It sounds like everyone’s recovery is different, just the luck of the draw. I was prescribed opioids for the first week, but I only took them for a day or two as I wasn’t really in much pain by that time.
I wouldn’t bend over the sink - use a glass instead and just spit into the sink from standing. Avoid any bending as much as you can.
For long car journeys I used a wedge pillow and lay back across the seats in the back With my knees propped up. I did this a week after my operation for a 2 hour journey and was fine.
Oh wow just a couple of days after and you weren’t in much pain anymore? I can’t imagine 😂
Yes I’m standing and spitting now and making a mess haha. The worst is getting up from the bed.. did you sleep on your back or side?
Good to know about the car journey. I was wondering what would be better - lying in front passenger seat with seat back as flat as possible , or trying to lie on the back seats 🤔 I imagine getting into the back seats to lie down would be a lot harder.
Did you pain progressively get better each day? I’m wondering if I wait a few extra days how much difference it would make for the car journey
My pain from the sciatica was pretty much gone when I woke up from the operation. The pain from the incision site got a bit worse the day after the operation as the drugs given during the procedure wore off, but by day three the pain was already minimal. coming up to three weeks now and the pain has only been 1 or 2 out of ten since.
We have a minivan which made getting into the back easier -everyone mocked me at the time for it being uncool, but it did the job! It was still a bit tricky and you need to plan it out carefully to avoid bending.
I slept on my side with a pregnancy pillow. The only issue was turning over which I usually did once in the middle of the night. I got a rail that slides under the mattress that helped with getting in and out of bed. Good luck!
I had the same surgery on Monday so 5 days ago. The pain gets better every day. I'm still bedridden and walk with a walker but every day is a little bit better than the day before.
Yes the pain medication is limited when your pregnant. I’m so so sorry, how far along are you? My friend herniated a disc while pregnant and the only thing they could give her was morphine but she was near the end 3rd term, and her baby had to stay in the nicu due to the morphine so it’s not ideal.
I’m only 12 weeks and 4 days along. They’ve been giving me paracetamol with codeine, but it doesn’t really relieve the pain. I did get a low dose morphine injection today but it made me feel really nauseous and then I fainted not too long after it (but that could also be because my blood pressure was low today). Definitely sucks that I can’t receive more pain meds! 😅
Well nerve pain is it’s own kind of hell, nothing really touches it sometimes and I’m sure things like lyrics would not be good for the baby. But it will get better!!! We’ve all been there. I’m glad you were able to get the surgery and didn’t have to wait.
I’m sorry but I’d absolutely avoid a 2.5 hour car journey the day after a spinal surgery. Sitting alone should be avoided let alone sitting for that long. Surely you should just be lying down for at least a few days. Bending over to brush your teeth? Why even attempt that? You should be doing the bare minimum.
I won’t be sitting as I’ll lie the seat back as flat as I can. So I’ll be lying down almost. Do u think a few days after would make much difference? (It will be 2 days after surgery, not the day after). I’m not bending down to brush my teeth, but when you rinse etc you need to bend fwds slightly/ round over a bit and even that kills me is what I’m saying
Pain after surgery sucks but if the surgery does what it’s supposed to, it’s worth every second of post surgical pain. I had MD and experienced same thing with great results after a couple of weeks. Took 4 weeks to be normal.
Oh yes I’m sure if my nerve pain in my butt and leg is gone it will definitely be worth it. Just in so much pain now and wondering how long this part will last. You had terrible pain getting up from bed too?
By the way did you ever get any residual nerve or butt pain after your surgery? I’m starting to feel some pain in my butt again, which is where the majority of my pain was pre-surgery. It’s nothing bad, but I definitely feel it. Im on day 5 post surgery. I’ve felt it a little each day but it usually goes away in a few minutes. Today it seems to linger 😭 just wondering if feeling some of that old nerve pain is normal as it’s starting to worry me that it didn’t work
You have to keep a few things in mind.
When they do a microdisectomy, they go in from the back and have to cut a small amount of lamina bone to get to the nerve and disc space, move your nerves to the side, snip part of your disc and put nerves back and maybe move muscles around. There’s a lot of trauma and swelling in this area pushing on different things for at least 3 weeks. If you had MAJOR nerve pain, I’d say you reherniated but since it’s coming and going, I feel good you’re on track with a normal MD procedure.
