Alicia64 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 An MRI showed a bulging disc that I've been trying to manage for years now. I finally had a second MRI and thankfully it hasn't gotten worse. I'm seeing a spine surgeon today to see what he thinks. (I plan to see a second dr. for a second opinion.) The bulge part is apparently touching a nerve and the pain resonates down my leg/tucas. I've done physical therapy, meds, epidural shots. None provided much -- if any -- relief. I'm going to ask the dr. about any other suggestions he might have. I'm not gung-ho on surgery, but I'm just too young to be in this much daily pain. And I've been attempting to manage it for years now. Most annoying: I can't sit. I took the kids to a gov't class last week and -- an hour into it -- I had to sit on ice. Sitting through an hour TV show is hard. Traveling for hours in a car? Super hard. Very frustrating. Any surgery thoughts/advice is welcome! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 In our experience, surgeons do surgery. I would find a chiropractor who is doing torque release technique . Surgery can be avoided and I would avoid it. Yes, I speak from experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Get a second and third opinion if you can. I have similar back issues and was considering surgery. I have an additional nerve complication that makes my case a bit more unusual. I saw 4 top doctors in our area, and I had 4 different surgery suggestions. And one doctor (head of neurosurgery at a teaching hospital) who said that if I was his wife, he wouldn't let anyone cut on me. Laminectomy Disk replacement from the back Disk replacement from the front Spinal Cord implant. Do nothing. One thing I liked about getting the second/third/fourth opinions, was that each subsequent doctor told me why the other procedures were a bad idea in my case. So, at the end....I opted out of surgery all together. I found a better Physical Therapist (my 5th one) went on a nightshade free diet, and finally got the nerve pain under control. I work in pharmacy, and see patients before and after surgery. Unfortunately, I continue to see people who are in pain following surgery more often that those that it helps (obviously because they don't need pain meds). Due to this, I am fairly skeptical to surgery fixing back pain. (Just like that you don't want to ask a family court judge about the likely hood of divorce). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 My aunt had surgery done in Tampa. It was the Laser Spine Institute or something like that. Didn't do anything to help her pain, sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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