r/Microdiscectomy

Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience. I had a large calcified herniated disc at L4/L5. It was attached to the nerve itself. Had a laminectomy/discectomy 7/28. Had foot drop of 3/5 prior to surgery. After surgery realized I couldn’t lift my left foot at all. Went home with a walker. Since then I can now flex my toes down but still unable to lift my big toe. Waiting on my custom AFO to come in after a nice fight with insurance… I just love BCBS… the surgeon keeps saying let’s give it more time. Has anyone had worsen foot drop after surgery and actually regained strength in their foot? The orthopedist that fit me for my AFO did not give me a lot of hope.

I usually read this community to keep myself from freaking out. During the first days after my surgery, I posted about my experience, and all of you helped me understand that recovery is not linear.

Looking back, that was one of the most important things I learned: having a better day followed by a worse day doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong (I hope so).

Then, I’ve been regularly telling ChatGPT how I was feeling, almost week by week. I recently asked it to put everything together into a single summary to help me organize my thoughts and keep track of my progress as follow:

I had an L5-S1 microdiscectomy on July 18th because of a disc herniation/protrusion that had been causing symptoms for a long time. I had been dealing with nerve compression for roughly 3 years, so I knew going into surgery that the nerve might take quite some time to recover.

Surgery / first few days

Immediately after surgery, I was very focused on protecting the area and avoiding movements that could cause problems. During the first few days I spent most of my time lying down and tried to avoid sitting.

The radicular pain I had before surgery changed significantly, but I still had some residual sensations around my glute and leg.

Week 1

During the first week I was extremely cautious.

The biggest thing I noticed was that recovery didn't mean simply waking up one day completely pain-free. There were different sensations compared with what I had experienced before surgery.

I started walking and gradually increased the amount of time I was walking.

Week 2

During the second week I started to understand the difference between the pain caused by the herniated disc and what seemed to be residual nerve irritation.

I still had some tingling and strange sensations in my leg. I also sometimes had a feeling of heaviness/swelling in my legs that improved after walking for several minutes.

I also started reading a lot about microdiscectomy recovery and other people's experiences, mainly because I realized that recovery isn't linear.

Week 3

Around week 3, I started having periods when I barely felt any pain.

However, after a few good days, the glute pain could come back. This worried me quite a bit at first.

The pain was mainly localized to the glute and didn't necessarily feel the same as the pain I had before surgery.

I started realizing that having a better day followed by a slightly worse day didn't necessarily mean that something had gone wrong.

Week 4

Around week 4, I had some of my best days so far, with the pain almost completely disappearing.

Then I spent more time sitting and the glute pain came back somewhat.

That really made me notice how much the symptoms seemed to depend on how much I was sitting and how active I had been that day.

I also experienced a few brief sensations around the lower back/perineal area that worried me, but they didn't progress into anything progressively worse.

Week 5 — now

I'm currently around 5 weeks post-op.

I still sometimes wake up with an annoying ache in my glute. It can improve considerably as the day goes on.

If I straighten my leg, I can also feel a sensation in the back of my thigh, almost like tension or pulling. This made me think a lot about the nerve still recovering and the possibility of residual nerve irritation.

At the same time, looking at the whole picture, I'm clearly much better than I was before surgery.

I'm no longer experiencing the same constant, debilitating pain that led me to have surgery. What I have now feels much more like residual pain/nerve irritation that fluctuates depending on position and activity.

I'm going back to work next week, around the 6-week mark.....

I am 4 months post herniation, was terrible, hospitalized for a week for pain. I had 2 ESIs, heavy pt, oxy, flexeral, gabapentin, I’ve improved a lot since the beginning but am plateauing at about 70%. I have foot zings and pain while sitting, some minor weakness in toe, heavy leg when walking a lot but im significantly better than I was. Still doing pt, gabapentin, and being very careful with movement. Gabapentin is messing with my cognitive function and I really want to get off of it. When I try to taper, the zings and pain become too much.