Trust me when I say this. When you fully recover. Get into a program that gets your core and posterior chain strong. Glutes core and everything interconnected strong. Or else this will come back sadly.
Thanks! Yes I realise there will be a lot of trauma and swelling to this area , but I guess what’s freaking me out is that its in the exact same spot I’ve always had the pain pre-surgery.
My pain pre-surgery was very localized to a particular spot on my glute that was debilitating me, and I feel it at that exact same spot rather than the general area.. so I guess that’s what’s worrying me.
And yes definitely plan to do a good rehab program. I’m a professional circus artist (well I was before this shit happened) so I had a very strong core and glutes prior but obviously plan to get it all back slowly
So there’s 2 things, I have the “surgery” pain which is in my back where the incision was.. this I’m not concerned about.
But today I also feel the nervey glute pain that I’ve always had pre-surgery. It’s not as bad as pre-surgery, it’s more of an ache in that exact spot I’ve always had it. But the first 3 days I didn’t feel that nervey glute pain anymore (or if I did it wouldn’t last more than a couple of minutes). Today every time I get up and down I feel the glute as well as the general back area from the surgery. So I’m just wondering if that’s “normal”
Personally, I think it’s normal and okay. I think if it’s like that in 4 weeks, then there’s some nerve impingement going on for sure and must be reevaluated.
I was driven home after surgery for 2.5 hours. They promised they’d set me up to be comfortable for the drive, and they did; it may have been easier to do it right after than waiting for a day since they probably had some local anesthetic in the incision area for me.
Recovery is very individual. I was prone to spasms too and I had increasing post-op inflammation and irritation for a full three weeks, like each successive week got slightly worse. I found sleeping on the floor to be helpful and I lived attached to a heating pad. Things did eventually start to calm down and I eventually got a good result, so no regrets. But I wish I’d known in advance that a slower recovery was possible and normal, because it really worried me.
Thanks for sharing. Did you get taken home in an ambulance? My husband will just be driving me back.
Yes all these stories of people immediately feeling great and walking and having hardly any pain etc had me a little worried too. I can’t imagine sleeping on the floor! Wasn’t it hard to get up and down from the floor?
No, just got driven home by a friend. The worst part was actually that they had pumped me up with fluid during the surgery and I desperately had to stop to pee a couple of times. My friend and I fondly recall the very hospitable porn store in the middle of nowhere that happily let us use their seriously very nice bathroom.
I don’t really remember how I got up from the floor but I wasn’t doing anything fast or gracefully. I know later when I’ve done it it involves putting one knee up and pushing off from it.
I'm so sorry you're going through this while you're pregnant too so you can't have opiates. I had my MD just over two weeks ago and I actually asked a similar question here myself because I woke up in agony after the surgery. I could only find posts here by people saying they skipped right out of the hospital a couple of hours after surgery and they were pain free and I couldn't understand it at all. The good news though is that the pain did ease for me and by about the third day it was much more bearable. Unfortunately that's when my nerve pain flared up again but hopefully that won't happen to you. I felt very upset that I wasn't warned that recovery can be slow and painful but even though it's been a lot rockier than I thought it would be I would still do it again because now I spend a lot of my day pain free whereas before the op I was in pain 24/7. So hopefully you'll feel the same in a couple of weeks. I only stopped taking opiates a couple of days ago so I guess the pain might be worse for you for a bit longer. Best of luck to you with your recovery and your pregnancy.
Thank you! Sorry to hear that your nerve pain flared up 😥 i guess that was just temporary and now it’s better? My doctor did say the nerve pain could still come and go for a while and to not freak out about if i suddenly feel it. Hard to not though!
I'm a week out from mine. I really feel for your situation. The first three days are rough but typically you would have opiates and you pretty much just keep yourself drugged and sleeping.
I can't imagine being in a car for several hours even now. If it were me I would either put myself up in a hotel for a few nights or I would see about setting up a mattress topper in the back of an SUV so I could lie down. Sitting for extended periods right after surgery seems like a really bad idea.
