"Metal plate" sensation post-lumbar fusion. Felt like this?

What does your surgeon say about this?

I am 62 (near 63) yo woman with RA, osteopenia, DDD, osteoarthritis, and Raynauds (those are the biggies). I am 14 months post L5/S1 fusion and had to have both SI joints fused at 5 months and 10 months thereafter. I have been complaining to my neuro that I have severe pain along the cage area, especially when I lay down. He has completely dismissed this complaint. I’ve said to all of my physicians that I believe I can feel the metal and it causes me pain. NO ONE, other than my family believes me.

I hear you. I believe you. I am very sorry, and I will pray for you because I am living it, as well!

@gravity3 He says he is totally uncertain of what it is from. He is a very good surgeon, but its hard to believe I am the only patient to ever have felt this. My son, who is also an MD, but diff field, says he thinks it is due to my body having a hard time adjusting to the new bio-mechanics of my spine. That for 70 years, my back moved one way and now it has to move differently.

@dadkins Thanks for your reply ! It is so frustrating to be have complaints dismissed. Im sorry you are struggling with this as well. It hurts and noone seems to have any notion of what to do!

Is it that the doctors are dismissing your complaint or is it that the doctors don’t have the answer and do not offer and cannot offer you one? Your expectations of getting an answer for your complaint most likely will not be met. We as patients need to believe that doctors are not gods and they don’t have all the answers. We can all hope they can answer our questions but I think you’ve hit a wall and need to accept an answer for the moment. It might become something down the road or you may assimilate your fusion and new body positioning eventually. Considering how long it took your spine to breakdown anything new will need time for adjustment.

@jenatsky
I fully understand the time for healing is a long and arduous process. However, when we make a direct concern to a doctor who has performed the procedure, then that specific concern needs to be addressed. As a very well educated adult, with a huge amount of emotional intelligence, I can accept the answer of “I don’t know but hear that you have pain. I can’t find the exact cause”. Instead, he assigned cause to the pain and proceeded to fuse my SI joints, which did nothing.

Doctors are not gods, however, my experience has been that my particular one cannot admit anything less than the words he has spoken to me of “it’s nothing I have done. My work looks great”. Yet, the pain persists. I’ve had back pain for years, so I know how to continue with pain. But, it’s very disheartening.

That all being said, I have found a new neuro who is amazing and not only hears but listens! We, as patients, need to remember that we are paying the doctors’ car payments and mortgages and deserve real answers, not bait and switch or lip service.

Hi, I feel your pain, literally.
I had a L4-L5 Anterior (front horizontal incision under my belly button) and a Posterior (vertical incision on my lower back) Lumbar Fusion with Allograft performed in 2025.
The Titanium cage that was placed to secure the vertebrae shifts slightly when I lie down in bed at night. I struggle to get my back to relax but have learned that placing an object that looks like a metal bookend against and under my spine...actually allows my back to relax after about 10 minutes max and then I remove it and can get on to sleep. I also use a small hand towel folded behind my back when I'm in our vehicles which helps too. It's like my back just can't relax anymore and I can feel the cage because I'm very thin skinned on my back. Hope some of this helps you.
Wishing you better days ahead.

@ladyaceintx1 Thanks for your reply. I'm trying to picture a metal bookend that would feel good ....! Could you post a photo ? But I do find a lumbar roll is helpful in the car. I am pretty thin and petite also and I do wonder if our body types might be more sensitive to our spines feeling differently. I was just finally approved to start PT ( 5 1/2 months out ) , and my surgeon is hopeful that will help things along.

@dadkins I'm glad you found a neurologist who listens ! Does s/he think it is the metal that you are feeling , or that you are feeling a spine that now is shaped differently and doesnt bend/move the way it use to? I am really curious about that. My "metal plate" feeling tends to move a bit, depending on how I am laying / moving . I cant tell if it is a bunch of frozen muscles, or my vertebrae. Pain is a mysterious creature !

@jenatsky I agree with your message regarding how you view your doctor(s). My spine surgeon is literally one of the top surgeons not only in the US, but he teaches and lectures world-wide. He develops minimally invasive procedures that other doctors will use on their patients.

However, he does not have much of a bedside manner. I scheduled a visit after my lumbar fusion surgery due to pain I still have in my right side (oblique and flank muscles). He asked me to describe my situation, then he kept interrupting me, asking me specific questions to lead my responses to what he had decided already. He didn't let me speak much, and I guess it looked worse than I realized, because my wife was sitting next to me this entire time, and she later told me she thought we were going to come to blows.

Needless to say, I have another spine surgeon I just saw about a month ago who is very professional, and listens when I speak. I would rather have a doctor tell me they do not know and then either contact someone, or refer me to someone that they feel can help. I have been at this for three years this past July, and the last two months are the first times doctors have done this for me. Even though I am still searching for medical answers, at least I am finally being helped to navigate what the US calls a healthcare system.