Back brace?

Posted by dreams999 @dreams999, Jun 21, 2024

Would a back brace help me? I don't want to do fusion. Thanks

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My Dr. Laughed at me when I put one on and entered his office. Told me it would not. I have Facet Arthropathy/DDD/Spinal Stenosis
I do find it helpful to keep the facet joints in place if I'm working outside. Good luck. Physical therapists are good at offering education on how to/not to move and stretched that might help. Good luck.

REPLY

@dreams999 Welcome to Connect. I saw on your profile that you can hardly walk. Do you know why? Is this a spine condition? It is impossible for anyone to guess about your future, but a spine specialist would be the best one to ask these questions. I know a spinal fusion is a scary thing, but if I needed it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. My issue was spinal cord compression in my neck and I was loosing the ability to control my arms. Didn't you say you are an artist? I am too, and the thought of loosing that ability that I trained all my life for was a lot scarier than spine surgery. Cervical surgery is a much easier recovery than lumbar surgery. Given enough time, sometimes a spine with disks collapsing starts to fuse itself, and that likely is not good. There is also a lot of disability that can come from a spine problem, and an offer of surgery can address structural problems and stop the progression.

I did not think cervical spine surgery was bad. It was exhausting, and I accepted the pain caused by the surgical path and incision as healing pain, but the neurological pain I had because of the spine condition was completely gone when I woke up. I chose not to take pain medication and found I could manage just fine. I just gave myself a lot of time to heal and I slept a lot.

Do you know the specifics of your spine condition? Have you had several specialist opinions?

REPLY
Profile picture for difrnt1 @difrnt1

My Dr. Laughed at me when I put one on and entered his office. Told me it would not. I have Facet Arthropathy/DDD/Spinal Stenosis
I do find it helpful to keep the facet joints in place if I'm working outside. Good luck. Physical therapists are good at offering education on how to/not to move and stretched that might help. Good luck.

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My chiro and my PT are at odds abt what kind of exercises to do.

REPLY
Profile picture for Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor @jenniferhunter

@dreams999 Welcome to Connect. I saw on your profile that you can hardly walk. Do you know why? Is this a spine condition? It is impossible for anyone to guess about your future, but a spine specialist would be the best one to ask these questions. I know a spinal fusion is a scary thing, but if I needed it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. My issue was spinal cord compression in my neck and I was loosing the ability to control my arms. Didn't you say you are an artist? I am too, and the thought of loosing that ability that I trained all my life for was a lot scarier than spine surgery. Cervical surgery is a much easier recovery than lumbar surgery. Given enough time, sometimes a spine with disks collapsing starts to fuse itself, and that likely is not good. There is also a lot of disability that can come from a spine problem, and an offer of surgery can address structural problems and stop the progression.

I did not think cervical spine surgery was bad. It was exhausting, and I accepted the pain caused by the surgical path and incision as healing pain, but the neurological pain I had because of the spine condition was completely gone when I woke up. I chose not to take pain medication and found I could manage just fine. I just gave myself a lot of time to heal and I slept a lot.

Do you know the specifics of your spine condition? Have you had several specialist opinions?

Jump to this post

Hi sorry to not respond earlier. I needed to get a new password and was occupied w/ other things. Its a bit early for me to explain my condition now. Feel free to message me

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