Well it’s been confirmed. I have a ruptured disk in my lumbar area. I’ve been dealling with the pain and numbness from it pressing on my sciatic nerve for about 4 months now and finally went and had xrays and MRI’s to confirm what’s been ailin’ me.
The doctors are saying that they think I should have it operated on (imagine that) and I want to get input from any of you who have had this surgery done.
Please don’t be offended when I tell you that I would rather hear only from people who have actually had the surgery done to themselves rather than “this friend of mine’s father’s friend’s brother’s uncle had it ” I have several questions I would like to ask and want direct feedback.
I’m extremely leary of surgery as I had a foot worked on a couple of years back and then realized I should have just dealt with the original problem rather than taking on the whole new set associated after the surgery.
Thanks for any input.
Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible…It just hasn’t been done yet.
Replies
Dear steve-
my sixty two thousand year old mother had back surgery this past spring- I can tell you that she had several vertabrates fused to stabilize her lower back-
let me think-m she had surgery in april and its june and I got my mom back- she is a pain in my #### again...
I thought she was dying before
Well, no, I did not have that surgery, but my mother recently did,(twice) for what sounds like just about the same thing. Write me at [email protected] and I will put you in touch with her.
-Don
I have a herniated disc at thoracic 8 and 9 between my shoulder blades I have had this problem for about 7 years when the doctors finally admitted that I had a problem
they recommended surgery .disc fusion and abridgment which means grind the edge of the disc so it does not touch the nerves I was considering this and looked for advice the advice I got from any one that had surgery was if you can walk and live now don't do it many people in town heard about my situation and were very concerned one of my old high school teachers actually came to my house with a report from Harvard medical school telling about the failure rate of spinal surgery the problem is the scar tissue and the length of recovery time needed over 80%fail for one reason or another most times it is the surgery itself and many times it was because the person did not allow himself to recuperate . the best thing you can do is physical therapy no chiropractors you have to exercise your back slowly carefully and you have to stay with it for years this is what saved me and in some ways not to be overly dramatic it saved my life my brother hurt his back about 25 years ago he was 23 wife 2 kids he hooked up with a lawyer the lawyer set him up with a doctor who said surgery my brothers back hurt but he was also looking to collect bucks from workman comp well he had the surgery and collected a lot of money then later needed more surgery and more buck 25000 once 17000another time and the later more surgery and more bucks and youknow what that was 25years ago all that money is gone and he is a cripple he is hopelessly addicted to pain meds and his family lives on welfare
try the physical therapy first for awhile before the surgery
if you would;d like to talk more here is my emails [email protected] if i can be of help
good luck
Bill
Edited 7/21/2002 9:59:49 PM ET by village handyman
Well fancy that, some of these surgeries didn't turn out too well.
And yet, we can read ad nauseum about carpentry, plumbing, electrical, roofing, foundation screwups and state, with great enthusiasm, those tradesmen didn't do it right, didn't know what they were doing, etc.
Spinal surgery is among the most complex in the medical world. However, the problems are relatively straghtforward. A ruptured disc is just that. The disks between the bones of the spine are two or three inch sacks filled with a kind of jelly. When they are subjected to too much pressure,( leaning over a roof overhang, nailing up a fascia board), they burst like a balloon. Then the vertebrae rub against each other causing pain. Worse, the bones now compress against the nerves which exit the spinal cord through small holes in those same bones, and cause pain and dysfunction.
So, the therapy is to fuse those vertebra so they can't rub, and also enlarge the openings the nerves exit so they aren't compressed.
Now, were Willy Mayes, Ted williams, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, and Pete Rose in the same class as these schmucks today? I think not.
John Peloza MD, Dallas Presbyterian Hospital, is among the best.
He was affiliated with the famous Steadman-Hawkins clinic of Vail.
I know whereof I speak, having been the happy recipient of the surgery I described some two years ago, and totally pain free since.
Also, as you can see from my signature line, I know more than a little about this.
Stephan Davis, AB DDS MS
presently retired and a master log builder, and know it all.
I had what they called a "discectomy" to repair a ruptured disc at L4-L5 in Feb. 1990, Steve. What do you want to know?
Edited 7/21/2002 11:09:34 PM ET by jim blodgett
Hi Jim, From what the Doc's are telling me I have ruptured the same disk as you. That's good in the sense that now I can get a feel for what to expect if I have the surgery. The questions I have are the routine ones...
