Surgery for Siatica

wondering if anyone has had recent surgery for this ? I've had it for about 2 yrs. I have learned exactly what the term debilitating means. I have pain from my left hip down to my knee. Feels like a lightening bolt and turns on and off like a switch. Gets worse as the day goes on. I'm trying to find 2 neurosurgeons that recommend the same procedure. My back feels fine. So far one doc says get a simple procedure to eliminate interference with a nerve and a piece of vertebra, the other, a full back reconstruction. thoughts ?

I had it once, it lasted about 10 days , that was enough, there is several exercises to do to make it lessen or go away

Mine has always went away on it`s own. Some times it lasted a long time to recover. Never needed surgery yet. I have learned what not to do to help it not happen again.

Here's what they did at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to cure my sciatica. However, there were a lot of problems with my back. Pain is gone.

I am sure everyone's circumstances are different but my brother manages his sciatica with a monthly infusion.

However he has other back problems that have required multiple surgeries.

I had a diskectomy done in 2006, and am happy with the outcome.
The nerve pain was gone pretty much immediately.
However, the muscle/tissue recovery was a slow, gradual process (lots of muscle spasms in the beginning). After about 2 years I was back to running a sub-12 minute 1.5 miles. I know...that's no land speed record, but it was my indication that I was finally "healed."
Everyone's recovery is different. Don't half-@$$ your physical therapy, but don't over do it either.
Hey...we're not 20 years old anymore. Don't expect miracles, but trust that you will be better off having the procedure done.

I have a bad disk that puts pressure on the Sciatic nerve.

I am able to manage it with Physical Therapy and lots of hanging upside down on a slant board.

I started at a slight slant and worked my way up to fully vertical. Imminently after getting off the board I lay down and let my back settle for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
It does wonders.

My doctor said right off the bat surgery is a last ditch situation. He said I had ever heard of anyone's back getting stronger from cutting on it.

You may already have tried this but if you choose surgery choose the least invasive one, You can always go back for more but never put back what has been removed.

Is that what a fusion looks like ?

I'm all in for surgery, but just how invasive a surgery I need is the question. As a 65 y.o. man that's had an active life, I'm not surprised to hear that I've got multiple issues going on. I've had 2 MRI scans. In my mind I just want to fix what's causing the pain and not fix other issues that aren't causing pain.

thanks for the reply's

My dad suffered from sciatica for a period and also found the specific exercises very helpful. A friend a work suffers bad, and was told to lose weight. He's at least 50 lbs. over weight. My dad has never been over weight but probably too much sitting aggravated his. I haven't known anyone to have the surgery but I'd try everything else first. Good luck.

I had back issues for years. Tried everything from PT and Cortisone to inversion tables. Nothing did much to help. The pain would shoot down my leg to my knee. Horrible...wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! Finally decided to do the surgery...L4-L5-S1 fusion. Long story short...my insurance company f'd my Dr around and we ended up doing it twice. It helped but wasn't a complete cure. Year or so later was decided I needed a new hip on that side. Had that done in Dec and haven't looked back! 3 surgeries in 3 years but...no more back pain, no more shooting pain down my leg! It's fantastic!!! Good luck to anyone fighting back, leg, sciatica type pain...it sucks!!!

I appreciate the info, some tough stories out there. I tell ya, I think what annoys me the most is the basic state of affairs of the health systems in general. I live in southeast virginia and there are a bunch of for profit health systems here. You would think it would fairly easy to get appointments, second opinions, Nope, any request takes months. And don't even ask for a pain reliever.......

I'll be getting a second opinion in about a month. I'll update then. Thanks !

For what its worth, my father had fusion done. He was 66. He was a large man(not fat) and suffered from degenerative back issues most of his life. He always worked through the pain, until he couldn't. The injections stopped working. It was hard to watch. He got the surgery, and it was a huge success. About a year recovery time with pt. My point is, the surgeon after the procedure discussed the operation and what he saw. When they were correcting the real estate, they uncovered his sciatic nerve from a destroyed disc. When they did this, the nerve immediately started to fill/flow blood. That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up was the strange feeling of no pain in his left hip/leg.

