Gluteus Maximus tear

Could you (or anyone else) tell me what the name of the surgery is to repair hamstring or tendon tears? I have significant stenosis and a herniated disc and lots of pain in pelvis, butt, hamstrings, calves and feet, and physicians just keep throwing pain meds at me. Also have done PT to no avail where the pain is concerned. I suspect I have tears, but no one will do an MRI on me because of a complication with my pacemaker leads. The only surgeon I consulted wanted to do a spinal fusion because of the disc problem, and I know instinctively that will not solve my problems. I would like to consult another surgeon re: the kinds of surgeries you are talking about.

@bayhorse
I also have lumbar spinal stenosis L3-S1 (severe at L4-L5) and degenerative disc disease. My disc bulges and stenosis is pressing on spinal cord and nerve roots causing sciatica pain. This pain is in my lower back, hips, buttocks, legs and into feet. It is on both sides. In addition to pain, I also have numbness and weakness that runs from my lower back to my feet. This is in addition to my cervical stenosis and myelopathy which caused residual problems in arms/hands/legs/feet and bladder despite ACDF surgery c5-c6. Spinal cord and nerve injuries can become permanent so need to address sooner rather than later.

I was told my gluteal and hamstring partial tears will heal on their own with PT over time (they take a while to heal). My thoughts are that the pain/weakness/numbness in back/buttocks/hips/legs may have contributed to me tearing my tendons in the first place. I have an appointment with my spine surgeon this week to talk about lumbar spine surgery on L3-L5 and he may recommend laminectomy and fusion plus foraminotomy to widen openings for L5 nerve roots which are being compressed.

You may not need hamstring surgery but may want to consider spine surgery if you have exhausted all treatments with no improvement of symptoms. I have done spinal injections, low dose gabapentin, NSAIDs/tylenol, pain patches and my symptoms are making daily tasks difficult (hard to sit, stand, walk for long and pain can range from 4-9 on a scale of 10. The spine may be the main culprit behind your symptoms.

@bayhorse
P.S. You may be able to get an ultrasound of your hamstrings and buttocks to see if there are any tears.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hamstring-injury/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20372990
Your symptoms do sound like sciatica linked to your spinal stenosis. If PT hasn’t helped and pain medication is limited, you may need spine surgery to decompress your spinal cord/nerve roots/nerves sending pain signals. Did you have a fall that contributed to your pain?

Hi, dlydailyhope: My spine problems sound very much like yours: stenosis plus ddd plus herniated disc and osteoarthritis just about everywhere. The one surgeon I have seen recommended fusion based only on X-rays done during my appointment and some 2-year-old CT scans ordered by a different doctor. I am going to see an orthopedist tomorrow who specializes in stenosis and find out if 1) I need new CT imaging and 2) if I should go see another surgeon. My fear about the fusion surgery stems from talking to people who have had their problems worsened by it. My current PT also says he sees people frequently whom it doesn't help. This is not to discourage you, of course, as you have already explored other options.

As for meds: I can't handle gabapentin and am currently trying low dose naltrexone for the pain, which becomes severe at times (I'm basically a 3 to 8 on the scale of 10). So far, the naltrexone is doing diddly, but I'm told it can take weeks and weeks for it to be effective, so I am on Tylenol for the time being. Doctors recommend against steroid injections because I have severe osteoporosis. But no one has yet mentioned pain patches. Could you tell me what kind you tried?

Please let me know how things go for you. And thank you for your reply and all the information!