3 Slipped Discs And Surgery

[~Wingnut~]

Hi All!

As above I have 3 slipped discs , only the middle one is pushing severly against a nerve causing me great pain down my right hip, leg, shin, toes etc..
I'm due to go to the spinal unit this Friday where I presume s/he will do all the tests the physio did to determine how bad it is and look at my mri results.

I never thought I would say this but I am really hopjng they are going to operate to remove the bulge that is pushing against the nerve. I keep trying to get up and walk about but it gets so painful (even tho I am on max dose of codeine, ibuprofen and paracetamol) that I have to go lie down until the pain gets less and then when it stops hurting I darent move.

I have been signed off work (school cook) which I really cant afford to do but I just want this pain and incapacity to end. I am worried that they are just going to give me steriod injections in the hope thats it for the time being. ( I know, I'm terrible for googling and shouldnt do it!)

I would really like to hear from anyone who has experienced similar and what happened surgery wise. The pains been that bad I have been in 2 minds about going to a&e just for some pain relief.

[yogasun]

Mr YS had a bulging disc. He was unable to get upstairs it was so bad.
Apparently the spinal specialist said they do sometimes leave it a short while to see if the disc area that presses on the nerve shrinks back naturally but if no progress, surgery.
Mr YS had a microdiscectomy and that was a few years ago now. Problem solved.

[hellywelly4]

I had an op on my spine at the beginning of December for "severe spinal stenosis" which is where the channel that the nerves go down had narrowed, and there was also a cyst there. I was in similar pain to you, it made me cry out sometimes when I moved. Painkillers didn't work either. I went to Barlborough Hospital near Chesterfield.
Since the op, the pain has ALL GONE!!! I get achey a bit still if i do too much, but if you have as good experience as me you will be fine. Now they have done an mri scan, they can see exactly what the problem is.
I was in hospital for 2 nights and treated wonderfully.
Whereabouts do you live? (Not exactly, just the area). I was operated on by Mr Kalyan who is based in the north of England.

[~Wingnut~]

Hi Yogasun! Thank you for your reply!

Theres hope then as this has been going on since end of October, got slightly better and then went bad again after xmas thats when i went back to the Doctors and was referred to physio! It has slowly got worse, esp these last 2 weeks.
From what I have read the pain disappears instantly after surgery just the pain in the back to deal with whilst it heals.
Thanx again Yogasun :)

[~Wingnut~]

Hi hellywelly! Thank you for your reply too.

Thats good to hear that it was so successful and I am glad it worked for you.

Im in North Yorkshire, between York and Leeds.

Thanx again for your reply :)

[jackthehat]

Have you tried acupuncture?
I had a successful microdiscectomy operation in 2010.

Prior to that, I found that acupuncture did help to some degree. I also had the cortisone spinal-injection, and whilst that also gave respite, neither of these options actually addressed the 'mechanical' cause of the pain, i.e. the bulging disc/s.

Don't get overly optimistic about the results of the operation, though. Whilst I am many times better than I was, and the leg-pain has all but disappeared (that *is* pretty immediate) I am still often in discomfort and have to be careful with my back.

[~Wingnut~]

Hi Jackthehat! Thank you for your reply!

Did they offer you the steroid injection instead of surgery? Or did u want to try that before contemplating surgery? I just want this over and done with not placate the problem and have to deal with it in the future again. I've always had a bad back since I hurt it when I was 14 so can deal with that just not what I am dealing with now.

Thanx again Jack :)

[jackthehat]

I was originally diagnosed with a slipped disc/s by the hospital physio-terrorist. (2005) She was able to give me the acupuncture treatment, too. And it did provide considerable relief (much to my surprise because I was a little sceptical, to be honest). However, it just deals with the 'pain' rather than sorting out the cause of the trouble.
I went for an MRI scan (2007) to confirm the diagnosis and see just which disc/how many was the problem.
My hospital consultant decided that the spinal-injection may give me relief...so I had it (2007); and I was reasonably content with this, as I didn't want to undergo surgery if there was another option. Again, I did get some relief but not as much as was hoping for.
The injection does have a limited life and by the time this was ending, the disc was still pressing on the nerve.
I went for a second MRI scan (2010) and obviously the disc was still there and still bulging so my Consultant and I decided that surgery was the best option, which I had later in the year.

[~Wingnut~]

Good grief Jack that is a heck of a long time to have gone through with all that! The thought of surgery scares me but I can't see the point of putting off what is prob inevitable and the pain I have experienced these past 2 weeks kind of confirms it for me.
Thank goodness I have such a good family. My husband has been remarkable and my 2 girls have really helped out, I wouldn't have been able to cope if it wasn't for the 3 of them :)

[jackthehat]

Having a support network around certainly helps.

Try and push for the operation (although you may not have to, as you have already had your MRI). You'll need a certain amount of bed-rest/ recuperation time afterwards......unfortunately, I had a bit of a problem during the op and my hospital stay/enforced bed-rest afterwards was extended.

But I am heartily glad that I eventually had it done!

Good luck. :o)

[~Wingnut~]

Thank you Jack :)