1 Did the surgery leave you less mobile?
2 Do you still have discomfort? maybe not the same pain but a different one related to the surgery? And if so is it less or greater than the original pain and discomfort?
3 How long did it take before you could resume "regular" carpentry work?
4 Not to be personal but how old were you when you had the surgery? (age affects recovery) I'll be 39 in about two weeks.
5 Did you have the "classical" diskectomy or the newer laser version.
6 Who the heck is Brinkmann?
As I have any more questions come to mind I will pass them along.
Thanks a million Jim.Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
Well listen, Steve, I'll tell you my experience, but from what I've learned talking to others, everyone's experience is different, with many variables, as I'm sure you already know.
"1 Did the surgery leave you less mobile?"
Yes, and no. I had had a history of back problems - chiropractic care, bedrest and valium for a couple weeks every few years - same old, same old. Except this time a couple weeks didn't do the trick. After a couple months I was sleeping on the floor with rolled up towells under various body parts, taking some pretty serious pain medication up all night...finally I admitted that I wasn't going to heal and I sure couldn't live like that. So I had the surgury.
When I woke up after the operation I had to pee. I tried to stand up and it was like my top half and my bottom half weren't connected. It was as if they had cut me in half. Very scary. I had to call for a nurse to help me to the john. Lots of guys had told me stuff like "as soon as I woke up I felt better than I had in years" and "I was like a new man within a few days". Well I'll tell you straight out, Steve, that was not my experience.
It took me weeks to walk normally and maybe two weeks before I could sit in a chair to eat a meal with the family. BUT, I slept in a bed again. Tapered off the drugs pretty quickly, and within a few months I was living a fairly normal life.
"2 Do you still have discomfort? maybe not the same pain but a different one related to the surgery? And if so is it less or greater than the original pain and discomfort?"
Yes, I still have to watch what I do. But now it's a matter of pain management. I've learned to accept pain as my new normal. Every once in a while I'll be lying in bed and say to Kathy "I'm not feeling any pain right now", but it's pretty rare. It's far less than the original pain and most days I don't take any narcotics, just Naproxin.
"3 How long did it take before you could resume "regular" carpentry work?"
Never did go back to "normal carpentry". Can't. I have to pick and choose my work, and be very mindful of my body now.
"4 Not to be personal but how old were you when you had the surgery? (age affects recovery) I'll be 39 in about two weeks."
I was 35, in the best shape of my life.
"5 Did you have the "classical" diskectomy or the newer laser version."
Knife, hammer and chisels, I expect. Definately before lasers.
"6 Who the heck is Brinkmann?"
Smokey Brinkmann is one of my heroes.
Bottom line - you'll know when you have to have surgury. Just make sure you exhaust all other possible alternatives first. If I had known how seriously they were gonna cut me, I'd have tried acupuncture, seances, any other possible remedy first. You'll never be the same as you were when you were 25 Steve, you have to make your peace with that. Feel free to write anytime. Don't get feeling you're alone. - Jim
Brinkmann for president in '04
I broke my back.
Badly herniated a disk, and ruptured another at the same time. Actualy, I had herniated disks before this, but had never been able to afford to do anything about them.
I had to wait 18 months for the bones to heal enough for them to attempt the surgery, then needed another 18 months to recuperate from the surgery.
Because the main bundle of nerves that leave the spine, and go down to the legs, happened to be at the very spot where the disk ruptured, I was advised to be very careful. In that 18 months time, I could have sneezed and ended up in a wheelchair the rest of my life. During that time, there were three times when, indeed, I did 'lose my legs'. All three times were very scary, but very fleeting. I had sat or laid in a position where the nerves had been pinched for too long, and I stood up, only to immediately find myself on the floor.
I made it through to the surgery, and then through the recuperation afterward.
Two years after the surgery, I felt better than I had felt for the entire 15 years before the surgery. It was not a "sneak up on you" deal. I had back troubles for many years. There were times when I could not even SMILE because that small movement would cause unbearable pain. There just is no way to describe that kind of back pain to someone who has never experienced it. That pain was mostly from herniated disks.
The surgery I had, was to implant "steffee plates". They drilled holes in the vertebrae, to accept lag bolts. Screwed the lags in. Laid the plates over them, and then screwed bolts down on the plates. This immobilizes the two vertebrae, and keeps them at a constant distance. No need for all the scraping of bones, and fear of scar tissue, etc...
