Surgery for herniated discs?

I have always heard and read that people who have surgery for back issues have nothing but problems afterwards. I guess it depends on the issue and the surgeon.

I agree with Carol....I don't know anyone who has had back surgery that came out better than they were before. Get 2nd and 3rd opinions.

I had spinal fusion back in 2017 for spondylethesis (L5-S1 were supposedly out of alignment). Even though two previous MRIs showed nothing of the sort. Being fairly naive to this whole back pain thing, I assumed that this would make things better. So, I went ahead with the L5-S1 fusion. Four months later I was still in pain. Should have left things well enough alone. Has anyone heard of Disc Centers of America? They claim to be able to repair any kind of disc problem using their "patented" spinal decompression machines. 30 visits, one hour or more. Needed $6000 up front with no guarantees. I came close, very close...then remembered the spinal fusion fiaco. I did not go through with the procedure. Has anyone out there had any experience, good or bad, with this company?

Hello, I had laminectomy and fusion of my cervical spine ( stenosis) 12/2016 and lumbar spine (unstable scoliosis and herniation) 12/2017. I also had osteoporosis which gave me more than a year of relief from the two surgeries before the lumbar area developed "lucencies" and a hemorrhagic cyst impinging on the nerve root caused sciatica in the left leg. In 1/2019 I had hardware screws replaced with larger screws and instrumentation down into my pelvis for S.I. pain and the removal of the cyst did nothing to alleviate the sciatica. Six months later I developed adjacent segment disease above the lumbar L-10 which caused a herniation there to press on the nerve root sending radiculopathy severe pain into my abdomen and chest. Also the cervical spine had developed herniations causing myelopathy. After over 3 1/2 years of pain, P.T., epidurals and RFA I finally had surgery again to extend the cervical instrumentation down to T-1 and the lumbar up to T-8. It stopped the thoracic spine radiculopathy pain in my chest and the myelopathy from the cervical herniation. Now I'm recovering from this surgery hoping that I finally will find relief in spite of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis,
spondyloarthritis, DDD and osteopenia. I'm just writing my experience to show what can happen with back surgery at it's worst. I wish you luck with your decision.

I have not had nearly the very extended difficulties many people have had. In 2006-2008 I did, however, have a herniated cervical disc that affected the upper right quadrant with excruciating pain - the kind that that's all you can think of. I had steroid shots 3 times, with excellent results, until the disc finally extruded (emptied and disappeared!) After almost two years of carrying my right arm around most of the time, in 2008 I finally had a disc replacement done. That surgery provided immediate relief! This neurosurgeon, Carl Lauryssen, now practices in Texas. Look at his website http://www.thespinaldoctor.com and at yelp reviews. I would trust him without question.
I wish you all the best and hope for more pain-free lives, Karla

You will most likely find both pro and con results on this site for certain. You don’t mention whether or not you’re in pain with your radiology findings but I presume you’re having difficulties with results like those? Pain with a limp requiring me to walk with a cane was my deciding point at 33 after a fall in a small earthquake in my home in California. Typically debilitating symptoms is what drives most of us to surgery. Unless you’ve tried conservative measures first and these failed I wouldn’t consider surgery. But keep in mind you run the potential risk of worsening your current status. Get a 2nd and 3rd opinion until you’re certain this is the treatment of choice. My fusion in 1990 with stainless steel plates work just fine except I cannot have an MRI of my torso. I was offered to replace my current hardware with titanium but without a real need I’m staying put. I don’t need that pain again and recuperating at 71 is different than 33.

I had a lot of improvement with my disc (L3, L4, L5) pain by doing physical therapy (PT). You have to be really compliant and dedicated to get results from it. It also worked great on my neck and shoulder pain. I have bone growths in both shoulders, and PT has kept me out of surgery and helps me function.

If your doctor thinks PT is safe for you to do, then I would try PT before surgery.

Every kind of surgery has risks and "unexpected outcomes," which Americans tend to forget because our medicine is so darn good and because we don't really understand statistics. We and our doctors think of surgery as a relatively easy fix for problems, and we don't always factor in the risks. The risk may be small, say 1% of patients experience a bad outcome, for example. If you are in the 1% bad-outcome group, then it's 100% bad for you.

I guess you need to analyze the risk-benefit to you for yourself. I think that you are being really smart to gather information.

Tough decision for you...good luck!

If the procedure is question is not an FDA or medical community approved therapy covered by insurance you’re potentially taking a chance. I’m 71 and 33 years ago I had your surgery for same reason only my hardware is stainless steel. We now know that is a poor choice of materials and why titanium is the gold standard. Fast forward to today and I have chronic pain along with OA, spinal stenosis, bilateral PN and was offered to replace my SS with titanium. My initial recovery took 6 months and I was considered disabled for 5 years. I wouldn’t redo mine now unless necessary. So I can’t have an MRI of my torso, oh well. Get an exercise program from PT and don’t ever stop doing it and build up your core strength.
It’s a little confusing if your MRIs were negative why did they operate? Were you having symptoms? I fell 14 feet in 1972 fractured my skull and maybe injured my back but nothing was evident at time. In 1988 I fell in a California earthquake and fractured L5 and misaligned my spine leading to my fusion. As a back patient I never expected to be totally out of pain. Hope you get answers or learn acceptance.

You have had much worse luck than I have, my friend. Hindsight is usually 100%. If two previous MRI were interpreted and showed no problems, I cannot fathom why that orthopedic surgeon did another one and found the "suspicious" problem of two vertebrae being out of alighnment. Were the other two radiologists blind in one eye and unable to see out of the other? I try to get multiple opinions prior to any procedure. My spinal fusion back in 2017 that produced no positively labeled, "Failed back Surgery Syndrome", or, in plain language, "We did the surgery, but it didn't help the patient one iota. Very convenient.

I know this is an older post, but if you’re still active on this site, I have a question. I need to have some minimally invasive surgery on my lumbar spine, but I have osteoporosis. I’m wondering if that was an issue for you when you had your surgeries. If so, or if not, how was it handled?