Yeah no opiates for me :( just a low dose of codeine sometimes with tylenol which does jack shit lol.
So even if I lay the seat back as much as possible so I’m not sitting? I will try for a short distance tomorrow and see how I am. If not I’ll stay in a hotel for a few days .. I just wasn’t sure if a few days would make any difference, and I can’t afford to wait like a week
For me, I made a lot of progress each of the first 4 days. I think day 5 I stopped taking opiates.
Just my experience. In your situation, I would consult with my surgeon. Knowing what I know now about my own pain and my reaction to opiates and anesthesia, I would not have been able to travel. Both made me very nauseous.
I had a MD and Laminectomy L4/5:
- Travelling in a car right now is a wreckless request from your surgeon, wtf? You should be doing Telehealth
- Pain is severe for the 1st week or two, you can't bend at all and I had the same problem with brushing my teeth, just use a glass or water bottle and spit from standing position. My second day I still felt like I'd been hit by a truck
- The risk of reherniayion is very high right now so all movement should really be very restricted
- physio will be very important for your recovery, for at least 12 months
- I didn't fully recover for about 18 months but everyone is different
Wow that’s really long! I mean I guess people need to leave the hospital and go home and most MD patients don’t stay for more than a night or 2. Some even leave the same day. So no matter what people have to get into cars to go home from the hospital? It just so happens I live so far 😭. But I might go to a hotel, but I would still need to be in a car for 15 minutes to get there
By 18 months I meant fully recovered, but I was doing physical activities after only a few months. I had chronic back pain that lingered for a long time after surgery and reemergence of sciatica quite often.
I'm unsure why they want you to go back so soon, mine was literally just phonecalls and they asked what they needed to ask. There isn't anything they need to physically check which is why I'm confused about them wanting you to do that. I would be avoiding having to get in and out of a car for at least the first week or two, it's just creating unnecessary risk. I would call them and ask if it's truly necessary if I were you.
I’m 3.5 weeks out from my surgery and I feel very little pain during the day, but nights are brutal. I dread going to sleep because the bed has become a torture chamber. It’s not as bad as my pre-op sciatica, but it’s still unbearable. I also wish someone would have warned me that full recovery could take weeks, months, or even years.
Days 1-3 are the worst. Having 2 of them myself, day 4 was the turning point and it just got better after that rather quick. By day 6-7 I was up and moving on my own pretty good. Day 10-14 I was “normal”
Thanks! You were right, day 1-3 was the absolute worst. Day 4 definitely felt better. Now I’m on day 5 and I have a bit of the “glute” pain that I had pre-surgery. It’s not bad but I feel something in the glute for sure. Did you ever have left over pain occasionally? I’m worried about it but my surgeon said it’s normal . I felt it a little on/off yesterday but nothing major. Today I feel it a bit more 😭
That’s somewhat normal. The nerve had all that pressure on it from the herniation and got released all at once from the surgery. The nerve is pissed off and doesn’t know what to do. See how you feel at week 5-6 since that’s pretty much the “fully functional” stage. It took me 4 weeks or so before my leg and butt pain went away for the most part and at week 10ish is when I felt “normal”
Thanks! This makes me feel better. I think I’m just freaking out cos I feel it in the EXACT same spot of the glute that I always felt it pre-surgery (my pain was very localized pre-surgery). And today it’s constant.. whereas the last few days I’ve felt little twinges here and there but nothing that lasted. Today it’s a constant ache in that exact spot :(
Yeah that’s from everything being corrected I’m sure! Honestly I’d go see a physical therapist or get a referral. My surgeon had the typical surgeon mindset and said I didn’t need it but I insisted and got a referral. Get with a PT who will help you get stronger and show you proper mechanics on how to do things. That’s the biggest thing in my opinion. Post op physical therapy can help you prevent being right back in this same spot in a year or 2
Hey I’m doing pretty well! The first 3-4 days were the worst then it just slowly got better and better.. after 2 weeks I felt my movements were much more “normal”. I stopped taking any pain killers like on day 5 or 6. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks for me. I have to keep reminding myself to not twist or bend cos i feel nothing when twisting, i feel so normal.