Good to know. If I need a fusion, I'll get one. But want to get what I need the first time, if possible....... Right now I have two recommendations, radically different. Hopefully the third one will confirm what I need.

I've had 3 lower spinal surgeries since 2013 with the most recent being a 3 disc fusion in 2018. Surgery was my only option as the previous surgeries were band aids that didn't last. I'm fine and it worked. But recovery is very slow (I was 50 at the time.) Now back in 2018 Norco did not help with my recovery pain and this was before the crackdown on opioids. They prescribed me plenty but the pain overpowered it. The first 4 days after surgery was the absolute worst for me. I have NEVER been a pot user. But a friend heard I was suffering and brought me some edibles. The edibles (cookies) made me sleep sleep and sleep PAIN FREE. I was able to make it thru that initial painful few days after surgery. After 4 days I stopped the edibles (maybe I didn't)
and the Norco was enough.

It'll be important to do as much research/vetting on your neuro/spine surgeon as possible. Some have far greater success rates than others. Being in VA, you probably have some "world class" neurosurgeons within the region. It would certainly be worth the extra effort to get to the best that accepts your insurance.

The aggravating process you're going through isn't unique to your area, unfortunately. It's tough to be patient when you're in constant pain. Once you find the surgeon you're comfortable with, talk to him/her about getting fast-tracked to operating table. Maybe they can get you in sooner, maybe not, but it's worth asking the question. Having been there, I wish you the best.

Keep in mind that if the symptoms are being caused by nerve root impingement (usually a disc, sometimes a bone spur) that surgery will fix the mechanical problem but no surgeon will guarantee a relief of pain. Spinal stenosis is hard to fix and operating can cause scar tissue that worsens the problem! If the sciatic nerve is being entrapped somewhere in the hip instead, that's the area that needs repair, of course.

Not only that, in the long run (10-15 years or more) the outcome measured in mobility and pain level is about the same for people who had disc surgery vs. those who did not. Individual cases vary, naturally, and no one intervention from epidural steroid injections, electrical stimulation, physical therapy (or even a chiropractor if it works), and surgery are 100% effective.

I do wish you the best possible outcome though!

Disclaimer: not medical advice, no doctor-patient relationship established, etc. Freakin' lawyers

Some folks have the pain resolve on its own over time. Some resolve with PT. Some with home exercises or going to the gym. There are lots of articles out there about exercises, stretches and such to help.
Sometimes injections help. Surgery is definitely what you do when you have exhausted all conservative therapy and cannot live with the pain any longer.
If you go with surgery, find out everything you can about the doctor who is going to do the procedure. You probably wouldn't take your hemi Superbird to Jiffy Lube. Your spine needs an expert as well - -and the skill levels of doctors vary wildly. Many people have great outcomes. And some were better off before they had surgery.

Once again guys, I appreciate the feedback.

My mother had the worst back x-rays.

Twice, at different MD offices I have heard them say to her:

“Mrs xxxxx, I look at your x-rays and I honestly do not know how you walked in here without help ! “

As a young boss in the 1980s I had employees who injured their backs at work, were slow to heal, and elected for back surgeries.
None ever were able to really recover or be free from pain.

I have had a now deceased family member who had 2 back operations that afterwards she did not feel were successes.

My mother, a doctor’s daughter who had 4 MD grandchildren,
never had back surgery.

She was no stranger to hospitals, had several complicated operations, such as having a fiber threaded up from the leg to the head to pull a clot loose from deep in her brain.

I witnessed two different Hospice MDs do legally required exams on her and both remarked:

“That is a really bad back, it curves in all directions.”

What worked best for my mother was the very special pain reliever
Tramadol.

