Connect
← Return to Did anyone lose feeling leg after laminectomy surgery?
Discussion
Did anyone lose feeling leg after laminectomy surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Aug 13, 2024 | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
Thanks and that’s great it worked for you. My friend had laminectomy surgery he did have one leg that was somewhat numb before but now no feeling. Wondering if he will ever be able to walk again.
Replies to "Thanks and that’s great it worked for you. My friend had laminectomy surgery he did have..."
@wzinck
Did they have your friend get up and walk a little after surgery? They made me do it to go to the bathroom and it was very painful. Was your friend able to get up to go to the bathroom? Is your friend able to stand at all and put weight on their leg now 2 months post op? If your friend is not able to, I am surprised the surgeon would not say anything about this. I just had surgery 6 days ago on L3-L5 (decompression and fusion). It was an invasive surgery where they needed to cut through muscle and despite significant pain, they made me get up to go to the bathroom later in the day post surgery. I was able to put weight on my legs even if very painful. Prior to surgery, I had lower back/hip/buttock/thigh/foot pain, weakness and numbness bilaterally.
Did your friend have post op appointments 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months? What did the surgeon say to your friend about the leg numbness? I have follow up appointments and told it will take 3 months to heal and up to 6 months to 12 months to fully heal/fuse. It is so important not to twist/bend while healing and to log roll when getting into and out of bed. I am using grippers and a bed assist bar to help me reduce twisting/bending. Did your friend do anything to twist or bend that is causing their symptoms? Did they fall post surgery?
Connect
@wzinck Something to understand about surgery is that it increases inflammation A LOT. Inflammation is part of the healing process after trauma. The problem that you have before surgery that is being caused by compression and inflammation, can continue to have some of the same symptoms even though the surgery has decompressed that problem. Inflammation escalates at about 3 days after surgery and can go on for awhile. A member I was communicating with here was having the symptoms for about 6 weeks after cervical surgery, and then it started getting better and she was improving to better than before the surgery as expected. If your friend is early in the post surgery timeline, it may be too early to tell. The surgeon would be able to comment on what is an expected condition at this time, and what recovery may be possible. Surgeons don't want to promise a lot because they can't know exactly how well a patient will recover. There is a lot that goes into that with the determination and work at rehab by the patient, and treatment like physical therapy when it is appropriate.