Hi christine

we tell all our patients that the numbness persists after surgery for about 6 weeks or so. But any unusual numbness lasting for more than 3 months needs evaluation. You may need to go in for an mri test along with gadolinium injections to rule out perineuritis or recurrent or residual disc fragments pressing on your nerves. May be you can see someone else, if you dont mind.

Regards

dr arun naik md
neurosurgeon

Hi there, I just had the same surgery on February 5th. I had been suffering with a herniated disc for over 19 months and finallyy got in to have the surgery. I went in for what was supposed to be a day surgery and ended up have 3 surgeries in one day, spending 3 days in intensive care and finally sent home Feb 13. After the first surgery I was in extreme pain and could not feel anything from the shoulders down, so they took me into surgery again, after that surgery I was still in severe pain and could not feel anything again. After a few hours I did regain feeling in my arms and hands but still feel completely numb from the middle of my back to my toes. I am unable to walk other than a few steps bearing the weight on my arms, but they sent me home because my MRI shhowed nothing and they did not know what was wrong with me. They said the sensation should come back and the pain should go away with time.
I am very frustrated and upset, I walked into the hospital with pain that was being maintained by pain meds and came out in a wheel chair unable to walk and 50% more pain!!

i lost all feeling from the waist down due to a slipped disc. i underwent a urgent disectomy and was left with severe nerve damage. I lost the feeling in the back of my left leg and foot and half my bum and bits. Its just coming up till a year ago that i had the suregy and i still have back ache, have just regained the feeling in the back of my leg> slowly my toes are coming back but i still have days where i cannot feel my bottom or my bits. Apparently my nerves are damaged so this may continue for the reat of my days. Also when the surgeon did my op he cut my spinal cord which again means nverve damage. Due to the extent of my slipped disc and the damage it made to my nerves the docs said i was lucky to walk after and i should have been totally incontinent. So i think its just your nerves that are playing silly buggers with your body, they can take years to repair and L4 and L5 are the worst ones to repair.

I also had the same type of surgery, but at L4-L5 ((lumbar laminotomy, micro-discketomy)((Nov 06)), I also have numbness in my left leg after the sugery that goes all the way to my toes. My feet and toes also are cramping and at times it's very painful, not to mention walking. If I'm on my feet for an extended period of time, my feet get really bad. This is going on 3 years after surgery. Now they are telling me that I need a fusion at L5-S1 and another decompression as well to clean out any spurs and built up scar tissue. So hopefully in your case it well get better over time. But don't hesitate to get a second opinion, and maybe another MRI with&without contrast.

Almost 2 weeks post op...lumbar microdiscectomy, I had bad Sciatia down the left side...had an MRI then opted for surgery... Surgeon said I had completely ruptured L5 S1 and a normal enough herniation of L4 L5... What was meant to be a small scar of about an inch is now a 3" Scar but healing well. Anyway have taken it very handy but still numbness and really really cold numb feet... Only pain is when I sit down, then my left leg completely cramps up... I have contacted my Surgeon, and he says it's normal and will heel in time...
What can I do but only wait and see and continue with my daily boring routine of lying on my back and watching TV...

i also had this op on aug 28th...have numbness in my hiney and privates as well down both sides of my upper legs and my heal on my right foot is still completely numb..also, i cannot poop because of the nerve damage and have to literally turn it all to liquid to come out ...sure all will be better over time, just how much time? getting very tired of this already...God is the hearler so pray for yourselfs everytime you think about it and remember by Jesus' stripes we are healed!!