I still have back problems sometimes. But they are usualy controlled very quickly with a couple excedrin, then taking it easy for a while. And it is absolutely NOTHING like before the surgery. Not even like it was before I actualy broke my back.
Sometimes I think I should have broken my back a lot sooner. LOL I would have been spared a great many years of serious pain.
I have learned to work differently, and to stop when I realize that I am doing some damage. I have also learned not to feel badly or to be made to feel badly when I have to take a couple days to recuperate.
The only other drawback is that the metal can seem to attract the cold, then sit there and radiate the cold into the bones and the rest of my back. In other words, I sometimes get an aching back for a while, when it gets too cold.
Bottom line is this. I am 45. At least half of my life was spent in a great deal of pain that was not necessary. If I had known at 21, what I know now, I would have found SOME way to get the surgery done.
Quittin' Time
Luka, Thank you for your reply. This is the kind of information I was looking to get. different types of procedures and how on felt afterwards. was the risk and downtime worth the outcome, etc. I am really struggling with the thought of two months or so without income and a family to support. especially now as I'm starting to get some bigger projects, like whole house remodels and additions. finances are just about to get to a good point where I can actually show a modest profit and this crap has to happen. go figure.Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
Steve
Yes, I had L5-S1 Laminectomy and Discectomy, about 12 years ago. I'm also a Physician Assistant
A piece of info you haven't provided....what is your weight? All other things being equal, you will tolerate the surgery and have a greater liklihood of success if you are at or below your ideal....which most of us think is generously high anyway.
Your Family Practitioner or Internist should try to manage you conservatively for several months prior to the knife. As in my case, it didn't work and I had the excision done. Mine went well...but my ideal (184 lbs) was well over my actual of 172 lbs.
But the absolute key here is physical therapy. Without going into them, there are 3 or 4 twisting and lifting exercises YOU MUST DO to keep strength and tone in your lumbar muscle group. Assuming you don't have a vascular, arthritic, postural (excess body weight) or physiologic/symmetrical problem (such as one leg shorter than the other), your recovery and return to work will really be directly related to your therapy rehab schedule and the work you put into it. Pills, topicals, chiro, OMT or other treatments are at best paliative. As the poster above said, do exactly what the P. Therapist tells you to do, following their schedule and their timeline.
BruceM
Bruce, I'm not really sure what my ideal weight should be but I'm about 6'1" tall and weigh in around 180#. this was pretty much from lifting something that was too heavy, a rather large section and I do mean rather large, of a deck I was demolishing.
I don't seem to have any pain in my back. actually my back feels fine. what I am experiencing is pain and numbness starting in my left butt cheek and shooting down my left leg. all associated with the pinching of my sciatic nerve. sometimes when I'm carryiing buckets of joint compound I get bad tingles shooting clear down to my toes.
My problem is I'm a one man outfit so I basically have to do it all. this is going to pose a real problem as I see it.Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
I've heard that nerve called "psychotic nerve". That's about right, sure can make you psychotic.
Brinkmann for president in '04
Jim you aren't kidding there!Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
Steve, I had the same recurring problem. Ironically I was also building my deck when it happened. I was unloading 16' 4x4 Black P/T that was wet off the truck when the neighbor next door showed up in the skimpiest shorts I'd seen in a long time. I decided I could haul two at a time. After several trips to the doctor, a butt load of goof pills and several reoccurances, I finally decided to try a chiropractor. The chiropractor diagnosed it as Sciatica caused by a bulged disk creating pressure on the sciatic nerve. Same thing you have. My pain was only in my right butt cheek and leg down to the back of my knee. Sometimes it would get my calf muscle too but that usually subsided fairly quickly. Mine got so bad that working in the shop on my feet for a day without out a break would trigger it.
The chiropractor recommended physical therapy since there was nothing wrong with me structurally, (so to speak), and there was no way he could do anything for the disk that was bulged inward. I went through three weeks of daily P/T and in the process, learned how to continue on my own. Now, when I get up in the morning I do the simple unobtrusive exercises and have not had a problem in over 5 years. Normally you have to be referred to a Physical Therapist in order for you insurance to cover it. You might tell your doctor you would like to try it. He should be willing to refer you.Steve - in Northern California
My pain was just the opposite. Felt like I always had a minor calf cramp. On bad days the pain/numbness would creep up my knee and thigh, and on really bad days my butt hurt. Somewhere along the way my ankle got involved also. After the surgery (second disc) part of my left leg, near the knee, had a constant numbness/asleep feeling...no pain, just a little weird. That faded after about 4-5 years, now I'm mostly normal.
