Posterior Cervical Laminectomy with fusion: Had this? Recovery?

Hello awood,

I had a C4-C6 laminoplasty in Aug 2022 for Cervical myelopathy. I belong to a really good FB support group for people with cervical myelopathy (myelopathy.orgsupportgroup) — many there would offer you input on their experiences with laminectomies. Good luck and let me if ùi can be of any assistance in your search for information.

@awood9 Hello and welcome to Connect. I think you will get a lot of varied answers because we are all different and heal at different rates. Fusion will affect range of motion because it stops movement of the fused levels. It depends on what you do for a living in how long it takes to return to work. That is a question for your surgeon.

Jennifer

Jenifer is exactly right. While it's interesting input to read what others have experienced - those experiences won't reveal exactly what you will experience. There are too many variables from person-to-person and surgery-to-surgery.

How painful is a cervical laminectomy? I'm going in for surgery on 11/26 and hoping for the best. Any suggestion as to dressing, getting out of bed, positioning? Thank you
-Jan

I had cervical laminectomy C5-C7 in December of 2024. I did not think pain was bad. I did take hydrocodone for 2 days after surgery, then switched to just Tylenol and ibuprophen after that for a couple weeks. Recovery overall was not bad at all. Getting dressed, showering was easy. No issues with getting out of bed or positioning. Just follow post op instructions about not turning head too far certain ways and do not lift anything heavy. I wore soft cervical collar when leaving the house for a few weeks and at home when needed.