My docs are offering micro discectomy but also not pushing as I’ve shown quite a bit of improvement with conservative treatment. One thing they’ve suggested is that I lose significant weight as fatty deposits are contributing to the compression on my nerve. I was thinking to get back on zepbound. Figure this will also help curb my appetite for junk food that contributes to inflammation. Anyone try this method and how did it work as an alternative to surgery?

I’ve been dealing with this new burning pain that goes down my legs, along with my lower back pain. What’s really frustrating is that I didn’t have this burning sensation like this before the surgery.
I’ve tried talking to my family about it, but their response is usually something like, “Just go for a morning walk, you had surgery, why are you still not okay?”
I know they’re trying to help, but it feels like they don’t really understand that surgery doesn’t mean you just wake up fine and everything goes back to normal. And honestly, it gets really frustrating when the only advice I keep hearing is “just walk more.”
I even started PT after surgery because I wanted to recover properly. My doctor had said I could just do the exercises at home since I’m not really into sports, but I thought having a physiotherapist would help me stay on track and recover more safely.
The problem is, even simple movement can trigger this burning pain for me. So when people say “just go for a walk in the morning,” it’s hard, because they’re not feeling what I’m feeling.
I’m really trying to do everything right—following rehab, staying active, doing what I’m supposed to—but I’m honestly exhausted. Some days feel like I’m getting better, and then suddenly the burning pain comes back and I feel like I’m back at square one.
On top of the physical pain, I’ve also been feeling really overwhelmed mentally. I’m 25, and I was supposed to be starting my career and building my life, but I had to turn down some good opportunities because I thought I should focus on recovering first. Now I’m still dealing with pain after surgery, and it’s honestly scary. I keep worrying that I might not fully recover or be able to move forward the way I planned.
Some days I feel really low and even a bit hopeless about the future, and it’s hard to deal with that mentally while also managing the physical pain.
Has anyone else gone through something like this after surgery—especially new burning or radiating pain that gets worse with movement? How did you cope with it?

hey... how yall doin...

my 27f recovery was going perfect. had surgery on 6/2. 0 pain, no symtpoms, everything was looking up. i felt back to normal and was getting ready to go back to work. doing my pt, being more active but still careful, all of that.

8/11. my cat stealth barfed on the carpet and when i got up from my desk to close the blinds i stepped in it, immediately picked my foot up and stumbled, and felt like i got struck by lightning all down my left leg and my calf/foot went numb. knew immediately it was cooked, but i tried to be optimistic at first. ended up in the er two days later and nothing even touched the pain. they were pumping me full of meds to my gills and no dice. the mri was torture and i had to remind myself i need to breathe to be alive. was given a 15 day pred taper and gabapentin which i will be titrating up to 1800mg.

heres the first mri before my surgery:

	 \*\* TECHNIQUE \*\*:

	 MR images of the lumbar spine acquired without intravenous contrast.

	 

	 COMPARISON: None available.

	 

	 \*\* FINDINGS \*\*:  

	 NUMBERING: Last fully formed disc space is designated L5-S1.

	 

	 SPINAL CORD: Normal conus. Conus terminates at the L1 level.

	 

	 DISCS: L3-4 and L4-5 disc desiccation.

	 

	 BONES: Vertebral body height and alignment are normal.  Marrow signal is normal.

	 

	 SOFT TISSUES: Normal.

	 

	 T12-L1: No central canal stenosis or neural foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L1-L2: No central canal stenosis or neural foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L2-L3: No central canal stenosis or neural foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L3-L4: Annular fissure, bulging disc, and focal central disc protrusion in combination with congenitally short pedicles result in mild central canal stenosis. No neural foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L4-L5: Intervertebral disc height loss. Large central disc extrusion completely effaces the thecal sac resulting in severe central canal stenosis. No neural foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L5-S1: Facet hypertrophy with facet joint effusions. Prominent epidural fat.

