back surgery again?

[tsiaivvb]

Hi guys ive had back pain for many years now i had 2 lots of surgery in 2007 and 2008 1st time i had a pice of whati wouild call a stong bit of plastic in between discs that didnt work so had l4/l5 fusion the following year.
Ive been suffering pain again since mid 2010 and have been back to my surgon today after putting it off for ages! After having ct and mri scan i was told today that l5/s1 is in need of treatment i saw the scan and cant belive how bent my spine is i have constant hip pain due to this,im just not sure i can go and have surgery again, i have complete faith in my doctor who is great.
any advice would be great.
cheers sara

 

[Yakov Smirnov]

Specific advice hard to give by internet, and not very wise to do so. But there is a world of choice out there, do shop around for other ways to look at the problem. Good luck!

 

[Dominic M]

What's exactly now with your L5-S1 and how do you know L5-S1 is causing your problems?

 

[glampbrar]

Dear Sarah.
Reading your post today has filled me with both great sadness and frustration!

Sadness:
I am so very sad that you are still suffering so much, after such a long time, and after your 2 operations. I am also very sad that the new realisation and diagnosis of your present condition, is so poor! Many of us here understand and feel what your going through! I am also sad that you are still not sure how to proceed in future.

Frustration:
I truly believe that your Surgeon, does not deserve your kind words, faith or admiration.
Oh, I'm sure he/she is nice, kind and holds the relevant medical qualifications for his/her role, but, (and i'm very sorry to be so blunt Sarah) I believe that everyone should seriously question, any Surgeon's treatment pathway plan when (within 12 months or so) it goes from prioritising a minimal, low invasive and revesable approach to release you from the hell of your spinal pain, to a 'blunderbus' of a procedure, that is normally a highly invasive, very destructive and is (I believe) an irriversible procedure. In my opinion, It should only be considered as a last resort! (If irriversability is incorrect, I would appricate information from members)

I am not sure if you have just forgotten the name of the device used in you 1st procedure Sarah, or whether it's name was never told to by your Surgeon, in my experience, I found this very common, but I think it would have been something like a Wallace Stablisition Device or the more widely used X-stop. Basically, both are designed to to increase the gap between the vertibrae and thereby decompressing the disc and reducing the risk of nerve impingement by both bone and disc material. They are also designed to reduce the amount of backward extension, thereby reducing the contact between nerve and bone in the dorsal and foraminal areas.
They are both 'stop gap' devices and are meant to be removable, in order to replace them when they fail, wear out 'or' in order to upgrade to newer devices in the future. They are not a 'cure' and dont cure osteoarthritis, disc herniations and so on. Did yours fail or were there other problems?

I appologise again for my forthrightness Sarah, but in the world of back pain, knowledge helps our understanding of our conditions, although I must admit, it does not always gurantee the best clinical outcomes for us suffers. I would respectfully ask you to seek a 'second opinion' before committing to any further procedures! kvdp and Keano (below) both raise good points, you need much more information than you seem to have at present, before making any further decisions or commitments.

Please contiue to read the threads on the HP back problems pages, as some of the answers you seek, may already be posted, and don't forget Sarah, we are all here together!

Best wishes

SPINELF

 

[Blazin_luvv]

Hi All, I am answering as someone who has specialised in fixing back pain for over 20 years now so I know what I am talking about. L5/ S1 problems normally are caused by a rotated pelvis and L4/ L5 from a tilted pelvis. Both problems required lots of work on lengthening and balancing the leg muscles to correct to position of the pelvis and take the pressure off the spine. Unfortunately surgeons only look at the disc and spine not what is causing the problem and this is why surgery often fails. It is a narrow perspective and if it has failed once already it is probably because no one has worked on your legs and it will likely fail again.

 

[BlogShag]

I'm with you on the whole 'holistic' approach to causality Steve!

The problem is (as you will see) with most of the members on HP, they can't even get an accurate and complete diagnosis for the symptoms, let alone the causes or the comlex relationships between feet, legs and pelvis.

Are you working in the NHS Steve? If not, where do you practice? If you don't mind me asking!

Best wishes


SPINELF

 

[illbaby]

Hi Steve,
I have L5/S1 and am having a discetomy next week. Where can I get theraphy post this to stop the risk of further prolapses?
Any advice much appreciated
thanks
tom

 

[Sukkar]

Best wishes and the very best of luck with your procedure next week Tom!!

There are a host of therapists (of all kinds) on this forum Tom, so make sure you trawl through 'past posts' with similar subject threads, as well as 'asking the members' for specific questions. I'm sure you'll find what you need here!

Just by the by, do you have a disc bulge (only), or do you have any annulas leakage
and other issue as well?

Kind regards

SPINELF

 

[PCTAF]

Hi, I come from a rehabilitation background and have found core conditioning to be the most effective remedy for lower back pain.

I wrote the following article on the issue- Lower Back Pain- The core is the cure.

Hope this helps.

 

[imsoeffinhxc]

Hi Alex, Welcome to Healthy Pages

Whilst I absolutely agree that the Core plays a huge part in back pain management I have to add that not all back problems can be "cured " just by strenghtening the core and midsection. I am a Pilates Instructor and had a back problem which required surgery. My surgeon who is at the top of his field advised me that some conditions will never heal and surgery is the only solution. I went with this advice and can honestly say this was the best and only way forward for me. 3 years later and I am at full fitness and teach 20 classes a week, some very high impact.

Whilst Pilates and Core cond play a vital part in helping to prevent back pain and in the rehabilitation of back problems sometimes it is not enough.

You have to look at the whole picture and not just assume that what is needed is core conditioning!!!