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My name is Kat and sadly, I'm here for the same reason you all are as well.
I'm 35 years old (36 in March) and have been suffering with chronic pain for 10 years. I have two bad discs in my lower back and can't seem to get relief in any form.
My treatment history includes 8 years of chiropractic care, 5 different rounds of physical therapy that did not provide me with relief, 3 prednisone tapers, 6 facet joint injections (no relief here either), 4 radio frequency ablations and now we are moving onto epidural injections as I still have pain from inflammed nerves. I have facet joint disease and degenerative disc disease.
Has anyone here had surgery for bad discs? I'm afraid that surgery will be in my future at some point. My doctor told me just yesterday that he does not think that I will ever be pain free but that with surgery, I might get 75% relief and for me, that would be a world of a difference but I am very nervous.
Regarding fusions, when two vertabrae are fused together, does it end up putting more pressure on the vertabrae above it? Someone told me that if you fuse the bones together, it causes the need for another fusion in about a year's time or so because it causes the same problem in another area shortly thereafter. Is this true?
What are other surgery types that are good choices if fusing is not?
Thank you all in advance for your input. I'm 35 years old and just started walking with a cane. My older sister is permanently disabled and has had surgery in her neck, my two younger sisters have what I have (one more so than the other) and it's just a horrible thing to go through. I appreciate any and all opinions.
KathyD; I have had three back surgeries for a ruptured disk. The last one was a total disc replacement at L5-S1. I still have quite abit of pain, and I take meds every day to function. Your doctor is right to advise you that you may not be totally pain free even with surgery. However, there are many new treatments being offered, such as minimally invasive endoscopic disk surgery. Go slow on your choice, even though I know that you want to get through this. Remember, you can always have surgery, but once it is done you can not always reverse it. I hope all goes well for you, viper
I had Bi level fusion L4-s1 when I was your age. It did stablize the area however in my case the nerve damage and scar tissue was too extenisve for pain relief. Though the surgery was not sucessful I still would do it again, it may hurt but the area is stable and I do not have devastating muscle spasms anymore. It is true the surgery will put more pressure on the discs above it, thus far I have managed it with chiropractic care and as I am disabled limited motion. Hope this helps you.
Thanks,
Todd
Posts: 3 | Location: Ashburn Virginia | Registered: 03-05-2008