	 

	 OTHER: None.

heres the one i just got:

MRI LUMBAR SPINE WITHOUT CONTRAST

	 \*\* HISTORY \*\*:

	 27 years old, lumbar radiculopathy

	 

	 \*\* TECHNIQUE \*\*:

	 MR images of the lumbar spine acquired without intravenous contrast.

	 

	 COMPARISON: MRs 6/1/2026, 5/22/2026

	 

	 \*\* FINDINGS \*\*:  

	 NUMBERING: Last fully formed disc space is designated L5-S1.

	 

	 SPINAL CORD: Normal conus. Conus terminates at the T12-L1 level.

	 

	 DISCS: Disc desiccation at L3-4 and L4-5.

	 

	 BONES: Normal vertebral alignment. Normal vertebral body height. Marrow signal is normal.

	 

	 Postoperative changes from interval left laminectomy at L4-5.

	 

	 SOFT TISSUES: Postoperative changes in the paraspinal soft tissues at L4-5.

	 

	 T12-L1: No canal or foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L1-L2: No canal or foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L2-L3: No canal or foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L3-L4: No canal or foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 L4-L5: Disc space narrowing with a small symmetric disc bulge. Interval postoperative changes from microdiscectomy. There is a 1.5 x 0.9 x 1.5 cm soft tissue focus in the central and left canal, arising from the disc space. This is most consistent with a residual or recurrent disc herniation. Results in moderate-to-severe canal stenosis

	 

	 L5-S1: No canal or foraminal stenosis.

	 

	 OTHER: None.

my surgeon said he wants to avoid a second surgery if pt and esi can manage my symptoms since resorption is possible and according to the mri my nerve isnt being compressed. and if i need a 2nd surgery, it might have to be a fusion. i have a trip coming up in mid september anyways i dont want to miss, since i had to cancel my honeymoon for my surgery in june, so i really want the nonsurgical measures to work.

now, here's my problem. my pain/discomfort is like 10% off being back to pre surgery levels and getting worse over time. i can walk for 30 seconds max. i cant lay in any position, i can only sit if i am leaning HARD forward and to the right. sleep is barely possible, maybe 3 hours a night. and my symptoms are getting worse every night. i cant brush my hair without laying down, and writing in pain the whole while. im not a crier but i cry uncontrollably from the pain and frustration of being back here. im not able to dress without help, im not able to hold myself upright to even microwave myself anything to eat, let alone grab things from the fridge. i have been in contact with my surgeon and pt and pcp about this since the reherniation occurred. the er doctor prescribed me pred and gabapentin and told me that pmr would contact me about lesi. also taking 1000mg tylenol every 6 hours as directed by the er doc. ice was making the nerve pain worse so i was using heat, but my nerves are so borked the warmth started feeling like ice, so i stopped. relying on menthol patches now to at least provide some distracting sensation from the leg-in-a-meatgrinder feeling. but im worried thst my herniation has progressed since the mri on friday.

i was also referred for a lesi so i'm trying to fast track that as much as i can on my end, but im honestly skeptical. it wasnt even a consideration last time since my herniation was so severe, and even though i know that this reherniation isnt as mechanically severe im still not sure it will provide meaningful relief.

basically, i'm willing to go the nonsurgical route but im doubtful... i'm on day 4 of taking 60mg of prednisone and my suffering just keeps increasing. im trying to get up and move but i csnt really tolerate it, i have to collapse onto my bed and just force myself to breathe.

does anyone have any experience with a similar situation? i know its pretty early in my reherniation to feel like its hopeless but being totally unaffected by dilaudid and toradol and the prednisone not providing any relief is really disheartening. nothing helps, theres no position i can be in that eases it to the point where im not still feeling shooting pain. i dont have any ces symptoms so its not an emergency yet but idk if i can live like this again. i did it before, but that wasnt really living.

Hello everyone, I wanted to give a follow- up on this nerve pain journey.

If like me, nerve pain caused you in desperation to either research what you had, or you needed confirmation and were either a.) Scared to death at the thought of this never going away and desperate for it to stop. b.) Told you need surgery but are too scared to do it. c.) After having surgery have experienced pain again and concerned you re- herniated.

