disc hernation of the l-4 l-5 surgery Posted: 07-22-04 19:16pm
I am a thirty year old active male who was
diagnosed with a disc hernation of the l-4
l-5. It happened on 7/5/04. I just woke
up and I could not move. I have had
problems with my lower back in the past
but nothing like this. I layed there most
of the day finding no comfort no matter
the postion I was in. Finally around
midnight I could not handle the pain
anymore. I had my wife call 911 fearing
that it could be very serious.I had
thought I could not handle riding in my
own car. (note to all with backpain have
someone drive you there the ride in th
ambulance was hell the suspensions are
extremely stiff and bounce all over the
place) the only advantage you dont have to
wait as long.
Anyway after the visit to the
hospital and a few shots later I was numb.
A week later I got an m.R.I. And found
out after my doctor reffered me to a
surgeon I have a hernaited disc. The
doctor said I have no options. I have a
numbing feeling in my left knee and down
my shin. I have been taking pain killers
and muscle relaxers to deal with the pain.
I have requested a second opinion. I
dont know if this doctor is cashing in or
if I have any other options?
My wife is also due 8/20/04 great
timing huh? If I put off surgery will
itdo further damage?
Will some one help with any of these
questions please?
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DESAVIEW888
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Posts: 23 Location: MALAYSIA
Posted: 07-22-04 23:45pm
I am no doctor but I understand 90% of
herniated dics cases will heal by
conservative management meaning no need
surgery. I also understand that there is
no need to consider surgery unless it does
not heal after 3 months.
Same as you I woke up on 6/11/2004 with
extreme pain. Got myself to hospital by
ambulance only in the late afternoon.
Stayed in hospital for 4 days. Mri
confirms herniated dics l5s1.
Conservative management with pain killers,
anti inflamatories, heat/ice pack, muscle
relaxants. Since discharge, do mckinsie
exercises, acupunture, chiroprator,
myofascial release, moxibustion. I would
say I am 90% healed now. No need for
surgery. I had constant pain only in
first 2 weeks.
Like me you woke up one morning with pain.
These are normally less serious than
those who have the herniation after
accident or lifting wrongly. Also you did
not mention lost of bladder control or
motion. All these suggest yours should
recover by conservative management. You
better see another doctor.
Medical science is wonderful.
Unfortunately, not all doctors are created
equal. Money is a source of many evil.
Thank you for your input, I was curious
what the mckinsie exersise was and
possibly a web site were I could get more
information on it?
Myofascial release & moxibustion
also?
Thank you so much for your time I
surely do appreciate it !!!!!!!!
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DESAVIEW888
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Posts: 23 Location: MALAYSIA
Posted: 07-23-04 10:44am
My physio in the hospital introduced me to
mckenzie method and myofascial release.
Mckenzie prohibits flexion exercises for
herniated disc. Only do extension
excersises initially. He wrote a famous
book and method now taught in 100
universities aroud the world. I am
fortunate my physio is trained in the
mckenzie method. U can find in amazon
myofascial release (use google search) is
a form of massage. Moxibustion is
traditional chinese method for detox and
pain relief. It uses vacuum cup and heat.
Both of these give me good relief.
The body will heal itself as long as we
dont aggravate the injury.
Other points u will want to know is you
should avoid acidic foods/drinks as these
are inflamatory. An acidic body causes
all kinds of illnesses.
Is there anyone else that has any input to
help my situation I need advice
please????????????????????????????????
Thank you and god bless
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algosdoc
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 186
Alternatives Posted: 07-31-04 09:42am
First, there is absolutely no evidence
that moxibustion, avoidance of acidic
foods or drinks will help with disc
herniations. The evidence for
moxibustion with respect to pain relief is
very very sparse.
Secondly, there are other options
providing you do not have loss of bowel or
bladder control, or have severe weakness
of the lower extremities.
One method is traction therapy (use an
inversion table or try an incline board at
60 degrees letting your weight pull
against the discs causing distraction of
the disc space). Another is epidural
steroid injections provided by pain
management. These may help up to 50% of
patients avoid surgery. They are
provided by pain management physicians.
Another measure is pt such as mckenzie.
Other methods which involve minimally
invasive surgery performed through needles
or portals include disc decompressor,
nucleotome, nucleoplasty, endoscopic
discectomy, percutaneous laser discectomy,
etc. These do not involve open surgery
and are effective from 50-90% of the time
depending on the technique chosen. These
are performed by advanced pain management
physicians.
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sneakycol
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Oct 2004 Posts: 43 Location: Arbroath, Scotland
Visot This Sie Posted: 10-08-04 12:47pm
Please would everyone visit www.Mattfurey.Com
this site contains the exercise system,
"combat conditioning" this book contains
all the information you need to banish
neck, knee, back and any other pain and
also happens to be the best exercise
system on the planet. I urge you to
visit the site it will change your
life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you sneakycol, I still havent had
the surgery. I have been doing physical
therapy for now. I have another mri set
up in november to see if the hernation has
gotten any worse still have alot of pain.
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jdhindsa
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 Nov 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Toronto
Herniated Disc Posted: 11-29-04 22:56pm
Hi everyone,
i was diagnosed with a disc herniation
(l4-l5) or as they called it "degenerative
disc disorder". My brother is a
radiologist, so I sent him my mri and he
said that I have a moderate (medium sized)
broad
disc bulge at l4/5 level causing moderate
central canal stenosis (meaning
medium narrowing of the spinal canal at
that level).
I've went to a back specialist and he
suggested spinal fusion, but I don't want
that because I heard they put plates &
screws into your back.
Does anyone know whether an endoscopic
discectomy would fix a problem like
mine?
I would like to share with all I have just
recievied the results from my second mri
and my disc hernation is in remission.
