New pain after back surgery

Posted by ronz @ronz, Mar 9, 2019

Hi , I just turned 70 and had my second lower back surgery 5 weeks ago . I was ( I thought ) doing well until a week ago or so . Now I have developed a new pain in the back of my thigh . It's a deep pain and hurts pretty bad and I wouldn't say it's a burning sensation . It doesn't go past the back of my knee or go upwards towards my buttocks . It only gets better when I bend over at the waist and walk . No drug that I have taken helps . I called my surgeon and he ordered an MRI so that's done . The straighter I stand the worse it gets . Any ideas ? TIA Ronz

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Hi @ronz and welcome to Connect. That must be frustrating having new pain occur after having back surgery to correct a different problem.

I wanted to introduce you to fellow Connect members, @skiprel1957 @gailb and @kathyv as they have all had back surgery and may be able to offer you support and share their experiences post surgery.

Back to you @ronz, did you surgeon tell you when you would be getting the results of the MRI?

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@ethanmcconkey

Hi @ronz and welcome to Connect. That must be frustrating having new pain occur after having back surgery to correct a different problem.

I wanted to introduce you to fellow Connect members, @skiprel1957 @gailb and @kathyv as they have all had back surgery and may be able to offer you support and share their experiences post surgery.

Back to you @ronz, did you surgeon tell you when you would be getting the results of the MRI?

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Thank you for the welcome . I haven't had the MRI yet , it was just ordered yesterday and the insurance company still has to okay it . I just had one of my neck last week and was to have neck surgery for stenosis but that's on hold for now . One thing at a a time . It's very frustrating as I have been in poor health since last May and thought I would be hitting on all cylinders now . Anyway , thanks for letting me vent . Ronz

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@ronz

Thank you for the welcome . I haven't had the MRI yet , it was just ordered yesterday and the insurance company still has to okay it . I just had one of my neck last week and was to have neck surgery for stenosis but that's on hold for now . One thing at a a time . It's very frustrating as I have been in poor health since last May and thought I would be hitting on all cylinders now . Anyway , thanks for letting me vent . Ronz

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@ronz, I would like to share a conversation with you that you may also find useful to read through and participate where you feel comfortable. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronic-pain-for-years/ is a discussion all about chronic back pain and many of the members have discussed their struggles and treatments in this discussion.

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Justin , thank you for taking the time to revisit my post . Since my last posting I have gotten worse , almost as if I hadn't had the operation at all . I will follow your link and see what people are talking about . Thanks again.
Ronz

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Four months since five vertebrae were fused. Felt good after surgery. Have pain in legs spasmodically. Dr prescribed gabapentin which seems to help. Operation on lower lumbar but tail bone aches. Have two bars and eight screws. Dr says it is back adjusting. New parts with old parts. I find sometimes I just have to rest. It can take up to a year to totally heal. Hard to be patient. 😊

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I wonder if your sciatic nerve is irritated. I was a Psych nurse all my working life doing lots of lifting as it was in the days of NO hoists. We nurses ,whatever area we worked in will always do research on everything. I have been having back problems for about 8yrs now,I'm 65yrs old. From doing my own research and asking my RMT questions I have learned lots about my back. The sciatic nerve comes from the lower back around the hip area and down the groin. I was having trouble lifting either leg to walk without being in pain and feeling like I was lifting a heavy weight in each leg I was also waking with pain in my hip and down the outside of the leg I was sleeping on. This went on for 10 months until I had the nerves ablated at the pain clinic. This was 14mths ago,I have still had some pain but bearable until the last couple of weeks it seams the nerves have grown back so going back to get it redone next week. I wonder if you have irritated the sciatic nerve from either sitting too long or doing too much because you felt good following your surgery.

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@ronz
Good Morning!
I am sorry you are having so much pain. You did not mention what kind of surgery you had on your back and where. So, given those limitations, I will share my experiences with you.
I had an X-LIFT FUSION on L4/5. I also had the same sort of pain. When I spoke with my neurosurgeon, he said that when he did the surgery, he either moved or cut something in my thigh to get to the area he needed to. This causes a lot of pain and it is not unusual. Each mornig, the first thing I did was to put an ice pack on my thigh. It would take about 1/2-1 hours for the pain to subside. This pain lasts for a while. Since I was on pretty heafty meds for the first few weeks, the pain was tolerable. Once I was on much reduced pain meds,
It is a good idea and precaution to have the MRI, just to make sure.

Good luck!
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

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