I am sure there is more, but either way you need reassurance or comfort that this will end. I have felt all that and more and do the same thing. I find myself back on reddit looking for others who had similar stories to mine hoping that I am normal and to give me hope that it will eventually go away.

You can follow my threads to see my full story, but the gist is that I had slight herniated disc that caused foot weakness and numbness. I lived with the pain from November to May and finally saw a doctor ( well 3 doctors until I chose Dr. Ellwitz) and that was the best decision for me.

I felt great immediately, over did things such as walking and then 2 weeks post op had pain again and thought I reherniated but only irritated the nerve which lasted about 2 weeks and scared me into submission of doing what the doctor ordered.

Then I was fine until month 4 which I had pain again, went to doctor and they said to wait it out and gave me prednisone which helped for a week and pain went away.

Almost like clock work, I noticed that my pain was also affected by my hormones and then in between that. So I believe as a woman, we are more susceptible to flare-ups due to our hormones.

This was confirmed when I had pain 3 months ago and explained to my doctor what I noticed and they agreed.

Moving forward, I am having nerve pain in my buttocks that has gotten worse, debating on calling doctor for a follow- up MRI to male sure it has not reherniated.

I still have some numbness in my toes and side of calf and have not gained all the muscle I lost by my ankle but it's not as noticeable as before and my strength is back in my foot.

It seems like a lot of people stop posting about their recovery once they feel good, so if like me you are feeling vulnerable, know that you are not alone. Everything does not end on a bad note, just maybe a longer healing journey.

I would l9ve to hear about anyone's recovery after a year, or if you just want to share where your at with some random person out here who understands exactly the fear, depression, and isolation you are feeling, then myself and countless others will support you on this scrappy ass, crazy making, nerve journey!

Morning guys hope everyone is well and having a great recovery! I’m currently 2 weeks post op from my L5-S1 microdiscectomy and not having a great time!

About 3 days ago I woke up feeling achy, log rolling out of bed was painful and trying to walk was suddenly extremely stiff and painful. My partner looked at me and said “try stand straight” I said I was…..I looked in the mirror and noticed one hip sitting lower than the other, one shoulder had dropped and it looked like I had some sort of wonky twist in my torso. I did some research and it said I had a posterior tilt.

The pain isn’t getting any better, walking is a struggle, I’ve become scared when I look at the stairs because I genuinely feel like I’m going to fall down them if I try use them, the pain in my back is getting constant any time I move.

Has anyone else experienced this posterior tilt or have I done something wrong? There was a guy who had the same surgery as me same day, we exchanged numbers to help with one another’s recovery and he is fine! He’s up and walking around, he’s driving, getting ready to go back to his office job, he sits down at the table for dinner every night now and seems to be smashing the recovery!

(please give specific detail) & how far out? thank you

I (40m) had my MD surgery 8 months ago (L5-S1). All has been amazing since I woke up from the operation, I can happily say I'm pain free.

But I did realise I can still get a flare up if I push it too much.

I've had two flare ups since, the first was a big scare. I thought I had re-herinated, I was at the gym 2 months post op. Doc said "no limits" after the check in call, so I tried working on my core with barbell squats, no weight, just the bar. I felt a weird feeling in my leg and flared up pretty bad after that.

I've learned that the nerve is still angry, I had sciatica for 4 years, so it was probably pretty damaged. I only found out what it actually was after 3 years of pain. I think I kept aggravating it by gyming all the time and never really let the disc heal I guess..

So basically, my theory is, maybe it's best for now, if I just stick to walking, and some stretches/planking? And quit the gym for at least the next year?

Or is it essential to go to the gym and do PT sessions and big core workouts? I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Need advice.

Hi everyone, I'm a neurosurgeon. I've been getting a steady stream of DMs asking some version of the same question: My surgeon offered a minimally invasive discectomy, but I have read/heard about endoscopic discectomy. Which is better? What's the difference? 

It comes up enough that it deserves its own post, figured I'd write about this on my flight.