My doctor recommended surgery right away
but through physical therapy and pain
medication.(dont get me wrong its not
easy. Most days are still hard) I will
not need surgery. Jason as far as your
age and situation has alot to do with your
options (i am no expert I am just giving
you advice on my personal experience) as
far as fusion, unless you cant walk or
have lost control of your bladder or bowel
movements I would not have this done
are you young? How did your problem
start? Your profession? Can you apply
for disability?
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JAYCEE1348
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2004 Posts: 1 Location: NY
Small World Posted: 12-01-04 01:28am
Philly so weird that I pop in here looking
for help an I find someone like you going
through something very similiar to what I
am going through. Even my wife is
pregnant an due 12/22/04. I had a
herniation go unoticed in april and now I
am severely paying for it. I have been
diagnosed with ces. Which has affected
everything from sleep to bladder. An my
only hope is fusion .Which will happen
next week wednesday. Some doctors are
quik to get you on the table. But a
herniation near a nerve root is a
potential disaster. In my opinion look
into every minimally invasive technique
.Stay away from epidurals.And be very
attentive to any change in pain. Good
luck
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ajames
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Jan 2004 Posts: 48 Location: Houston, Tx
Jaycee1348 Posted: 12-01-04 04:35am
Sorry to here you got to have surgery and
I can understand your pain.
I hurt my back in 1999 and of course
workers comp drug there feet when I needed
a test to see what was wrong and anyway I
went through all kinds of test over the
years to show nothing and had a pain shot
in the spine that left a hole to only
cause me to get panicattacks the day after
and that took 13 weeks just to find out
what they did wrong and to get a blood
patch. I later had to put off my back to
treat cancer that was found and to recover
before I could get to the back problem and
then workers comp did not let me have the
test I needed and turned me down again so
I waited and waited and we were told my
pain was in my head and then I got a call
one day to go do the test only after
trying to get it for a few years then to
find out that my l4 l5 was tore inside the
disk and the test that showed this was
called a diskogram and after lots of
doctors vist after I had my surgery to fix
the problem only to find out that I had
later got staph infection in my back and
to top it off while in the hosiptail I had
a blood transifussion that scared the heck
out of me and to later find out that the
donner tested positive for hep c . So far
I am ok and do not think I will have it.
I did get a fusion done and I really feel
worse now that I did before the surgery
and I belive it is because it took so long
to find the problem and the longer you
wait I think the more damage that can
happen
so for now I await a ctscan this week to
see if the hard wear will have to come out
because I am in way to much pain and also
I got really bad headaches from all this
and my pain doctor told me it is from the
back so I hope when the hard wear comes
out that I wil feel better and not in so
much pain. I have not worked since my
back injury and I can not sleep well at
all and I feel like crap all the time but
everybody is different and surgery works
great for lots of people but I was one
that did not do so well and only time will
tell for me and I did want to say before
your surgery ask your surgen what steps
are they going to take to keep the risk of
getting staph infection in your back low
and do not wait till then to ask I would
ask now because staph is very common now
and if you get it it is hard to get rid
of. I had to have at home iv for 6 weeks
3 times a day and I really do not ever
want to go through this again. I hope
your surgery goes well for you and hope
you recover fast.
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TwoToke
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 2
Lower Back Pain, Cannot Walk Posted: 08-21-06 15:04pm
Ok I am new to this board so hell
everyone, I am a 23 year old male, I have
been heavy all my life, not morbidly obese
but a big guy as I am about 375, 6'2, my
height really helps with my weight, about
3 years ago I threw my back out for the
first time to the point where I couldnt
move off the couch, I couldnt do anything,
I got throught that and it happened again
last year, same thing, major pain
throughout my lower back and hips to the
point that I couldnt move but again I
healed and I was fine. One thing I have
always told myself is hey I may be fat but
at least I am still mobile, I can still
walk and get around good, but here about
2-3weeks ago I was at walmart with my wife
and not even 5 minutes into the store I
had to rush back to the car because my
lower back was hurting me so bad I felt
like I was going to fall down, I could
barely hold myself, it was just awful. It
happened a couple more times since then
and I just thought it would go away, but
today I was taking out my garbage, and you
have to walk a little ways to get to the
bin, and by the time I reached it I was in
so much pain I could barely lift my trash
up, sweating horribly and did not know if
I could make it back to my apartment, I
was in so much pain in my lower back and
shooting down my hips, it took every ounce
of energy I had just to walk back and
immediatly hit the couh when I came in and
started typing this, is this a weight
inssue? Or have I messed up my back a
couple of years ago when I had my first
problems? Any thoughts on this would be
appreciated. Thanks
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gjzh
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 28 Location: ,
Posted: 08-21-06 18:15pm
Two toke,
welcome to this board....Just so you know
there does not seem to be a moderator of
this board...And not too many people
post...I visit from time to time, but not
often....
If I were you I would make an appt to see
either an oss (orthopedic spinal surgery)
or a nss.(neurosurgeon spinal surgery)..I
think you need to have an mri of the
spine. It may just be muscle spasms,
but you need someone to exam you, do the
films and then make a determination from
the mri. This seems to be going on
for a long time for you. They will
tell you to lose the weight because any
extra weight is not good for the spine,
but it seems to be more than just a weight
issue with you.
Let us know what happens... :d
i wanted to edit this to tell
you.....Please copy and paste your message
into a new topic...Oh heck I will do it
for you...You may get more answers to your
post that way.....I will title it just as
you did your message, so look for it...I
will copy and paste my message as
well....But when you have a new
topic...Just hit the new topic button and
you can start your own thread....Oh heck I
will do it for you...You may get more
answers to your thread that way....