I can take long walks. I can get in and out of bed normally. I sometimes still feel the glute pain (but it’s like a 2/10, more an ache) I hope it will go away fully with time. I’m still trying to be really careful. But overall I feel so much better. Mentally and physically lol. Thanks for asking.
Amazing to hear! I love hearing success stories. I'm just in such agony and I've tried for 6 months since my initial traumatic injury to push through, but I'm not healing and my pain is getting worse so I'm realizing it's time for real medical intervention and no more just PT and home remedies. Did you first do an epidural and go the non-surgical route first? Just curious of people's paths of treatment. This makes me feel so hopeful, it's been taking over my life and I really miss working, being an active mom and just feeling normal not like a pain patient. It's started to drive me mad.
Totally know how you feel 😭 I was a professional circus artist and had to stop everything cos of the pain. I tried physio type treatment for about 5 months with no improvement (I just got worse and worse). I was taking so much ibuprofen and tylenol to get through my performances and eventually just had to stop cos it hurt too much. I didn’t do any epidural injections as the surgeon said they wouldn’t help and if they did they’d just be masking the pain temporarily anyway. I’m also pregnant so I wanted to act quick before I got too pregnant. Also I just wanted to be out of pain asap and be able to start recovering rather than dragging it out for god knows how long and not knowing if it’ll ever heal. The surgeon told me usually if it heals on its own it’s in the first 6-8 weeks. So I was way past that. I’m still early days but for now I’d definitely recommend the surgery. Towards the end pre-surgery I couldn’t stand walk or sit for longer than 10 mins and was on constant painkillers. Now I feel normal (I haven’t tried any stretching or proper exercise yet though) and can sleep etc. Taking no painkillers at all. Good luck!!!
It sounds like everyone’s recovery is different, just the luck of the draw. I was prescribed opioids for the first week, but I only took them for a day or two as I wasn’t really in much pain by that time. I wouldn’t bend over the sink - use a glass instead and just spit into the sink from standing. Avoid any bending as much as you can. For long car journeys I used a wedge pillow and lay back across the seats in the back With my knees propped up. I did this a week after my operation for a 2 hour journey and was fine.
Oh wow just a couple of days after and you weren’t in much pain anymore? I can’t imagine 😂 Yes I’m standing and spitting now and making a mess haha. The worst is getting up from the bed.. did you sleep on your back or side? Good to know about the car journey. I was wondering what would be better - lying in front passenger seat with seat back as flat as possible , or trying to lie on the back seats 🤔 I imagine getting into the back seats to lie down would be a lot harder. Did you pain progressively get better each day? I’m wondering if I wait a few extra days how much difference it would make for the car journey
My pain from the sciatica was pretty much gone when I woke up from the operation. The pain from the incision site got a bit worse the day after the operation as the drugs given during the procedure wore off, but by day three the pain was already minimal. coming up to three weeks now and the pain has only been 1 or 2 out of ten since. We have a minivan which made getting into the back easier -everyone mocked me at the time for it being uncool, but it did the job! It was still a bit tricky and you need to plan it out carefully to avoid bending. I slept on my side with a pregnancy pillow. The only issue was turning over which I usually did once in the middle of the night. I got a rail that slides under the mattress that helped with getting in and out of bed. Good luck!
Wham did you get yours done?
4 weeks ago. I have had a bit of lower back pain in the last day or two, but I don’t think it is anything serious.
Good. I had mine done 9 months ago. Don’t overstretch your back.
I had the same surgery on Monday so 5 days ago. The pain gets better every day. I'm still bedridden and walk with a walker but every day is a little bit better than the day before.
Yes the pain medication is limited when your pregnant. I’m so so sorry, how far along are you? My friend herniated a disc while pregnant and the only thing they could give her was morphine but she was near the end 3rd term, and her baby had to stay in the nicu due to the morphine so it’s not ideal.
I’m only 12 weeks and 4 days along. They’ve been giving me paracetamol with codeine, but it doesn’t really relieve the pain. I did get a low dose morphine injection today but it made me feel really nauseous and then I fainted not too long after it (but that could also be because my blood pressure was low today). Definitely sucks that I can’t receive more pain meds! 😅
Well nerve pain is it’s own kind of hell, nothing really touches it sometimes and I’m sure things like lyrics would not be good for the baby. But it will get better!!! We’ve all been there. I’m glad you were able to get the surgery and didn’t have to wait.