Tramadol is one of the most complicated drugs.
When you swallow it, the drug is changed six different times before it leaves your body.
It is like taking one pill that contains 7 different “time release” drugs.
Not all 7 drugs are pain relievers.

Tramadol can lower blood sugar level,
even to dangerous levels in some people at relatively low Tramadol doses,
because people’s blood sugar levels vary a lot, and vary by time of day.

Tramadol is generally accepted as the opioid-class drug least likely to cause addiction.

Despite that, many criminal drug smuggling rings use Tramadol to “cut” other drugs to dilute them before sale.

What award winning MD and long time medical school professor
really has studied back problems
and speaks the truth as he sees it?

This one:

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469642253/stabbed-in-the-back/

If you give back doctors 100 of randomly mixed up x-rays of patient backs to read:

50 of which are patients complaining of severe back pain
50 of which are patients with no back pain, but needed an xray for another reason

can the back doctors correctly identify the xrays with back pain?

The book above has the answer.

Thank you. Looks like an interesting book. Seems like treating back issues is an "industry" or "business model" Before I got an approval from my neurosurgeon for a epidural, I had to see the NP, and she said based on my MRI, I should be crawling into the doctors office asking for pain meds. That approach just ticked me off.

Ive taken tramadol many times for diverticulitis. I agree it works great and it's use can be managed quite easily. But I get the feeling physicians are now unable to tell the difference between a legitimate request for pain meds and recreational or addictive uses.

At some point in time I'll have it figured out.

Cheers

Two more “teasers” about what Dr Nortin Hadler says in his book:

1. Hadler set out to design a scientific experiment to
“prove to 95% certainty”
that Doctors of Chiropractic were frauds
and their failure at effective treatment of back pain would prove this useless and wasteful fraud.
Hadler’s experimental results surprised him because they showed the opposite, but he honestly went ahead and published his results anyway.

2. Hadler believes strongly that an MD should NEVER
show a back pain patient a X-Ray/MRI/PET scan or similar
and say
“this is the root cause of your pain”
and imply to the patient that
“your pain will never lessen or disappear until we do surgery to change what that scan picture looks like.”
Dr. Hadler believes that the human body can heal, or the brain can change how much pain the patient feels.

Time to update. I finally got my spine surgery. I had a laminectomy on L3-L4, a couple of cysts dissected, and some stenosis removed. 3 day hospital stay. Week 1 was rough, had to use a walker. Week 2 walking pretty good. Week 3 walking and riding a stationary bike. I'm at week 6 now and feel great. No pain or stiffness. So, obviously I'm pretty happy about this. Moral to this story is, if you're not getting relief or don't agree with your doctor, keep looking for an answer. It took me 3 years and 3 different surgeons to find mine

Awesome news!

I am glad to read that!

Thanks

My dad had a minor lower back fusion done years ago when it got to where he could hardly move without getting zapped. They have you up and walking around right away, which seemed both weird and slightly scary at the time. It took him awhile to find the 'right;' doctor as well. Some either act like they don't really want the job, or as if they don't know how to fix it so they error on the safe side and push you down to the next guy. I think they are shopping for easy money patients just as much as the patients are shopping them to be honest. Really annoying. Another relative has a bad lower back issue that needs fixed and has been here and there with different types of scans and multiple visits to specialists and is still looking for the patient/doctor match-up.

Yeah, it's sad that in a country so "advanced" getting timely and accurate medical care can be so difficult. My basic strategy was to find 2 doctors with the same diagnosis. The neurosurgeon that did my surgery was a professor at a teaching hospital, VCU in Richmond VA. It's like looking for a contractor, car repair or anything else, you might get lucky at first, but you also might need to look for a long time. Hope your relative finds a solution.

In my opinion, you did yourself a great service by continuing to see surgeons until you were convinced you'd been diagnosed properly.
It's great to hear that you're doing so well this soon after surgery.

Thanks !