Degenerative discs lower spine, thoracic spine, neck: Fix the pain?

@lkildare1 what is the pain stimulator called? I am suffering from ddd, herniated discs, nerve root compression and injections didn't help me and hoping to find something else. Do you mean a tens unit?

@j333yuki
I also have severe DDD, my neck is fused C3-C7 and I have spinal stenosis in my neck.
I am getting ready to have surgery November 6th on my Lumbar for severe spinal stenosis in. My neck pain was almost unbearable for the most part! I now have a a SCS(spinal cord stimulator) which helps quite a bit. I’m not pain free but it’s tolerable for now. However, it only goes to my thoracic and cervical so now my pain is in my Lumbar area. There are only 4 leads that they can use so I am hoping this surgery will help my lower back pain!

@dunbun13 I had surgery and it was AMAZING. Don't wait too long as your lumbar nerves could get crushed in the process and it will be hard for them to grow back. That's what happened to me. Get yourself a couple GOOD ortho surgeon opinions. I had 4! The fourth one was my prince charming and he gave me my life back. It took 20 years of trying everything. These days you don't want to wait too long because it takes so long to get in the cue for surgery. You should be having MRIs and having a pain management dr. and an orthopedist advise you. There are MANY things which can be done on the way to eventually having a surgery. I had everything. When it was time, it was time. My only regret was that I didn't find my prince earlier. He has done several surgeries on me since. I am no longer afraid. I am always so much better afterwards! I hate suffering with pain!

I was wondering what you do besides PT to help with this.

@loriesco Hi. Regarding your lumbar nerves, did you have numbness? And if so, where? Also, did your nerves eventually grow back? And if so, how long did it take?

@ccchang yes I had numbness, yes, I had a lot of itching. What I learned from having my spine compressed by discs falling out and vertebrae‘s compressing onto the nerves is that you can have burning numbness, tingling itching, and the very from location to location. The neurosurgeon I was with for 18 years, would’ve never done my first lumbar surgery therefore, my lumbar nerves were crushed to their death. they could only grow back dysfunctional. I went right into surgery when I was referred to my orthopedic surgeon who I selected to do my surgery. It had been way too long and my nerves crushed way too completely to expect complete return. However, the surgery was wildly successful. It takes up to 10 years to figure out if your nerves are going to regenerate I am on year six or seven and periodically. I have some new success so it really can take a long time. I wouldn’t take any of it back because I can get out of bed and I can work and I can live an independent life. What’s a little nerve pain?! However, I will say I’m onto something new after six or seven years, and that is extra iron and B12 in my diet after already having extra nutrients. I am realizing the iron is actually rebuilding the nerve sheets, myelin. So after seven years, I’m having some good healing with my nerves! Never give up and always keep reaching out, looking for opportunities, trying new things and talking to people. Since I suffer with degenerative disc condition, it goes from my neck through my mid back through my lumbar down my spine so the possibility of neuropathy and radiculopathy can be a variety of places. Mostly for me it was down my left leg bilaterally in my sacral joint areas and between my shoulder blades and shoulders.

What I found out is that there are two kinds of PT available. The traditional PT does nothing to help degenerative disc disease. However, neurological PT is far different and has helped me to avoid back surgery.

Although I have been advised by a spine specialist and neurosurgeon to have disc surgery for spondylosis, I have other problems that would be a major problem during surgery. Neurological PT exercises must be done at home to help degenerative disc disease. However, the PT sessions and work at home do improve the pain.

If you are trying to avoid back surgery, this is the alternative!

Good luck!

I was wondering what you do besides PT to help with this.

@loriesco Oh no, 10 years? I just had an XLIF (disc replacement / fusion) surgery on last month. I've heard nerves can take months to years to repair but hadn't heard up to 10 years. Thank you for letting me know about iron and B12. I just went to a health store and picked up "Healthy Feet and Nerves" from Terry Naturally (the ingredients include B12 but shucks, not iron). How much iron do you take? I also picked up magnesium flakes to soak my feet (I was told it's similar to but sronger than epsom). It's amazing that you're still finding new success at year 6, that's great and I'm happy for you. I haven't noticed success yet; I'm on week 5, but am hopeful. Thank you so much for your response and help.

@curlylocks7 Don’t have any fusions. They make you worse. I will talk to my pain specialist about the neurological physical therapy. I have degenerative disc disease too🙏