First, the reason everyone is confused,  these two terms are not the same kind of word.

"Minimally invasive spine surgery" (MIS) is a category. It's an umbrella term for any approach that gets to the spine while cutting through as little muscle as possible. It describes a goal, not a specific tool or approach or technique. "Endoscopic" is a minimally invasive technique. It's one specific way of achieving the goal of addressing your spine pathology. In other words, endoscopic surgery is a variant of minimally invasive surgery. When a clinic advertises "endoscopic, not just minimally invasive," they are trying to highlight the fact that their surgeons are capable of performing endoscopic surgery, and differentiate themselves from other surgeons. That's just mostly marketing and I'll get into the reasons why later. But the gist of it is that endoscopy is still a relatively new approach and a smaller percentage of surgeons have specific training on that approach so they try to market that fact as a differentiator. For the record I also perform endoscopic surgery and I am not biased one way or the other. 

I will explain the difference between the open, the "MIS", and endoscopic approaches when it comes to a discectomy because that's the most common and easiest to understand. But much more can be accomplished by all the different techniques/approaches. In practice, most patients hear "MIS" to mean the tube-and-microscope version, so I'll use it that way below. 

The three approaches, from most to least tissue disruption. 

1. Open surgery. A longer incision. The muscle is peeled off the bone and held back with retractors so the surgeon can see the spine directly with their own eyes.

 

Incision size for a discectomy:  1.5- 2 inches (4-6 cm)

2. MIS (tubular / microscope). Instead of peeling muscle off bone, the surgeon uses a series of progressively larger dilators to spread the muscle fibers apart, then parks a tube (a "tubular retractor") down that channel. Everything happens through the tube. The surgeon looks down into it using an operating microscope, which sits outside the body and provides light and magnification. At the end, the tube comes out and the muscle springs back into place. X-ray (fluoroscopy) guides where to put the tube.

Incision size for a discectomy: ~ 0.6-0.8 inches (1.6-2 cm) 

3. Endoscopic. Same basic idea, but instead of looking down a tube from outside, the camera goes inside on the tip of the endoscope, right next to the tissue being worked on. Essentially still a tube but less than half the diameter with a camera at the tip and a small working channel where instruments can be passed through to do the work near the tip of the tube where the camera is looking.  Incisions are smaller, often around 1 cm or two roughly 7 mm openings. The work is usually done with continuous saline flowing through to keep the view clear and control bleeding. Two flavors of endoscopic, because this trips people up too:

 

-Uniportal (also called full-endoscopic). One incision. The camera and the instruments share a single working channel. Sub-types you'll see advertised: transforaminal (comes in from the side, through the natural window where the nerve exits) and interlaminar (comes in from the back, through the gap between the bones).

-Biportal (UBE, unilateral biportal endoscopic). Two small incisions. The camera goes in one, the instruments go in the other. Because they aren't fighting for the same channel, the surgeon has more room to maneuver and a wider working view. Costs you one extra tiny incision.

Neither is universally better. They're different tradeoffs.

What the evidence actually says for a discectomy:

This is the operation most of you are asking about: a piece of disc is pressing on a nerve, and it needs to be decompressed. 

The best single study here is a Dutch trial that randomized 613 people with sciatica to either transforaminal endoscopic discectomy or open microdiscectomy. At one year, endoscopic was non-inferior, meaning it was not worse. It actually edged ahead slightly on leg pain, back pain, function, and quality of life, with less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and earlier walking. Repeat surgery within a year was 5% for endoscopic and 6% for the comparison group.

Here's the key part though: the authors themselves said the differences were small and might not be big enough for a patient to notice. (BMJ, 2022)

A 2026 meta-analysis pooling the randomized trials landed in the same place: comparable decompression and comparable patient-reported outcomes, less wound-related trouble with endoscopic, possibly faster return to work, but more X-ray exposure during the operation and no consistent long-term advantage in pain or disability. (summary here)

What this all means for you: for a straightforward disc herniation, both work. Endoscopic tends to win on the first few weeks. By a year out, you generally can't tell them apart from the outcome data. Let your surgeon choose the approach that works best in their hands. 

