Tips for post surgery L5-S1 fusion

[dlawrence21]

I had lumbar fusion surgery November 18. One level fusion at L5-S1. I was hoping for tips for a smooth recovery. Especially best ways to sleep, stretches, things to avoid. Really anything. I have never had surgery before so I'm pretty ignorant to what to expect. Maybe some things that may be sore that I should prepare for.

[New-disc]

No heavy lifting !

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[ajj1001]

No bending, lifting, twisting. Keep moving regularly, short walks when able. Take tablets and stay comfy.

[dlawrence21]

No bending, lifting, twisting. Keep moving regularly, short walks when able. Take tablets and stay comfy.

What about sleep?? On back the best or can I go side with a pillow between knees or something?

[ajj1001]

What about sleep?? On back the best or can I go side with a pillow between knees or something?

On your side with pillows to support behind you and in front for you knees is good. Lying on your tummy is done in short spells and usually as part of your physiotherapy. Best to ask when you are able to do this for sleeping

[Phil_b]

echo all of the above - sleeping has been a bind for me just cant get comfortable, try using pillows fron and back and between knees. Docs told me to lay whichever way I felt comfortable. Just dont overdo things (difficult I know) and dont be in a hurry either!

Hope you heal well

Phil

[Badgolfer]

I had lumbar fusion surgery November 18. One level fusion at L5-S1. I was hoping for tips for a smooth recovery. Especially best ways to sleep, stretches, things to avoid. Really anything. I have never had surgery before so I'm pretty ignorant to what to expect. Maybe some things that may be sore that I should prepare for.

You must be home now and taking care of basic needs OK. I won't dwell on them. I had 3 level TLIF in Sept so the learnings are still coming to me. But lots of good advice on the site. Do 'key word' searches if you have a specific question. My biggest learnings;

• Pain meds are both your friends and your enemy as they mess up everything. Lots of advice here on pain meds issues. And I had major withdrawal issues after only 6 weeks on very mild dose.
• You will feel pretty good in 3 weeks. I wish I had started hydro-therapy then instead of a couple of weeks later. Go do some warm water physio work long before you can do dry land work.
• Because you feel good you start to want to do more....watch out. The fusion takes months to fully complete. So stay restricted on activity (Bend, twist, and almost any lift) until you are weeks out....10-12-16-20 weeks. Your Dr will advise and it will be tied to your Job and your fitness level.
• Lots of people here dealing with pain long after the surgery. It takes a long time for the nerves to recover from the damage. I have, and most people see, improvement week by week not day by day. The biggest change is the pain 'shouldn't' get worse.

If you have specific questions troll the site for a bit and/or ask the question. You will see pretty quickly that some one knows the answer to almost everything.
Dan

[Pbchoclovr]

Dlawrence,

I echo pretty much everything everyone else has posted. Sleep just any way but on your stomach that makes you comfortable. Most of us at some point slept or still sleep with a combination of pillows supporting the front and back as this helps keep you stable as you sleep. The pillow between the legs will help keep your spine in alignment with your legs.

As for activity, walk as much as you can handle. Once you're cleared for physical therapy, you can also walk backwards in a pool. The backwards part keeps you from bending forward and will keep your spine straight. If you try the pool, remember there's a whole lot more resistance so keep it short at first. You'll be feeling it if you don't for days. Another thing in the pool is to just hang on a noodle in deeper water. You'd be surprised how good you'll feel just floating in the water. For me, it's the one time of the week that I don't have aches and pains from recovery. It's very relaxing.

most people see, improvement week by week not day by day. The biggest change is the pain 'shouldn't' get worse.

You will have good days and not so good days. Don't judge your improvement based on how it's going today vs. tomorrow, because that's going to fluctuate. The bigger picture is what you should be looking at. When you look back a month, two months, etc. you should be able to see the improvement.


Your meds are your friends as another posted stated. Everyone gets off them at different points. I had surgery about 4 and a half months ago and I'm just now at a point where I can begin reducing what I'm taking. Don't be in a rush to get off them if you're still having significant pain. Because once you start PT, the activity you do there will show itself in increased pain at least for an evening.


Overall, do what your medical team, including the physical therapist tells you to do. The better you follow their advice, the better your recovery will go. If you don't already have a grabber, get one. It will save you tons of time trying to get things off the floor.

Best wishes as you recover.

Linda

[Fried-spine]

Wishing you the best for your surgery and a great outcome. Please invest in some lean, comfortable ice packs. You'll be icing for weeks to come. Right out of surgery you'll ice many times and a lean ice pack is helpful. Since my surgery was in December and I live in a cold state I also purchased an electric blanket to shake off the cccccold! Valium at night helped me sleep post op too. It acts as both a muscle relaxant and as a sleep aide. If your doctor recommends walking, do what he/she asks. Walking was very benefical to me and continues to be so. I also echo the pillow in between the legs on laying on the side. They'll have someone give you discharge instructions about that post-op and you'll learn the "log roll" out of bed. I echo the warm water hydrotherapy or aqua therapy as it's called in some places. If your doc can RX a place that is close by for this special type of physical therapy. Some doc's believe in therapy some don't. Mine didn't. I had to request a RX for water PT specifically and indeed did hydrotherapy (which I still participate in 2 years later) Lastly patience. You'll need alot so you don't pull your hair out because at least in my circumstance it moved very slow in the recovery of my fusion of L4/L5 with a XLIF procedure. Again ,wishing you nothing but the best, Cheers