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Inversion an option? Take the pressure off?
I have no valid input, just throwing something out there. Release the pressure of the compression?
Make sure to include both spine and neuro surgeon on team.
^^^^ ThisOriginally Posted by jerrymrc
Best wishes for you! I am trying to manage a bulging disk that is also pinching my sciatic nerve. The pain and random loss of feeling in my left leg sucks to say the least.
I'm getting a second opinion from a sciatica specialist. As mentioned before , the meds your given might not work and try to get them dialed in, I went through three different combos to finally get results.
Thoughts and prayers for you
Keep us posted
Tell 'im you want a jug of Percocet and a Pez dispenser!
There's a lot more of us ugly mf'ers out here than there are of you pretty people!
- Frank Zappa
Scrotum Diem - bag the day!
It's all shits and giggles until someone giggles and shits.....
My first surgery was for a torn disk and a herniated disk. With a torn loose piece of disk floating around, your only option is surgery to get relief. They have to remove the loose part or you will get nerve damage. The best was to deal with the pain is heat and ice alternated every 15 minutes, anti inflamitories (800 mg ibuprofen, prescription), if you are going with a Vicodin base pain med get norco, it is stronger and lasts longer. Also if you can get one a tens unit (electrical stimulation to the painful area) works well. Inversion therapy may help, but may not depending on the angle of the loose matter. One thing I did find helped was to lay with my back on the floor and my legs on the couch at a 90* angle, I would sleep like that when it was really bad. Get a neurosurgery consult and an orthopedic consult. Both of my surgeries were done by neurosurgeons, which was recommended by my grand father and uncle (both surgeons themselves). I have a friend of the family that sits on the accreditation board for a hospital in El Paso, TX. I'll ask him for recommendations in the Dallas/Ft Worth area if you want.
Dave
I did that at one point, but perc's don't fit. Norco does
Crap. I just wrote a long response, and my ipad burped and it went away. Anyway, short version:
I had a loose disc fragment in my lumbar spine in 2007, and lost function of my foot. A neurosurgeon fixed me, and function returned.
7 weeks ago I went back under the knife for a blown disc in my neck, which had caused loss of sensation in my right hand and crazy pain. 6 months of conservative therapy didn't help. Discectomy and fusion, and I'm on the mend.
I prefer a neurosurgeon to an orthopedic surgeon (7 year residency vs. 4-5). And let's face it, any neurosurgeon is smart enough to have been an orthopedist if he wanted to; the opposite is not true. Don't get me wrong, I know plenty of brilliant orthopedists, but for my spine, I use a neurosurgeon.
I'm not a fan of pain meds. Sure, they're important in a short term role, but they don't actually fix anything, and they do cause problems. I've seen countless patients who have totally screwed up their pain sensorium by overuse of narcs. With continued use, things that shouldn't hurt much become intolerable, while the pain meds simultaneously work less effectively (Opiate-induced hyperalgesia). Conversely, if you learn to accept and deal with pain, your pain tolerance increases. The first two days after my surgery, I took the percs exactly as prescribed. I declined any IV meds in the hospital. After the first two days, I tapered down quickly and was off them after the 4th day. I agree with staying ahead of the pain immediately post-op, but then get off them as soon as you can. My recovery accelerated dramatically once off the opiates. I did continue to use occasional flexeril for spasm if needed. I wouldn't use Soma, and the vast majority of health care providers won't prescribe it. It was even included in a recent paper titled "10 Scripts Never to Write".
Ice after surgery. Don't use heat until the surgeon clears it. Otherwise in the chronic setting, there's really no evidence that one is better than the other. Use what works best for you.
If you develop a loss of function (not just pain, but something doesn't work, i.e., you can't lift your foot, or you can't control your bowels or bladder normally), get to an ER.
Clearly, you will probably get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. These opinions are mine, and worth exactly what you paid for them. Best of luck.
Thanks for all the info guys. I've been down the road with toradol many times in the past, it actually did nothing for me the last 2 shots. Maybe you can develop a tolerance for it. I've done Soma before as well, worked well. The one I haven't heard or yet is tramadol/ ultras. The biggest problem I have right now is my pills are about 2 years old and from what is considered a mild flareup so the pills are fairly weak. My doc prescribed 60 5/500 hydracodone which isn't cutting it and has too much acetametophine in it to take a bunch. I've done some research while being awake through the night and they now make 10/325 hydracodone plus there are stronger options available. My doc being in Denver, and not hearing from the surgeon till 8pm kinda limited my options for tonight as far as meds go. 7 more hours to go, then I'll hopefully have some relief....
Lots of of good info in there, I'm seeing Dr Neil Shah, based out of Plano/Irving, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Acupuncture works wonders!
I had a laminectomy (cut the back out of the vertebrae, no fusing) to repair a 'bulge' on my spinal chord. Before that I would be down for a week at a time with muscle spasms probably 6 times a year. Dr. Weider, of 'doctors choice mattress' fame did the surgery, rehab sucked but it worked.
Years later, a slip on the ice brought back the spasms. I went to a lady south of Castle Rock for acupuncture about 9 times and she worked wonders. I fell asleep every time I went under the pins, she was amazing! She also did large and small animals!
Good luck with your surgery, rehab is a must and keep the meds under control.
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