What about decompression for spinal stenosis?

Same story with a slightly different accent. Endoscopic decompression for lumbar stenosis achieves equivalent opening of the canal with less postoperative pain and faster mobilization compared with microscopic or open approaches. (review, Spine Journal meta-analysis)

The genuinely interesting use case is people who are borderline for anesthesia. Some endoscopic decompressions can be done with lighter sedation rather than full general anesthesia, which occasionally makes surgery possible for someone who was told they were too high-risk to operate on. There are published cases of this in patients in their nineties. (case reports, mostly) 

When endoscopic can be an option in my opinion: 

A single herniated disc, especially one sitting far out to the side (foraminal or extraforaminal), where the transforaminal endoscopic angle reaches it without removing bone that a posterior approach would need to remove

Focused stenosis at one or two levels

You have significant medical problems that make general anesthesia risky

Your priority is getting back to work fast and the pathology is simple

When it isn't

Your spine is unstable, or you have a slip (spondylolisthesis) that needs to be held in place. Decompression alone can make an unstable spine worse. That's a fusion conversation, not a technique conversation.

Deformity, scoliosis, tumor, infection, or fracture

Severe multi-level stenosis where a small working corridor isn't enough

Revision surgery through old scar tissue, where landmarks are distorted and a narrow view is a real disadvantage

You need a fusion. Endoscopic fusion exists, but the small working channel limits cage size, which limits fusion surface area and how much alignment can be corrected. (review)

If you take one thing from this post, take this: 

Endoscopic spine surgery has a steep learning curve, and the data on that is not subtle. One study suggested an experienced, traditionally trained spine surgeon needs roughly 15 endoscopic lumbar decompressions before getting through the initial curve, with higher complication rates in those early cases. For endoscopic fusion it's considerably more, in the range of 31 to 35 cases. (learning curve review, predictors of failure during the curve)

Even in that big Dutch trial, two of the surgeons who were still learning the endoscopic technique had noticeably higher reoperation rates than the experienced surgeon or the microdiscectomy group.

So: an experienced microdiscectomy surgeon beats an inexperienced endoscopic surgeon, every single time. The technique is not the variable that determines your outcome. The person holding it is. A surgeon who has done 800 tubular microdiscectomies and offers you one is not giving you the outdated option. They are giving you the one they are excellent at.

What to actually ask at your appointment

What exactly is compressing the nerve, and where is it (central, lateral recess, foraminal, far lateral)?

Which approaches are reasonable for my specific anatomy, and why do you prefer the one you're recommending?

How many of these have you personally done, and how many in the last year?

What's your reoperation rate for this procedure?

What happens if I wait?

Question 4 is the one people feel rude asking. Ask it anyway. Any good surgeon will answer it without flinching.

SOURCES:

AAOS OrthoInfo, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/minimally-invasive-spine-surgery/

AANS, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: https://www.aans.org/patients/conditions-treatments/minimally-invasive-spine-surgery/

Gadjradj et al., Full endoscopic versus open discectomy for sciatica, BMJ 2022: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35190388/

Meta-analysis of RCTs, full endoscopic vs microscopic lumbar discectomy (2026): https://painresearchforum.org/paper/full-endoscopic-versus-microscopic-lumbar-discectomy-for-lumbar-disc-herniation-a-meta-analysis-of-randomized-controlled-trials

Full-endoscopic vs microscopic decompression for lumbar stenosis, The Spine Journal: https://www.thespinejournalonline.com/article/S1529-9430(24)00005-6/abstract

Endoscope-assisted spine surgery, comprehensive review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12285748/

Learning curves in minimally invasive spine techniques, Neurospine: https://www.e-neurospine.org/journal/view.php?doi=10.14245%2Fns.2448838.419

Predictors of clinical failure during the endoscopic learning curve: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878875023017011

Advances in endoscopic lumbar spine surgery (fusion limitations): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S152994302500302X

Endoscopic decompression in a geriatric high-anesthetic-risk patient: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11573698/

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has dealt with a particularly large lumbar disc extrusion and ended up having a microdiscectomy.
I have a large L5-S1 extrusion that extends cranially about 2.5 cm (25 mm) behind the L5 vertebral body. It measures up to 1.2 cm (12 mm) thick and 2.5 cm (25 mm) in transverse dimension. It’s primarily left-sided and is compressing the left L5 nerve and contacting the S1.