Referals don't worry me much Steve, as I have no health insurance anyway. I'm paying for this whole mess out of pocket.Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
which reminds me Steve....U hear about that new state insurance program? For uninsured/unemployeed/self-employeed?
Dig thru the PA state web site....should be on there somewhere. I read a bit in the paper a while back...sounded pretty good. Have heard a few radio ad's too. Someday when I get a minute to myself...I'll dig thru the web site too.....let me know what ya find.
And...if that don't work........jion the local chamber of commerce......I go thru the Greater Pgh Chamber.......joined the group health plan........family plan is $510/month.......Blue Cross/Shield......better bennies than I had at the old company! Jeff She's exotic ,but not foreign, like an old Cadillac......she's a knockout!
A few tips I have gathered:
1) Get a second and third opinion from doctors that do not know each other or work in the same area. The only way to rate a doctor is against another doctor. The more you have experience with the better your sample and the more comfortable you will be with the choice you make. Get detailed examinations and all new X-rays, MRI from each. It isn't cheap but one or two bad or misleading results can cause each doctor to draw the same wrong conclusion. Keep looking until you get the right feeling about the surgeon.
2) Ask detailed questions. Don't let them leave the room until they answer them to your satisfaction. Ask about cure and failure rates , rehabilitation times (Some do less damage for the same operation.) and the number of times he/she has done the operation (There is no substitute for experience. A good surgeon should be doing several of these operation a week.) Knowing this information will narrow the field. Get these figures in writing and signed by the doctor you settle on. Finding out that the survival or success rate had been exaggerated and not documented after the fact will be little comfort.
3) This one seems obvious. Get in writing a guarantee that the surgeon listed, the one you so carefully screened and selected, is indeed the surgeon who will physically do the work. Having him/her looking over the shoulder of a trainee won't get it. Your paying the big money for the big guns. Get your monies worth.
4) To get the expertise and experience of a team that does this procedure frequently you may need to go to one of the larger hospitals and may have to go outside the doctors favored by your insurance company. Spend the money.
5) Make sure the doctor is keyed into a high powered rehabilitation program. Excellent surgical technique can be wasted on a patient that doesn't get excellent rehabilitation. When your in rehab get your money worth. Do what they say to the letter. Push yourself hard in rehab. If you don't put in the work they won't either. Don't get discouraged by slow progress. Keep hard at it even when it seems you aren't getting any better. Whatever you do don't macho yourself back onto the job before you are completely recovered. You may feel fine for months before you are healed enough to be back on the job. Recovery takes time. One bad twist too soon can send you back to square one.
6) Through this whole deal be your own best advocate. Don't be a major pain but don't hesitate to ask questions about anything you don't understand or think is right. The hospital staff may get miffed because many of them are operating on auto pilot. Expect it. Remember for them it's just a job. For you it is life and death. Don't be a stoic. If you are uncomfortable or in pain let them know. Do not be passive. Studies have shown that passive patients have a higher error, fatality and failure rates. Be involved. Do the research.
The best of luck to you. Hang tough.
Well, I am not gonna read all the other replies, but I have had it done. I am 31, had done when I was 29. Best thing I had ever done. I had been fighting the flare up of a herniated disk for 4 or 5 years. Didn't know what was wrong with me. If you went to the doctor and told them your back was hurting, you got sent home with muscle relaxers and 800 mg ibuprofen. Well I kinda diagnosed myself and called a well respected Sports Medicine clinic in Birmingham, AL. Ever heard of Bo Jackson? Healthsouth is where he had his hip replacement surgery and it's pretty much where most all the Pro baseball players go.
I had a herniated disk between L4 and L5. Surgery with a laser left a 4" incision right above my butt crack. I went under the knife one Thursday bout 1:40 PM and spent the night in the hospital. I stood up to go take a leak about 5:30 that afternoon, walked around the halls about 2:00 am (Couldn't sleep much), they made me walk up and down the stairs at the hospital that morning, sent me home, and was walking around in the yard about 24 hours after surgery. It was s l o w go, though. Very slow. Took me at least 3-4 minutes to sit down, stand up. I was extremely sore for about 4 days. Took no pain medication what so ever, except about 4 doses in the hospital. Worst part was the 1-1/2 hour ride home. Forgot to ask for pain meds for the ride.
