Hi all
I have recently had a discetomy on l4 and l5 it has now been 8 days since and i am finding that my siatic pain is now alot worse. I have had back pains for around 8 years and have tried everything else. So decided this was the only way forward it seems to ease when i am laying down is this normal and can any one offer any advise on what i should be doing. I am worried as i have an active job but fear that if tnis does not get better i cannot return to work.my consultant has told me not to over do it as liquid could leak from the spine and cause more problems. I am getting up and walking as much as possible to keep blood flowing and dont have physio for another 4 weeks can anyone offer advise.
I am currently taking co codamol which does help for about an hour.
Hi Luka,
I'm not a doctor and I can't really diagnose what's happening with you right now. What I do know is that there are millions of nerve impulses that travel and pass through the spinal cord along the spine. This could trigger and aggravate the weaker spots in your body, namely your sciatic nerve.
If this doesn't clear in a couple of days, don't play around with it. Go see your doctor and have yourself checked out. It may be you'll need another couple of days or weeks to get yourself slowly mobile again. I'm surprised your physio is a full month away?
hi luka
i had a disecetomy on the 26th feb 4 weeks ago 3 days later my leg pain was a lot worse phoned my consultant had mri scan a couple of days later showing i reherniated the same disc l5/s1 which was bigger than before meaning i reherniated days after my surgery, i was admitted to hospital for pain control as i could not move and had second discectomy the disc was huge im home from hospital still in a little pain but very tired and emotional having two surgeries in two weeks has took its toll on me, so if your pain is getting worse don't hesitate phone hospital and they will re scan you, if this happens to me again it will be a fusion as i have not got much disc left im praying it won't come to that, take care.
Hi all
I have recently had a discetomy on l4 and l5 it has now been 8 days since and i am finding that my siatic pain is now alot worse. I have had back pains for around 8 years and have tried everything else. So decided this was the only way forward it seems to ease when i am laying down is this normal and can any one offer any advise on what i should be doing. I am worried as i have an active job but fear that if tnis does not get better i cannot return to work.my consultant has told me not to over do it as liquid could leak from the spine and cause more problems. I am getting up and walking as much as possible to keep blood flowing and dont have physio for another 4 weeks can anyone offer advise.
I am currently taking co codamol which does help for about an hour.
Hi Luka
I had a discectomy nearly 5 weeks ago now and i can certainly say that its been a roller coaster of a journey.
I've had bad sciatica down my right leg for the last 8 months but it got worse in December last year. I exhausted every single conservative treatment but then decided that the op was my last option.
In the first week, the back pain was immense and i felt very weak. I tried to walk but not very far as i felt exhausted all the time. This was a massive change for me as I used to be an extremely active person running marathons and I'm young, slim and usually healthy... So to be reduced to walking for 10mins was shocking for me but i knew it was the op.
In week 2 the numbess started to go and i started to walk for longer but then in week 3 i started getting increased pain down my leg. I was horrified so I asked to see the consultant earlier and he reassured me that its just the nerves healing and that i will have good days and bad days. As long as the pain gets better again then your going in the right direction.
Well in the last few days i've increased my activities. I swam for 30mins on one day then the next day i did a bit of cycling etc... My pain hasn't got worse as i was worried that i might aggravate the nerve pain as I still get the pain in my leg especially when i lift my leg as high as my hips.
I cheekily did the elliptical for 10mins today. This is not recommended as my physio said pilates 6/7 weeks post surgery, elliptical 8 weeks and running would be when i feel 100%.
The elliptical didn't hurt at all and i wore my back brace. It was nice to feel "normal" again today.
Sitting down upright is still painful. I really dread sitting but I'm hoping this goes soon.
The physio/consultant said it normally takes 8-12 weeks for the pain to go in most cases. He said i'd be extremely unlucky if this did not go after this time.
I do still feel like my disc is being squashed when i sit down and causes me back pain so i know sitting down is bad for me but i was travelling today and the journey time was over an hour away.
How are you getting on? Are you feeling better? Has your sciatica gone yet?
I'm trying to stay positive as it has got better but i'm still not there yet in terms of being completely pain free! Here's hoping!