I’ve been dealing with significant back and leg pain along with neurological symptoms, including weakness with heel walking. Microdiscectomy has been recommended/discussed, and I’m trying to get a better idea of what recovery and outcomes have been like for people who had a similarly large extrusion.

If you had a large extrusion (especially 20–25+ mm), I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience. Did you have a microdiscectomy? How quickly did your nerve pain improve? Did weakness or numbness resolve, and if so, how long did that take? What was the first few weeks of recovery like? Any complications or reherniation? And looking back, are you glad you had the surgery?

I know everyone’s situation is different and I’m not looking for medical advice, just personal experiences from people who have been through something similar. Thank you!

So June 11th I went in for a L5 S1 micro disectomy

I’m 5,11 32 year old male 266 lbs. during the shaving and prep I was very panicked but eventually accepted it

Once under anesthesia I desaturated to 77%

They pulled the plug on the operation and woke me up and sent me for 2 months of testing. Sleep study echo, stress test, lung x ray. All come back good besides the obvious need to lose weight which I have been since.

There doing the surgery again Wednesday and I’m scared because I have no answers on what happened the first time and from research 77% was pretty low. I’m scared it’ll happen again and wonder what made it happen the first time

Has anyone suffered prolonged nerve pain in their leg and foot either before or after lower back surgery ??
Mine started with a severe sciatic nerve pain outbreak after a 24 hr vomiting spree from taking a high dose of a GLP med , I guess all the strain from vomiting flared up my herniated disk so anyway I had terrible sciatica on my entire right side and winded up in the hospital for 4 days where they took care of most of my pain except
In the shins and foot so I went home like that and suffered from shooting hot nerve pain in my foot that was so bad I gave in to surgery to remove the hernia that was pinching my nerve so the neurosurgeon told me I’d wake up after Surgery with Just a bit of left over nerve pain but it hasn’t been just a bit it was actually worse and all the medications barely make a dent in the pain .
I’m 3 weeks post an MD of L5 S1 on Tuesday and still suffering with the severe nerve pain on my foot
While taking lyrica 3 times a day and OxyCotin to help too and I still have the cramping , burning , shooting electrical impulses .
When does this end !!!! I can’t stand another month of this .
If
Anyone has any insight to share please 🙏🏻

I was at a healthy weight at the time of my surgery but I’m now about 5lbs overweight per the BMI. My surgeon really stressed the importance of not weighing more than 140 (I’m 5’3) to prevent pain and injury. I’m going to lose it, but how much danger am I in of re-herniating my L4-L5 or herniating one of the other four bulging discs by being 5lbs overweight? Because of my significant ED history and current pain levels after a recent flare, it’s going to take me longer than the average person to lose this, probably 8-12 weeks.

Hi,
I have been making a good recovery since my MD 1 year ago. My operated side is completely normal again. However approx the last 2months or so I have been having intermittent aching in my hip on the opposite side to surgery. It is mostly when I sit or walk for a while. I can still do all my exercises and walking but it’s annoying. My physio says it’s weak glute muscles and overcompensation but it’s still there even with additional exercises. He did dry needling and it seemed to improve but 2 weeks later it’s back again. Anyone else have this? And what helped.

How do you guys ask your surgeon for MRI postop, just to check how your anatomy and your disc is doing (to make sure there is no herniation), if you do not have any red flag symptoms?

Can you guys share your experience, when did you start pull ups, push ups, squats, and swimming after your surgery? My surgeon said I can do anything after 6 weeks postop, but would like to hear people experience