subject: Ruptured Disc Treatment Options [print this page] Here is a typical experience of ruptured disc symptoms. This information was collected as part of a national survey on back pain.
A self-employed businessman struggled through episodes of incapacitating pain from a ruptured disc for ten years before he had a laminectomy. 'The blinding pain in my buttock and leg vanished almost immediately after surgery,' he said. 'My back hurt some, it was kind of sore all over, but I thought it was mostly from the surgical procedure itself.'
What were the next several weeks like?
'When I got home ten days after surgery,' he continued, 'I felt pretty good. Then, about a month later, when my activity increased, I started to get muscle spasms. The pain was moderate, but it really frightened me. Oh, no, here we go again, I thought. My surgeon told me that some spasming after back surgery was normal and that I shouldn't try to do so much yet. When I went back for a two-month post-operative check-up, I asked about back exercises and was given a pamphlet containing some. The exercises didn't help. There was still some pain from spasming, and I lived in constant fear of re-injuring myself and not being able to make a living. I decided to join the YMCA and take their back pain exercises program. That worked for me and I've been pretty much unlimited in my activities ever since.'
There was one important question for this survey participant: did he think, in retrospect, that a laminectomy had been his best bet?
'Yes,' he answered, 'I felt that surgery would correct the problem, once and for all and I was right.'
Some 30 Per Cent of Individuals Can Carry On-but with Difficulty
A public parks worker keeps at his job in spite of chronic back pain since a laminectomy five years ago. 'My pain continues to interfere with my job performance,' he commented. 'But I don't complain and I do work, even though I could be put on disability.'
An electrician also reported that there is never an absence of pain after disc surgery 'All that my laminectomy did was get rid of the pain and tingling in my legs for a while. Other people who took part in the survey say the exact same thing. First the sciatica vanishes and you're really pleased. Then you realize that your back pain hasn't subsided at all. Then some leg pain comes back, and even when it's not there, the back pain is. I work because there's no alternative. It's unbelievable to me that nothing else can be done and that I'm stuck with being limited, having to lie down every day after I get home from work, for the rest of my life. Maybe other areas of medicine have become advanced, like heart operations and transplants, but not back medicine. I don't mean to trot out the cliche about 'If they can send a man to the moon, how come they can't fix your back?" But is an artificial disc really implausible?'