I would do it again tommorow. Two weeks later, I could move pretty good. A month later, I started helping a friend of mine do electrical work. Granted, for the first month, it was nothing more than stripping wires and twisting wire nuts, but I was working full time at my desk job and helping him at night.
I shoulda took it a little more easy during the first year and lost the weight that the doctor told me to, because I get sore now and then, but no more flare ups.
Steve,
It all depends on your pain threshold. I ruptured 2 discs at the same time in 1988 when I was 41. I'm 55 now, and never have considered surgery, even with the physicall demanding job I had then, and have now. I use Motrin and anti-inflamitories. Back problems can generally be traced to age, and the weakening of the stomach and back muscles that support your spine. Do a hell of a lot of therapy before you go the surgical route. It will get better, and you will learn to deal with the occasional discomfort and numbness. "You got to know your limitations" as some actor once said.
I had it done twice, at age 40 & 41 (I think). 51 now, and the minds going.... Anyway, first it was L2-3 then L4-5. The problems had been building for years, finally got to the point where the painwas absolutely intolerable sometimes. Ever have a kidney stone? The disc isn't quite as bad, because the pain is not as sharp, but it lasts much longer, but neither is any fun at all. I had the old fashioned slice & dice, three days in the horsepital, 6 weeks at home. I would do it again, but probably look at the day surgery method. I was overweight and that didn't help. Still a little too heavy. When I woke from the surgery, the pain was gone (still sore from the surgery, but that was minor). Got out of bed to pee about 6 hours later, walked a few steps down the hall that night. Get multiple opinions. Can't ride a bike, the bending over is too much. Still have to be careful what I lift. Common sense helps. I had mine done at Presbyterian in Dallas also, but a different doc (mine was a neurosurgeon, not an ortho).
Well screw U Steve...yer getting another Not Me story!
Our electrician had something similar done recently....until him....all I'd ever heard/seem were the horror stories. He feels a million times better. If ya like...email me....and I'll drop Mr Weaver a line to see if his Dr makes house calls across the state....or knows of a good knife man in your area. Jeff She's exotic ,but not foreign, like an old Cadillac......she's a knockout!
Screw me huh?! is that what you're teaching your little boy? compassion for his fellow contractors?
Yeah ask about the surgeon for me. I am still in the investigative part right now and won't be seeing the family doctor until Aug 1st. (that was the earliest they could "fit" me in) so I won't have any more info from them to go on until then.
Thanks JeffSteve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
ELCID,
What I did after surgery, so I could ride again...
Got a small mountain bike. Short frame height, but standard length. Put on two of the fattest tired wheels I could find. Also, slightly bigger than came with the frame. Relocated the brake studs on the frame to accommidate the bigger wheel/tires. Got the smallest granny gear I could find, that would still work with my current gears.
Last but definatly not least...
Found the longest handlebar stem I could find, installed it backwards, and then installed high-rise hamdlebars meant for a kids stingray bike.
I could sit up while riding, and the granny gear came in awfully handy to ease the discomfort of having to pedal too hard, when needed.
Quittin' Time
3 AM, 2 days before Halloween last year I woke up in the middle of the night after putting my hand behind my head under the pillow thinking I was having a heart attack. "I just turned 30, there's no way I'm having a heart attack," I thought. I'm not worth anything dead, so I crawled myself down to my Lazyboy and found comfort there. I went to the doctor the next day who referred my to an excellent chiro who simply educated me and had my doctor prescribe mild pain meds. I ruptured #5-6 in my neck and couldn't lay down so I lived in my Lazyboy for 1 1/2 weeks until they over valiummed and vykadinned me enough to get me through an MRI. 3 days later was the surgery, and with the exception of soreness around the incision and a completely atrophied left arm, I was great. I was unable to muster enough strength to return to work for 5 months and was shot after about 5 or 6 hours for the first few weeks, but I'm at about 95%. Still can't lift with my left arm like I can with my right but it's still getting better. I praise my chiro and surgeon with the exception of the fact that it was done at Strong Hospital in Roch. NY which is a teaching hospital and I think they let the new guy stitch me up, (it looks like I have a coin slot on the back of my neck just above my collar line).
