Spinal Fusion of L1-L4: Managing pain, what works for you?

Try physical therapy. My back and neck r fussed. From C3-T1, then from T4- my SI joints all fussed. Physical therapy does help. They show u how to do exercises that won't hurt ur back and it strengthen the muscles that have been weakened. Talk to ur PCP about it. R u on a anti-inflammatory medication that might help too.

Hi there; I had two laminectomies done ( unsuccessful) so last November a surgeon did decompression and Herrington rods inserted from waist down, once everything settled I had a tremendous amount of nerve and muscle pain mainly around the SI joints which radiated down to my feet. I did go to Physio and have nothing but good to report on the value. I have a series of home exercises to follow, which are constantly updated and checked when I go in weekly. They also do a fairly new treatment IMS which is inter muscle therapy done with needles similar to acupuncture needles. One of the physiotherapists is just completing her acupuncture studies which I will use when she is completed. I can't say enough good about the benefits of IMS for post spinal surgery of any type and the benefit of gabapentin for the accompanying nerve pain, hopefully this bit of my experience will be beneficial for you.

Thanks for the suggestions to do physical therapy. I'm actually going through PT right now for recent foot surgery. They know about my back surgery and tailbone pain and are trying to relieve some of the pain. I'll ask them for more home exercises on my next visit. It's hard not to get depressed when I feel worse now than before my surgery. I'll be sure to ask about the IMS therapy and gabapentin for the nerve pain. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hello, I had very similar surgery 5 years ago due to a work injury. NO MORE TWISTING MOVEMENTS/EXERCISES. Please stop this. With the type surgery we have had that is the absolute WORST thing you can do. You HAVE to be your own advocate for back pain care. Look for and find a GOOD pain specalist, one who will listen to your concerns and does more than just prescribe pain pills. Also, clean up your diet and focus on foods that fight inflammation. Physical therapy will help as well. Most type of water exercises will help with stress relief and keeping you joints moving. Check out the web site, loosethe backpain.com and see which of the strategies work for you. I have found more help from this web site that I stumbled onto quite by accident. Also, what medications are you taking? I take Neurotin, Celebrex, Cymbalta, all for nerve inflammation Nycunta for pain. Subcribe to several feeds/blogs on chronic pain: WebMD, The Mayo Clinic; Neurology Now, a free bi-monthly publication for patients and their care givers. Any time I am in a doctors office I peruse the publications in the waiting room to see what might be relevant to me. If you want to contact me directly by private message. Good luck in your journey to better quality life. Also, NEVER lift anything much over 10 pounds

I have had 3 back surgeries/fusion L1&2,L3&4,L4&5, results severe lower back pain is worse, and in addition to upper left leg inside numb,left knee no feeling, below knee to ankle no feeling. What can be done to have the feeling back in my leg, and relieve severe back pain

I'm so grateful to see this discussion.

@riverqueen1305, we recommend not sharing your email address publicly on Connect. We don't want you to get unwanted spam. Instead we encourage members to share more personal information through private message. If you wish to private message someone or a group of people, simple click their username and then click the envelope icon.

Thanks all. Keep up the great sharing. This helps so many people.
Colleen, Connect Community Director

Colleen, thanks for the information on not sharing my email pubically. I<br />
hope the lady who posted this can find a few strategies that will help her.<br />

There wasn't a lot of ways to manage back problems when I had my back surgery. Plus I had a really bad case of scoliosis. The top was a 66 degree and the bottom 63 degree. I was told it was moving a degree a year and it would crush my lungs and heart if I didn't do the surgery. Is there any options for a problem like that?<br />
<br />

Hi @elltd,
I moved your message to this thread https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/i-had-spinal-fusion-of-l1-4-about-15-months-ago-lately-ive/ where you'll meet @nan57 @ladidy @stumpy @riverqueen1305 and are able to read their messages.

@nan57 too speaks of unresolved back and coccyx pain.

Hello, I am wondering if there is anyone who is dealing with an "acute" compression fracture of a vertebrae. I have recently been diagnosed with this and have been struggling with intense pain (at times) for over 5 months. The pain centre here has recommended a vertebroplasty. Has anyone gone down this path, or another? Thanks, Martishka