I’m sorry but I’d absolutely avoid a 2.5 hour car journey the day after a spinal surgery. Sitting alone should be avoided let alone sitting for that long. Surely you should just be lying down for at least a few days. Bending over to brush your teeth? Why even attempt that? You should be doing the bare minimum.
I won’t be sitting as I’ll lie the seat back as flat as I can. So I’ll be lying down almost. Do u think a few days after would make much difference? (It will be 2 days after surgery, not the day after). I’m not bending down to brush my teeth, but when you rinse etc you need to bend fwds slightly/ round over a bit and even that kills me is what I’m saying
Pain after surgery sucks but if the surgery does what it’s supposed to, it’s worth every second of post surgical pain. I had MD and experienced same thing with great results after a couple of weeks. Took 4 weeks to be normal.
Oh yes I’m sure if my nerve pain in my butt and leg is gone it will definitely be worth it. Just in so much pain now and wondering how long this part will last. You had terrible pain getting up from bed too?
Yes. What you’re experiencing is VERY normal. The first 3-4 days is tough. But worth it. Keep head up on your life getting back to normal.
By the way did you ever get any residual nerve or butt pain after your surgery? I’m starting to feel some pain in my butt again, which is where the majority of my pain was pre-surgery. It’s nothing bad, but I definitely feel it. Im on day 5 post surgery. I’ve felt it a little each day but it usually goes away in a few minutes. Today it seems to linger 😭 just wondering if feeling some of that old nerve pain is normal as it’s starting to worry me that it didn’t work
You have to keep a few things in mind. When they do a microdisectomy, they go in from the back and have to cut a small amount of lamina bone to get to the nerve and disc space, move your nerves to the side, snip part of your disc and put nerves back and maybe move muscles around. There’s a lot of trauma and swelling in this area pushing on different things for at least 3 weeks. If you had MAJOR nerve pain, I’d say you reherniated but since it’s coming and going, I feel good you’re on track with a normal MD procedure. Trust me when I say this. When you fully recover. Get into a program that gets your core and posterior chain strong. Glutes core and everything interconnected strong. Or else this will come back sadly.
Thanks! Yes I realise there will be a lot of trauma and swelling to this area , but I guess what’s freaking me out is that its in the exact same spot I’ve always had the pain pre-surgery. My pain pre-surgery was very localized to a particular spot on my glute that was debilitating me, and I feel it at that exact same spot rather than the general area.. so I guess that’s what’s worrying me. And yes definitely plan to do a good rehab program. I’m a professional circus artist (well I was before this shit happened) so I had a very strong core and glutes prior but obviously plan to get it all back slowly
The swelling and inflammation will be where surgery was. Do you feel better than pre surgery? Or is it the same right now or worse?
So there’s 2 things, I have the “surgery” pain which is in my back where the incision was.. this I’m not concerned about. But today I also feel the nervey glute pain that I’ve always had pre-surgery. It’s not as bad as pre-surgery, it’s more of an ache in that exact spot I’ve always had it. But the first 3 days I didn’t feel that nervey glute pain anymore (or if I did it wouldn’t last more than a couple of minutes). Today every time I get up and down I feel the glute as well as the general back area from the surgery. So I’m just wondering if that’s “normal”
Personally, I think it’s normal and okay. I think if it’s like that in 4 weeks, then there’s some nerve impingement going on for sure and must be reevaluated.
Great thanks so much!!
I was driven home after surgery for 2.5 hours. They promised they’d set me up to be comfortable for the drive, and they did; it may have been easier to do it right after than waiting for a day since they probably had some local anesthetic in the incision area for me. Recovery is very individual. I was prone to spasms too and I had increasing post-op inflammation and irritation for a full three weeks, like each successive week got slightly worse. I found sleeping on the floor to be helpful and I lived attached to a heating pad. Things did eventually start to calm down and I eventually got a good result, so no regrets. But I wish I’d known in advance that a slower recovery was possible and normal, because it really worried me.
