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Has anyone had scoliosis surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Nov 14, 2023 | Replies (36)Comment receiving replies
Jennifer:
Honestly, all I can remember is my last surgery was done here in FL, when my surgeon fused the L5. I have no clue how he fused it or even where it was fused. He may have said, but I cannot remember. Anyway, it never helped relieve my pain, which has been there in the same place, not radiating anyplace, 15 years.
Well, if Mayo offers me surgery, I’ll more than likely decide to go for it. I don’t know f the hardware is he problem, but I’m leaving that up to Mayo to tell me. My guess is that the hardware is not the problem. I’m no doctor, but since I’ve
had the pain 15 years, perhaps something is pressing against a nerve. That’s my best Gus’s. However, the last nerve block injection I had a week ago only made that whole area angry. The pain is back with a vengeance, and all the Pain Management doc says is try yet another injection. I almost cried. As you can guess, I’ve had numerous injections over the years, all with zero success. So, I can choose to: (1) Stay here and keep trying injections or (2) Make an appointment with a doctor in S. FL or (3) Wait to get an appointment at Mayo in December, and pray they have a cancellation before then.
My main reason for going to Mayo is quite simply to relieve the pain. If they recommend more surgery, then I don’t have much of a choice, except to give it a try. To answer your question about PT, I have tried multiple PTs over the years, all with no success.
Last February, I fell in the shower. Broke my hip in 3 places. Had what my surgeon called an open reduction fixation - not a hip replacement. He later admitted he should’ve done a replacement. Soooo, I’m also dealing with that. I don’t have pain, but I do have a kind of “unusual” way of walking. Anyway, I just tossed that in for good measure.
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@wascaly
Karen,
The most painful event I had in my life was a diagnostic epidural spinal injection that immediately caused off the charts pain and I was convulsing and was about to pass out. I think I reacted to a component in the injection and it caused inflammation. I was getting new stabbing burning electric pains shooting into my dominant hand. They reminded me to breathe.
I had been doing deep breathing to music to work on my fear, so I did this and also visualized a hawk flying above me while I was listening to the music in my head. It worked and I learned that I could cope with pain that would have otherwise caused fear. Fear escalates pain a lot, so staying calm can help a lot. I had this random stabbing pain going on for 6 weeks and in time, it happened a bit less frequently until it finally stopped. Then I had cold sensitivity in my hand. That has since resolved. Spine surgery didn't come close to this level of pain, and since I knew I could handle pain, it was easier to go through the unknown of spine surgery.
One of our mentors, Rachel, talks highly of Dr. Sletten who runs the Mayo Pain management workshops at the Jacksonville Campus and she has done this program. The Pain Management program runs for a few weeks for learning how to deal with pain emotionally. If there are no surgical options, maybe that could help. There is a pain syndrome called Central Sensitization where the body just gets more sensitive to pain.
Here is a link to the discussion.
Central Sensitization - please share your stories
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/central-sensitization-please-share-your-stories/
The other type of physical therapy that can help release tight surgical scar tissue is Myofascial release. I have done a lot of this with my therapist who is certified as an expert level and it helps me a lot. Scar tissue can escalate pain too, and all surgery creates scar issue. There is a provider search at https://www.mfrtherapists.com/
Here is our discussion where you can learn about how fascia causes pain.
Neuropathy - "Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
These are just some thoughts and you can utilize these regardless of if there is a future surgery or not.
Hopefully you'll find an answer somewhere. Have you heard of Myofascial Release before? You may want to try this while you wait for appointments.
Jennifer