Laminotomy Recovery?

Hi Jennifer. Things are in a different phase in my healing that are difficult and I'm trying not to lose faith, although I consulted my senior surgeon, not the one who did the surgery, another older retired, well renowned surgeon. He was doing surgery for 45 yrs but now only consults. Anyway, I was doing well, maybe overdid it one or two days, walking a little only a couple of blocks farther. The next day I tried to get into a minivan and the driver put a step stool up for me to get in. When I stepped on it I felt a sharp pain in my left side, where I had been feeling tenderness already. After that I have been having sharp pain if I don't sit and stand extremely carefully and slowly. The Senior Surgeon examined me and said I have no nerve damage and the muscle is tight pulling me away from putting pressure on the swollen nerve as it tries to heal. Do you have any insight on this ? Thanks, Annie

@annie1 Did your surgeon mention scar tissue? Scar tissue tightens as it heals and you'll move into a phase where you feel it pull. You kind of need to live with it until it fully heals, and your bones are set. Getting in and out of a vehicle will have you bending your body and probably pull on it. I was uncomfortable between 2 months and 5 months when I could start stretching it. It was pretty annoying.

Have you tried some ice?
Jennifer

He didn't mention scar tissue. I am pretty restless I have to admit I didn't go out all day today but I did have to walk around my apartment I didn't have anyone to help me to cook anything so I managed to make something quick to eat. Yeah I was possibly going to go into my friend's car tomorrow for a very short while just to see the outside world. Do you think I shouldn't get in a car at all for a few days?

The muscle that is tight is pulling you away from putting pressure on your swollen nerve as it tries to heal.That is what he said.

If you’re referring to your abdomen muscles I’d say yes. These are my main core muscles supporting my bad back. I had same surgery in 1990. Jennifer is correct you should ask your doctor. Question about the personal trainer. Have you started PT post surgery and is your trainer knowledgeable as a PT in treating postop fusion patients? Lastly what were your postop orders from Doctor?

I have painful cramps in my calf muscles, My diagnosis was Lumbar stenosis and I had minimally invasive Laminotomy surgery (not Laminectomy) on March 1 for it. I had a good response in most areas, I stand up straighter, I can stand longer and walk longer but now the cramps are returning only four months after the surgery, I don't know if it's "the nerves healing" a line the PA for the surgeon gave me about this, but I am wondering if the surgery did not completely stick. Does anyone out there have leg cramps from lumbar stenosis and what helps it ?

I do...its so painful. Moving and changing positions but the best is applying Heat. I use a thermalon heat pad you heat in the microwave and it calms it.

@annie1

I have lumbar stenosis and DDD. I have been getting injections to delay surgery as long as possible. Did you have cramping before surgery and he is you have a neurologist do an EMG/nerve conduction study before surgery to identify the nerves involved? Did the neurologist or spine surgeon say that surgery would help address the cramping? I have not heard that lumbar spine would be linked to leg/calf cramping. I wonder if dehydration, blood flow, nutritional deficiencies, small fiber neuropathy, etc. could be linked to your symptoms. If the surgery was meant to relieve pressure on certain peripheral nerves causing your cramping, it could take a long time for nerves to heal or regenerate after being decompressed. You may want to look into what can be done through diet, exercise and supplements to support nerve health. Are you doing physical therapy to help increase movement, blood flow, strength and reduce scar tissue formation? I wonder if scar tissue could be compressing nerves causing cramping sensations.

I have severe lumbar stenosis. I injured my upper spine while lifting weights on New Year’s Eve, and have had full body twitching and cramping since then. About 3 weeks ago, all of my symptoms started to wane. My calves still can cramp if I try to flex that muscle as much as I can, but never out of the blue anymore. I attribute the improvement to doing calf raises at the gym both standing and sitting alternating every 3 days. Believe me, I had to start very slowly, but I have been gaining strength every week finally, and yesterday I was close to full strength on my calf raises. I really need to work on getting my thighs back to normal as I have obvious wasting on my left thigh and slightly on my right. The hardest thing to do is get back full thigh strength with a bad back. They go together in just about every exercise that improves thigh strength.
I have not had any back surgeries yet, but I just looked up your procedure and will mention it to my spine doctor when I see a new guy for a second opinion next month. It sounds like something that could help my back and regaining strength in my legs. I thank you for your post.
I wouldn’t freak out about the cramping. Just stay hydrated with electrolytes and keep getting stronger. I thought my situation would never improve after 4 months of no improvements. I now have hope.

@annie1 - Sorry you have leg cramps! They can be painful and often interrupt sleep. I had both cervical and lumbar "big" surgeries in 2023 and leg cramping was not one of my pre-surgical symptoms. In fact, only at 12+ post surgeries did leg cramps become a problem for me. The fact that all my other DDD, stenosis, and spondy pre-surgical symptoms are gone - I can't make a connection between lumbar stenosis and leg cramps.

I have been experimenting and have found two things that seem to alleviate the cramping: (1) Greatly increase water consumption. I drink 80-100 ounces of water a day and consume at least 20 ounces of water containing concentrated electrolytes. I currently prefer Liquid IV. (2) I now take 500 mg of magnesium as a supplement. Magnesium is difficult to get through normal dietary intake yet a deficiency can create leg cramping.

So far so good. Cramping is much less frequent and when it happens, less severe. Might be worth a try for you? If you try it - let us know if it helped. Trying to build our knowledge base!