last 3 months I have been laid up twice for a few weeks. Going to get another epidural to see if I can buy me some more time. Sucks to hear about your last surgery. Full discectomy and not a micro? Hope to have the micro when it's time so I don't need to get fused.
 
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cheezpanel

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Left leg is always numb, still have strength but I often stub my left toe as I don't lift my leg up due to nerve issues. I have had 3 epidurals over past 3 years. Pretty pain free unless I do something stupid. I can't ski 4 times a day anymore and limit it to once a day when at the river. Last 3 months I have been laid up twice for a few weeks. Going to get another epidural to see if I can buy me some more time. Sucks to hear about your last surgery. Full discectomy and not a micro? Hope to have the micro when it's time so I don't need to get fused.

No not a full discectomy. It was a partial, just removed the piece/part/fragment that was ruptured. With so much going on down/back there, it's really hard to make it all better I think. Sounds weird, but in Sept. I had surgery to repair a hernia. Up til then, my hip flexors were usually pretty tight/tender. Now, not so much, which I think has also helped with my low back tightness. I think my body was compensating and pulling so much with the developing hernia that it caused back issues along with the disc issue. I had the epidurals also. Didn't do a thing for me. I didn't take any of the meds they prescribed (gabipentin and something else, can't remember, and the prednisone didn't really help much). Once I get moving in the morning, I'm pretty ok. Pain free. I'm with you on the skiing. I haven't been on the wakeboard for a few years, but still ride the stand up ski every time we're out. I, too, try not to do anything stupid. No more deadlifting (except with like 5lb dumbells throught workouts to keep my low back/hammies loose).
 
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TPC

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USC is too far away so we went with UCLA Spinal that’s located in nearby Newbury Park.
Wife likes what she reads about plus inside info on their doctors.

I like the nurses. Nurses are like cocktail waitresses. The hotter ones work where the money is. The bank is with the UC hospitals.

They’ve assured me right at the start this is curable. First words that were a big relief.

So it’s a epidural and physical therapy for now.
Physical therapy places worth their salt are booked 3 months out but the UC med centers have juice to get patients booked immediately.

Forget painkiller prescriptions. That’s history doctors out here refused to write them. Anyone with severe back pain will tell you they don’t work any way.

I couldn’t sleep so we dug through old meds and found a few opiate based pills that helped with sleep only. Wake up and the MFSOB pain is still there.

So if this current treatment doesn’t get it then its onto surgery.
 

MSum661

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I’ve posted this up a few times and I’m sure a lot roll their eyes at it, but it works. At this stage of the game we ALL have bulging discs. View attachment 1006223

Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to mention this book. I download it to Audible from Amazon yesterday and listened to the book today.
Fortunately I have no back or knee pains at all and truly feel for anybody that does. The title Mind-Body Connection had my curiosity since im kinda woo-woo about that stuff. The Author/ Doctor does an excellent and thorough job explaining in detail his real world on the job findings. I had a general idea what it would be about going into it but I must say Ive never heard anyone lay it out like that! I'll chalk it up as a win! Thanks again.
 
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