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I just had the Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD) done 2 days ago. Both L3-4 and L4-5 had ligaments that infolded into the central canal space. It is too early to know if it will help or not yet, as the spine has to heal. It could take 2-3 weeks for the pain to subside and 6-8 weeks to fully heal. Each person has their own set of conditions, like I also have facet joint stenosis and foraminal stenosis which the MILD. Procedure cant correct (but I don’t think that traditional Laminectomy will either). At 79 years old I am trying to avoid that surgery. This is painful enough ad is much less invasive. I was willing to try MILD to see if the results are “good enough” for me to walk with less pain. If you have central spinal stenosis with ligamentsl flavum hypertropy it is worth considering if other treatments fail. If mine doesn’t work then I will know more—not a mistake to have tried. Get a seasoned Doc to consult with. Hope this helps.
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Can you please clarify when you say you had MILD? I saw a pain specialist who described the procedure as very well suited to help with the pain from my lumbar stenosis/ligamentum flavum thickness and told me it was done in the office and involved scraping away/thinning the ligament. He also told me most patients are going back to normal activity within a day or two and that healing time was minimal because the procedure is about as invasive than getting an epidural shot. What you describe -- 6 to 8 weeks to heal! -- sounds nothing like this.
The doc I saw is an anesthesiologist and has done more than 100 of these procedures. Could you please tell me what kind of physician you saw, and could you please tell me a bit more about what you experienced undergoing the procedure? I am not a candidate for any kind of spine surgery (have severe osteoporosis) or ablation or steroid injections and am considering MILD. But what you described doesn't really match was I was told by my doc.