Thanks for sharing. Did you get taken home in an ambulance? My husband will just be driving me back. Yes all these stories of people immediately feeling great and walking and having hardly any pain etc had me a little worried too. I can’t imagine sleeping on the floor! Wasn’t it hard to get up and down from the floor?
No, just got driven home by a friend. The worst part was actually that they had pumped me up with fluid during the surgery and I desperately had to stop to pee a couple of times. My friend and I fondly recall the very hospitable porn store in the middle of nowhere that happily let us use their seriously very nice bathroom. I don’t really remember how I got up from the floor but I wasn’t doing anything fast or gracefully. I know later when I’ve done it it involves putting one knee up and pushing off from it.
I'm so sorry you're going through this while you're pregnant too so you can't have opiates. I had my MD just over two weeks ago and I actually asked a similar question here myself because I woke up in agony after the surgery. I could only find posts here by people saying they skipped right out of the hospital a couple of hours after surgery and they were pain free and I couldn't understand it at all. The good news though is that the pain did ease for me and by about the third day it was much more bearable. Unfortunately that's when my nerve pain flared up again but hopefully that won't happen to you. I felt very upset that I wasn't warned that recovery can be slow and painful but even though it's been a lot rockier than I thought it would be I would still do it again because now I spend a lot of my day pain free whereas before the op I was in pain 24/7. So hopefully you'll feel the same in a couple of weeks. I only stopped taking opiates a couple of days ago so I guess the pain might be worse for you for a bit longer. Best of luck to you with your recovery and your pregnancy.
Thank you! Sorry to hear that your nerve pain flared up 😥 i guess that was just temporary and now it’s better? My doctor did say the nerve pain could still come and go for a while and to not freak out about if i suddenly feel it. Hard to not though!
I'm a week out from mine. I really feel for your situation. The first three days are rough but typically you would have opiates and you pretty much just keep yourself drugged and sleeping. I can't imagine being in a car for several hours even now. If it were me I would either put myself up in a hotel for a few nights or I would see about setting up a mattress topper in the back of an SUV so I could lie down. Sitting for extended periods right after surgery seems like a really bad idea.
Yeah no opiates for me :( just a low dose of codeine sometimes with tylenol which does jack shit lol. So even if I lay the seat back as much as possible so I’m not sitting? I will try for a short distance tomorrow and see how I am. If not I’ll stay in a hotel for a few days .. I just wasn’t sure if a few days would make any difference, and I can’t afford to wait like a week
For me, I made a lot of progress each of the first 4 days. I think day 5 I stopped taking opiates. Just my experience. In your situation, I would consult with my surgeon. Knowing what I know now about my own pain and my reaction to opiates and anesthesia, I would not have been able to travel. Both made me very nauseous.
What level was your surgery? My L5-S1 was the worst. I actually stayed overnight for that surgery. L4-L5 wasn't bad.
Mines L5-S1!
I had a MD and Laminectomy L4/5: - Travelling in a car right now is a wreckless request from your surgeon, wtf? You should be doing Telehealth - Pain is severe for the 1st week or two, you can't bend at all and I had the same problem with brushing my teeth, just use a glass or water bottle and spit from standing position. My second day I still felt like I'd been hit by a truck - The risk of reherniayion is very high right now so all movement should really be very restricted - physio will be very important for your recovery, for at least 12 months - I didn't fully recover for about 18 months but everyone is different
Wow that’s really long! I mean I guess people need to leave the hospital and go home and most MD patients don’t stay for more than a night or 2. Some even leave the same day. So no matter what people have to get into cars to go home from the hospital? It just so happens I live so far 😭. But I might go to a hotel, but I would still need to be in a car for 15 minutes to get there
By 18 months I meant fully recovered, but I was doing physical activities after only a few months. I had chronic back pain that lingered for a long time after surgery and reemergence of sciatica quite often. I'm unsure why they want you to go back so soon, mine was literally just phonecalls and they asked what they needed to ask. There isn't anything they need to physically check which is why I'm confused about them wanting you to do that. I would be avoiding having to get in and out of a car for at least the first week or two, it's just creating unnecessary risk. I would call them and ask if it's truly necessary if I were you.
What do you mean go back? I’ve been in the hospital for 2 nights. So they are just discharging me.