Maybe you could get the neighborhood kids to try putting quarters in there, then let them slide down your collar! Not bad, huh?
Brinkmann for president in '04
Steve,
Putting my socks on one morning a couple of years ago, I felt a small pop in my lower back. Within four hours, I had started a two-month period of leg pain I wouldn't have believed possible. I had a conservative orthopod who insisted on trying the steroid shots to the spinal column first, and eventually I got into surgery. Since I was in pretty good shape for a 58-year old, the surgery went well. A chunk of the disc at L3-L4 had popped out and was wedged against the main nerve that goes into my legs, causing numbness/pain like when you've slept wrong on your arm and as it wakes up it aches--that kind of pain. Anyway, the minute I woke up, I smiled because the pain was gone for the first time in over two months. For me, the only mistake was waiting that long, but as I said, a conservative surgeon. The recovery was lengthened by my own stupidity--I overdid it and tore some of the muscles at the incision site, but even that was better after a year. I did have a bit of continued itchiness on one thigh where a minor nerve actually died, but that no longer bothers me. Bottom line: find a surgeon you trust and don't fear the knife. Hope your back gets better.
Tom
One saying goes: "Surgery for leg pain is appropriate; surgery for back pain seldom is." Don't know how widely true that might be though.
Steve, I had back surgery(Lumbar laminectomy) back in '91. I tried PT, pills, and exercise for 10 months before letting them cut me. If I had to do it over, i would have had the surgery sooner, as waiting so long just let the disk get worse and made the recovery take longer. A couple of tips if you decide to have the operation-
Try some PT first; you'll know in a couple of weeks whether its doing any good or not.
Get a second opinion. It never hurts to here another point of view.
Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you trust your surgeon; check him(or her) out, ask how many times he's done this particular procedure, what the success rate has been, how long before rehab,etc., and if you don't like the answers, hit the door-fast. Thereare plenty of competent drs. out there so make sure you get one you like. Hope this helps. If you do decide to go for it, start walking as soon as you can. This is great therapy for the back. Then, try to get into and stay in shape, and the backwill be ok.
Dave
STEVE- just had surgery on my back 3/26 2002 if you would like to talk let me know. bear
Steve.......my back's still hurting! I gotta get off this damn floor long enough to stand upright and stretch it out.......maybe we could find a Doc mid state...and see if he'll work a 2'fer! Jeff She's exotic ,but not foreign, like an old Cadillac......she's a knockout!
Well I was feeling ok for a few day and went and overdid it yesterday. Drywall job and then went to help a fellow contractor with a deck he's building (I owed him a day for when he helped me with a deck I was building) I'm feeling it a little today but at least all I got to do today is paint a ceiling. will this ever end?Steve
S.J.MERRETTE Carpentry & Construction • Robesonia, PA
Nothing is impossible...It just hasn't been done yet.
Dear Steve
I have had a spinal fusion, one of the approaches sometimes used for disc problems, although mine was for straightening a curved spine and was in 1976, so there are newer strategies.
Once those bones are locked into place, they no longer twist or bend - they also cannot crunch in on nerves coming out of the spinal column, which reduces pain problems. If only 1 disc is involved, the restriction of twisting and bending will be minimal. Any incisions may result in mild skin numbness around the side of the incision further away from the spine. It may feel a bit like Novacaine was spritzed on the skin and is relatively ignorable. Physicians may check your sensory nerve function prior to any surgery, then again afterwards, to check on changes (we'll hope for good changes!)
There are some innovative procedures being researched for treating herniated discs. Some involve using laparoscopic surgery to minimize the degree of invasiveness, others use fusing or otherwise stabilizing the vertebrae. For information on current news, you might check the site http://www.medscape.com (free, although registration is required). For various reports on disc problems, you may find http://www.emedicine.com (also free, requiring registration). The latter has a feature where you can highlight a word with the mouse and have a pop-up dictionary define it - since this is a pretty technical site, the feature is great help.
For other resources and info, seach http://www.google.com for this phrase in quotes "herniated disc". Federal and hospital sites are likely to be accurate. Beware promotion of one approach over another by anyone who sells the promoted option. Plus, you are an individual, with a unique combination of health factors (age, weight, etc.) and specific injury - your best solution will be one which accounts for your individual circumstances.
Sincerely,
BJ Mattson
p.s. I work as an epidemiologist at a state health department. I just read tons about home building because I've been possessed by my home!!!