Should I agree to lower lumbar surgery? It is because of a ruptured L5 disc...?

Question

I have a pinched nerve because of a ruptured L5 disc. It causes pain in my butt and left leg and I have numbness in my foot and part of my leg (about a week and a half). It been going on since May 20th. The actual incident that caused my low back problem started in March when I slipped. The surgery would be out patient non-evasive. But recover time is 8 to 10 weeks putting me out of work for 2 months!

I am a faithful believer of my Chiropractor. She does what is termed "Gentle" practice. She had been treating me for the alignment since it was out of place but then it ruptured. I have not seen or talked to her since it happened. I do not want to damage may nerve beyond repair. I am struggling with this surgery offer because I too know people who have had back surgery and still have pain. However, most people I talk to about the particular pain and even the doctor who would do the surgery have total relief. I choose to see a Nuerosurgeon first. I wanted to put "feelers" out to you guys for your experiences and I appreciate the input.

Answer 1

If the ruptured nerve is pinching the nerve and causing problems, then you Should have surgery to remove it. This will give that nerve a better chance of healing and you MAY gain most of the feeling back in your leg or foot. If you wait to long, the problem will only get worse and the damage done to the nerve will become permanent. In 2002, I fell 17 feet out of a ceiling on a construction site and herniated two discs. One of the discs was slammed against my sciatic nerve causing about 40% numbness in my right leg from the knee down. I had surgery two weeks later to remove the disc, but I couldn't feel any difference in my leg afterward, but the doctor said it may take up to a year to get the feeling back. I went to physical therapy for 4 weeks, and on the very last day, I ended up re-herniating one of the discs(which I didn't know until 3 weeks after they returned me back to work). After getting a second opinion from another neurosurgeon and having follow-up x-rays and MRI's done, it was determined that the disc was, in fact, bulging out again and causing even more damage to the nerve. I agreed to have an L4,L5,S1 spinal fusion to totally relieve the pressure and re-align my vertabra. Unfortunately, because worker's comp was involved and both doctors had to agree to have the surgery done, I had to wait 6 MONTHS to have the surgery! Well, after all was said and done, it's been almost 4 years since my surgery and I have lost about 20% feeling in my right lower leg and foot which I'll never get back, and I am prone to increased numbness and severe cramping. All I can is to take care of your back no matter what. As a result of MY injury, I can no longer work in the field as a union electrician and I am stuck in the office making $10 less per hour. If you do have the surgery, DO NOT RUSH to get back to work and do as little as possible to aggrivate it again. If you have any questions that you think I could answer, my yahoo address is 'goldenbear733'. I can show you an x-ray of what a lumbar spinal fusion looks like! : ) Good luck!

Answer 2

After 3 years of wasted time seeing Orthopedic Doctors and following instructions, as well as physical therapy, it was too late to do anything about 3 herniated disk including the L3 and L5. The neuro surgeon said, There is nothing I can do for you and there is no guarantee ever that surgery relives the pain. I was mad, sad, and then determined that for me, I would just keep walking, keep my weight at 124 and go on with my life. I have done well and I don't lift any thing over 10 pounds. Life is good. Good luck to you as you debate this issue.

Answer 3

Before you make a decision about surgery you should talk to other people who have a similar problem - and you should talk to people who have had the surgery, and to people who have decided not to have the surgery. There are links below to 2 different online support groups that offer support for spinal disorders and injuries so you could talk to other patients.

One thing to remember is that no surgery is guaranteed to give you relief - especially back surgery - and I have seen many reports from patients who had mild to moderate symptoms before having back surgery and then became much much worse after having the surgery.

Have you talked to your doctor about your non-surgical options? If your doctor is a surgeon, have you gone to a non-surgeon to discuss ALL of the non-surgical options?

What are you doing now to treat the pain and symptoms? How much of an impact are your current symptoms having on your life? If no surgery was available, could you lead a fairly happy and healthy life and manage your symptoms with other options like medications??

You mention that your injury happened in March and the majority of your symptoms started in May -- have you done any physical therapy at all? Usually it can take several weeks (or months) for physical therapy to be successful, and if that is an option to provide symptom relief, it is certainly something I would try before going through with a major surgery.

What about a nerve block? A nerve block is an injection of a numbing agent into the affected nerve to reduce symptoms. Has your doctor tried that to see if that provides any symptom relief? What about other types of spinal injections? Has the doctor discussed those options with you? There is a link below to info about those options.

Has the doctor offered medication management to see if that provides symptom relief? Has the doctor given you a referral to see a pain management doctor?

What type of doctors have you seen so far? I can think of several that I would consider having a consult with before consenting to spinal surgery -
Orthopedic doctor
Orthopedic surgeon
Neurologist
Neurosurgeon
Neuro-orthopedic doctor
Pain management specialist

I think my first choice would be to see a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor. Specialists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation deliver comprehensive care to adults and children with neuromusculoskeletal impairments due to traumatic injury and disease. There is a link below to info about this speciality and what they do.

Personally, I would try every single non-surgical option before I would decide to have spinal surgery of any kind. I have seen and heard of too many horror stories from people who had surgery and the surgery didn't help but instead made them so much worse.

Good luck, and I hope you are able to find symptom relief.

Answer 4

yes you should. I had the same problem and I almost waited to long. If I had waited any longer I would have lost all nerves to my foot and possible leg, causing me to never beable to walk again. I will never ever regret having the surgery. Recovery time was not that hard to go thru, I had no pain after surgery and the only nerve damage I have is the bottom of my foot, and I only notice that when I walk barefoot.
I had my surgery in 1991 and have been great ever since. Good luck...

Answer 5

Did you ask the doctor what would happen if you DID NOT have the surgery? Short term and long term?