Anyone had back surgery?

I had a pair of artificial discs installed in my neck almost two years ago, can recommend that route from personal experience.

Tom_Spangler wrote: I know chiros can be helpful, but I'd give the surgeons' opinions about 100x the weight of the chiros' opinions.

Fair point, and I have two more meetings for opinions coming up. But one thing she did say yesterday was that a couple of years ago she had been to a conference in Vegas and was flying back sat behind two doctors who had been to the same conf. One of them had obviously lost a E36 M3 load while there and was telling his friend 'No matter what's wrong, anyone coming into my office for the next couple of weeks is getting surgery' I think Dr Hess has highlighted that some cutters like to cut even when not 100% necessary. Hence I want to get as many opinions as possible. For every story I’ve read about back surgery being 100% and successful leaving the recipient 100% pain free, I read other of people who still have permanent ongoing pain and end up needing more surgery. If I really need it I really need it and I’m OK with that, but I want to be 100%. But walking with a stick like and old man popping pain meds just be not be in tears is getting old.

secretariata wrote: .....(the lowest disc in your spine unless you are one of these weirdos with an L6) .....

Weirdo raises hand. I haven’t' heard of replacement though, I will look into it.

I have a long back... no extra vertebrae, but I stand 6', and yet my inseam is only 30".

so as I alluded to I have had lower back issues, decided against surgery, and went with a PT and a chiro, along with a TENS machine. In the 25+ years I have mostly been fine, with a few STUPID incidents causing issues, that chiro and TENS machine relieved.

More recently I'm suffering with arthritic build up on my upper back (C3 down to T1). I have some tingling in my left middle finger (righty here), but the only "cure" for this new issue is surgery... once it gets real bad (constant pain). They will go in and scrape the build up around the nerve routes to alleviate the pressure on the nerves... I'm NOT looking forward to that.........

also have crepitus in that same area

In reply to oldeskewltoy:

I'm 6'0" with a 32" in seam, as a comparison my 15 year old daughter is 5'10" with a 34" inseam.

I've been visiting Chiro and PT since April and it's just getting worse. I can't walk without a cane, I'm in constant agony and just can't continue. I really don't want surgery but I'm worried it's the last resort.

You two are cute.
<-- 6'3'' with a 30" inseam.
I AM THE TORSO.

Replacement discs gave me back the full use of my left arm, eliminated the pain, and got my neck swiveling again.
Surgery was a Wednesday morning, was treating the recovery pain with ibuprofen by Friday afternoon.
What I'm saying is, see if that's an option, everyone I've met who went the fusion route has been somewhere between awestruck and jealous.

SnowMongoose wrote: You two are cute. <-- 6'3'' with a 30" inseam. I AM THE TORSO. Replacement discs gave me back the full use of my left arm, eliminated the pain, and got my neck swiveling again. Surgery was a Wednesday morning, was treating the recovery pain with ibuprofen by Friday afternoon. What I'm saying is, see if that's an option, everyone I've met who went the fusion route has been somewhere between awestruck and jealous.

^^^This is the kind of news I've been looking for. My surgeon told me that, in addition to the acute injury that required the surgery, I had degenerative disc disease in an advanced state not usually seen in people under 70. I saw a news report a few years back about synthetic replacement discs which were, at the time, in FDA approval trials. I'm assuming that's what you had done?

In reply to kazoospec:

Yessir, the first one approved by the FDA for multiple level use.
Link
Above link goes to what I had done, website is that of the outfit that did the work on me.

I have had cervical fusions done twice due to car accidents. The first in 1995 and the second in 2014. The fusions are C4/5/6. I have had no issues after the surgeries and this past weekend I had a 100mph crash in my racecar with no neck problems. Not everybody gets the same result, but if you need the surgery, pick the best surgeon and go for it.

Don49 wrote: I have had cervical fusions done twice due to car accidents. The first in 1995 and the second in 2014. The fusions are C4/5/6. I have had no issues after the surgeries and this past weekend I had a 100mph crash in my racecar with no neck problems. Not everybody gets the same result, but if you need the surgery, pick the best surgeon and go for it.

Were the fusions bone graft, mechanical or both?

In reply to Don49:

I had a C5/6/7 fusion in 1983 after a diving accident. For mine they took a lot of bone from my iliac crest for the fusion and basically held it on with a big twist tie. I chuckle every time I see the x-ray. Spinal surgery has come a LONG way in 30 years. In my case they fused the vertebrae because I had torn my ligaments so badly that my neck would have been seriously unstable without it.

On your crash, was it into a solid wall or glancing? Everything else ok? Stopping fast from that speed is pretty violent.

1st fusion done with bone from my hip and plated and pinned. 2nd fusion used cadaver bone and replaced the plate and pins from the first fusion. There was a tire bundle where I hit , left front ,full side and then left rear. I'm told I moved the Armco behind the tires when I hit. My wallet is hurting and the car needs major repairs, but I survived just fine. Excellent rollcage , well mounted seat and A Defender hnr, plus really snug belts.

Don49 wrote: Excellent rollcage , well mounted seat and A Defender hnr, plus really snug belts.

FTW! Glad to hear that at least you are doing ok. The car can be rebuilt with money, us, not always the case.

So after 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th opinions some good news. I'm going with a different surgeon and just having minimally invasive Laminectomy and no fusion. Shorter op, less time in hospital, quicker recovery, less pain, higher chance of a permanent fix and no bone graft or hardware in my back. I'm much much happier with this than the old plan of a diskectomy and vertebra fusion with a bone graft and nuts, bolts and plates.

The only person who I think would have benefited from the original plan was the surgeons bank account. Don't forget when it comes to your health, Caveat emptor.

Going in on Tuesday and can't wait to be off the pain. As it's less than a week away I've had to stop the NSAID's and man do I feel it. The pain is much much worse again, this can't come soon enough.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: As it's less than a week away I've had to stop the NSAID's and man do I feel it. The pain is much much worse again, this can't come soon enough.