L5-S1 laminal discectomy recovery time? (Discectomy L5-S1, 5/27/10)

**Aptos Gimp** · 06-03-2010, 05:30 PM

Hi all,

I underwent a laminal discectomy on my L5-S1 on May 27 to relieve long-term pain in my hip. The disc was herniated and pressing on the sciatic nerve, but I did not have "classic" sciatica as the pain/pressure was confined to my hip. The back story is that I fractured my right hip socket in a fall on ice in early January '08. I underwent "open-reduction/internal-fixation surgery to repair the fracture. (I have nine pins and a plate in my hip now.) I experienced a sudden onset of pressure in my hip while about six week into a 12-week, non-weight-bearing recovery period. Pain began after I started walking again. It felt like I had a knife or sharp object poking me. My pain was variously diagnosed as trochanteric bursitis, IT band syndrome and other ailments, and treated as such to no avail, before a pain-management specialist suggested it was referred from my back and ordered an MRI of my back -- which revealed the herniated disc. He tried three epidurals and PT before sending me on to a neurosurgeon. I am now one week post-op and, if anything, the pain and pressure in my hip is worse than before -- especially in the morning before I've taken my percocet. I would like to hear from others who've undergone the procedure about your post-op experiences and especially whether your pain got worse before it got better, and how long it took before you felt better.

**Keano16** · 06-03-2010, 05:54 PM

I wonder have epidurals helped you?

How did your doctor explained why disc herniation (nerve compression) does not cause leg pain?

Regards

**Aptos Gimp** · 06-03-2010, 06:11 PM

No, the epidurals did not help "long-term"; they only brought some short-term moderation of the pain, and not its elimination. The doctors said that the nerve compression could be the cause of the pain in my hip -- by irritating the sciatic nerve. Other possibilities had already been ruled out by trial and error -- mostly error. As I said, this pain and pressure is confined to my hip. The pressure is constant; the pain varies. Bottom line, I feel like my hip can't move freely. Multiple orthopedists have told me that my hip socket has healed (based on x-ray and MRI imaging). They have all said that my hip hardware -- eight pins and a plate in my acetabulum (socket) and one pin in my right iliac crest -- is not the source of my pain. Bursitis and IT band syndrome have been ruled out. The herniated disc was the only potential "culprit" left.

**Keano16** · 06-03-2010, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Aptos Gimp

No, the epidurals did not help "long-term"; they only brought some short-term moderation of the pain, and not its elimination. The doctors said that the nerve compression could be the cause of the pain in my hip -- by irritating the sciatic nerve. Other possibilities had already been ruled out by trial and error -- mostly error. As I said, this pain and pressure is confined to my hip. The pressure is constant; the pain varies. Bottom line, I feel like my hip can't move freely. Multiple orthopedists have told me that my hip socket has healed (based on x-ray and MRI imaging). They have all said that my hip hardware -- eight pins and a plate in my acetabulum (socket) and one pin in my right iliac crest -- is not the source of my pain. Bursitis and IT band syndrome have been ruled out. The herniated disc was the only potential "culprit" left.

You should also discuss possibility of internal disc disruption with your surgeons. Its just my guess, but based on some articles I've read, disc and its internal pain can cause hip pain.

But your surgery was recently, there is still a lot of time for you, and you should remain confident. Nerve needs time to recover if it was compressed. When they decompressed nerve, they activated blood flow in it, and this sometime causes even worse pain (Dr. Robert Saftic from Croatia told me this).

**Aptos Gimp** · 06-03-2010, 06:23 PM

A cousin of mine had this surgery back in 1989 and he says his pain also got worse before it got better. I've been dealing with this for 26 months now

and I would really like to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

**Keano16** · 06-03-2010, 06:25 PM

Longer you wait for surgery, longer is your recovery. There'll be some light soon. If it does not come up, turn on the light... Joking of course

Good luck in your recovery and be very careful during this period

**Aptos Gimp** · 06-03-2010, 06:58 PM

Careful how? I know about avoiding heaving lifting and bending. What else?

**Keano16** · 06-03-2010, 07:01 PM

Hm... I am not a surgeon or physiotherapist, our advices are not always so reliable here and they are mostly based on personal experience.

However, I have very much experience in my family, I have brought my mother trough 5 spine surgeries so my advices would be:
1. Avoid sitting in first few weeks. Some doctors advise their patients to sit 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes. According to some, this prevent creating of adhesions and abnormal scar tissue.
2. Avoid lifting
3. Walk, Walk, Walk