Should I Go For It??

[whopprabata]

Hello everyone im in a bit of a dilemma and need some help!!

Im 34 years of age and have suffered from spinal problems since I was 18yrs old after playing ice-hockey for numerous years.
Now i've already undergone two operations on my spine the first being an open level 2 discectomy ten yrs ago and the second being a laminectomy and spinal decompression around 5 yrs ago.

Around two years ago I suffered another replapse and underwent another MRI scan which confirmed 2 disc extrusions.My Orthopaedic surgeon said due to the severity of the extrusions I required another OP to relieve the pressure on my Sciatic nerve but my surgeon also said how wary he was to perform another OP on me due to the risk factors as it will be my third operation.

Apparently due to Scar tissue this makes the OP very risky with a success rate of around 40% i've also been told there is a risk of paralysis,meningitis,internal bleeding,infection.Obviously after being told all of this I decided to try and carry on and see if there would be any improvement without any surgical intervention.

Now this is where I need help!! recently the pain has become far more intense and not only this i've started to lose feeling in my left foot and down the outside of my leg and because of this i've started to wonder whether I should go for the OP.So I wondered if there was anyone out there who is or has been in a similar position who can advise me.

I would be very grateful for the help and advice

 

[?Jasmine?]

Have you considered Cranio Sacral therapy? This therapy works on the dural sac and everything connected to it, so brings in nervous system, spine, skeletal structure, organs...the works. Where it would most likely help you is in releasing the trauma of the original impact injuries, plus the on-going operation trauma.

Some chiropractors practice this alongside their work, and you do get specialists in this field. It is very, very effective! Try this site for listings of qualified practitioners. [link=http://www.ihap.com]www.ihap.com [/link]

Moonfeather

 

[Kurtis B]

Hi! I was in a similar position myself three years after my first discectomy. The pain in my lower back and down my left side was excruciating and i was barely able to walk. My GP prescribed Pethadine for the pain whilst we waited on the results of my MRI scan. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse and the decision was taken out of my hands. I collapsed when the disc herniated centrally and trapped the nerves (cauda equina) at the base of my spine. I lost the feeling below my waist and was rushed into hospital as a trauma patient and was given emergency surgery for a laminectomy and spinal decompression. It took a long time for recovery (this happened in December 03) and i'm still not 100%. I have no feeling in either of my feet, my lower right leg, saddle area and buttocks. I also have problems with my bowels.

I suppose to a degree I was lucky that I didn't have to make the decision whether or not to go through with the surgery as not doing it in the end would have been worse for me.

Life is different now, although I still consider myself to have a good quality as life as I have returned to work full time and can drive the car again (strange when you don't feel your feet).

Don't want to scare you with what happened to me but maybe it would be wise to get a second opinion to help you decide. Sometimes waiting can cause more problems.

 

[Tunner Babs]

In your situation I would tend toward a conservative approach first, such as osteopathy or cranial osteopathy.

As an osteopath myself, professionally I can not make the claims that Moonfeather does for cranial sacral therapy.

Clearly it sounds like you have a susceptibility to disk injury and any treatment that does not take this in to account can only be a short term reprieve.

It's a matter I deal with almost every working day, but haven't yet throw up a specific webpage on the subject. In the meantime - the things that are known to maintain the integrity of disks are plenty of water to keep them hydrated, copper and glucosamine sulphate. So I would advise looking into those in conjunction with osteopathic treatment.

Andrew.

 

[Eplus]

Have you considered going to see a good Physiotherapist privately who specialises in mobilization techniques and strengthening? The Physiotherapist will carry out an Orthopaedic Examination and can give you a very good idea over whether conservative treatment can help. Go to the Physiofirst website for a local practitioner to you.

 

[MOZ]

scars are interesting, because they almost always run across acupuncture meridians, and so can disturb energy flow.

Health kinesiology has specific procedures ( www.hk4health.co.uk and www.subtlenergy.com ) which can help to put that right.

My own son had an enormous scar after major surgery when he was 8 hours old - at 8 years old it was still red and raised in parts. I learnt health kinesiology and did the work on this scar - the redness disappeared and it became a lot more comfortable for him ( he started eating properly for the first time as he'd always felt before that his stomach was about to bursy open!! - the scar was down the midline of his body). His dyselxia also improved dramatically too (the central meridian involved with the brain runs up the midline of the front of the body.

I think that one of the reasons that back surgery is one of the least successful forms of surgery is that it inevitably involves a scar crossing the governing meridian which is related to the back. (Other meridians do not necessarily run close to the associated organ, so surgery on your liver, for example, doesn't necessarily involve an incision across the liver meridian.



Edited to 'fix' website links

 

[swiftyfan]

I feel for you footdrop - I've had along history of similar back problems and ops etc too. I know how agonising sciatic referred pain can be. And I also know how short term the op results can be! It's not an easy choice when the pain is screaming for you to sort it out right now.

My gut reaction is to see if there are other options first. The op will relieve the disc pressure but will clearly do nothing to help the underlying problems. Surgeons do like to operate - it's what they do.

What other treatment have you looked at or been offered? What results has it had? Are you doing daily McKenzie exercises for instance - they can be massively helpful for disk-on-nerve pressure if done for decent periods on a daily basis when combined with ice and NSAID treatment for a few weeks.

I'd be cautious about manipulative therapy at this stage - very cautious indeed.

As far as I know it IS possible for disc protusions to lessen over time when the pressure is take off them for periods and the inflammation brought down. But this won't happen if you are just popping co-proxamol, gritting your teeth and going to work etc. It requires time off.

BTW, have you been building up ab, glute and back muscles over the last few years? What have you been doing to help yourself?

I fail to see how cranio-sacral therapy is doing to relieve mechanical pressure on a nerve. Let's face it - it won't. I also fail to understand why scar-tissue is located anywhere other than where an injury occurs which! Back surgery isnot one of the least successful forms of surgery. It's just that backs have a lot of stress on them and once compromised they often get damaged elsewhere.