M.I.L.D. surgery + 4 months therapy no relief

@murphyjoe, welcome. I'm tagging fellow members like @ladeedi51 @billweigle @lizann45 @mom2five @rose4jim2417 @kdks99, who have had minimally invasive ligament decompression (MILD) and can share more about their back issue prior to having MILD and their recovery results and time to recovery.

In the meantime, you may also wish to read these related discussions:
- MILD (minimally invasive ligament decompression) and/or LinQ?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mild-procedure-andor-linq/

- Anyone had minimally invasive ligament decompression (MILD) treatment?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/minimally-invasive-ligament-debulking/

I had the MILD procedure on August 28, 2023 and did not experience any improvement. I knew going in it only helps 80% but I felt it was worth trying it. I tolerated it well and suffered no other ill effects other than disappointment.

I had the MILD procedure. I had no improvement. I believe this is a very lucrative procedure for doctors and hospitals but the results do not match the hype. There are always some people who respond to every intervention and some improve with no intervention. For the rest of us I think it comes to developing a variety of coping strategies. I have not had surgery because it is not a magic fix for many of us and it comes with major risks and too often totally fails. A physiatrist said "the problem with spine surgery is once you have surgery you've had it" and for too many people it results in new issues or recurring issues and more surgery. I cannot believe how little evidence based high quality research is available to help us make decisions . Relying on intuition or a "feeling" about a surgeon is risky. For now i have an arsenal of things that help a little and I try very hard not to be defined by my pain.

kdks99 Thank you for your input. Greatly appreciated.

I am considering MILD. Waiting for the doc to show me on the MRI how it will help. There are specific thickness of the ligament that suggest it may help. Also alignment of the vertebre specs.

At a recent visit to my pain management Dr., I mentioned that my pain is still debilitating but also more localized (in my tailbone area and around the tops of my thighs.) After researching tailbone pain, I learned that it may be caused by pressure to the nerve due to benign fibroid uterine tumors which I have. He said the localization was probably a result of the M.I.L.D. Procedure. It did take the full 6 months to get decreased areas of pain. I have a CT scan scheduled in the coming months and hopefully will learn more then.

I also had the MILD procedure done. For me it was done for my Lumbar spinal stenosis. The procedure did not help me nor relieve my pain. So this combined with Epidural steroid injections did nothing to help me, and now I am faced with having to have back surgery, but this time I am having a Laminectomy and microdiscectomy.