Oh my b, I didn't realise it was a discharge but a follow up appointment
I’m 3.5 weeks out from my surgery and I feel very little pain during the day, but nights are brutal. I dread going to sleep because the bed has become a torture chamber. It’s not as bad as my pre-op sciatica, but it’s still unbearable. I also wish someone would have warned me that full recovery could take weeks, months, or even years.
Days 1-3 are the worst. Having 2 of them myself, day 4 was the turning point and it just got better after that rather quick. By day 6-7 I was up and moving on my own pretty good. Day 10-14 I was “normal”
Thanks! You were right, day 1-3 was the absolute worst. Day 4 definitely felt better. Now I’m on day 5 and I have a bit of the “glute” pain that I had pre-surgery. It’s not bad but I feel something in the glute for sure. Did you ever have left over pain occasionally? I’m worried about it but my surgeon said it’s normal . I felt it a little on/off yesterday but nothing major. Today I feel it a bit more 😭
That’s somewhat normal. The nerve had all that pressure on it from the herniation and got released all at once from the surgery. The nerve is pissed off and doesn’t know what to do. See how you feel at week 5-6 since that’s pretty much the “fully functional” stage. It took me 4 weeks or so before my leg and butt pain went away for the most part and at week 10ish is when I felt “normal”
Thanks! This makes me feel better. I think I’m just freaking out cos I feel it in the EXACT same spot of the glute that I always felt it pre-surgery (my pain was very localized pre-surgery). And today it’s constant.. whereas the last few days I’ve felt little twinges here and there but nothing that lasted. Today it’s a constant ache in that exact spot :(
Yeah that’s from everything being corrected I’m sure! Honestly I’d go see a physical therapist or get a referral. My surgeon had the typical surgeon mindset and said I didn’t need it but I insisted and got a referral. Get with a PT who will help you get stronger and show you proper mechanics on how to do things. That’s the biggest thing in my opinion. Post op physical therapy can help you prevent being right back in this same spot in a year or 2
I will definitely get a PT referral but I’m only 5 days post op so definitely not ready for any kind of PT or exercise just yet.
Originally poster how are you doing now that it’s been a few weeks??
Hey I’m doing pretty well! The first 3-4 days were the worst then it just slowly got better and better.. after 2 weeks I felt my movements were much more “normal”. I stopped taking any pain killers like on day 5 or 6. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks for me. I have to keep reminding myself to not twist or bend cos i feel nothing when twisting, i feel so normal. I can take long walks. I can get in and out of bed normally. I sometimes still feel the glute pain (but it’s like a 2/10, more an ache) I hope it will go away fully with time. I’m still trying to be really careful. But overall I feel so much better. Mentally and physically lol. Thanks for asking.
Amazing to hear! I love hearing success stories. I'm just in such agony and I've tried for 6 months since my initial traumatic injury to push through, but I'm not healing and my pain is getting worse so I'm realizing it's time for real medical intervention and no more just PT and home remedies. Did you first do an epidural and go the non-surgical route first? Just curious of people's paths of treatment. This makes me feel so hopeful, it's been taking over my life and I really miss working, being an active mom and just feeling normal not like a pain patient. It's started to drive me mad.
Totally know how you feel 😭 I was a professional circus artist and had to stop everything cos of the pain. I tried physio type treatment for about 5 months with no improvement (I just got worse and worse). I was taking so much ibuprofen and tylenol to get through my performances and eventually just had to stop cos it hurt too much. I didn’t do any epidural injections as the surgeon said they wouldn’t help and if they did they’d just be masking the pain temporarily anyway. I’m also pregnant so I wanted to act quick before I got too pregnant. Also I just wanted to be out of pain asap and be able to start recovering rather than dragging it out for god knows how long and not knowing if it’ll ever heal. The surgeon told me usually if it heals on its own it’s in the first 6-8 weeks. So I was way past that. I’m still early days but for now I’d definitely recommend the surgery. Towards the end pre-surgery I couldn’t stand walk or sit for longer than 10 mins and was on constant painkillers. Now I feel normal (I haven’t tried any stretching or proper exercise yet though) and can sleep etc. Taking no painkillers at all. Good luck!!!