Not looking for med advice but more recovery advice. Had back surgery 9 weeks ago bulg disc L5 discectomy. First 5 weeks great then bent left felt something tear and have been in a lot a pain since doc thinks it is muscle so do I . Going to have steroid injection in to muscle that are tight Tuesday to hopefully get them to calm down . Doc keeps telling me I am old and takes awhile to heal. I am 50 and in pretty good shape till this . Just looking for recovery stories and how long it took to feel pretty good again. Or thing that help you get back on feet

Don't smoke cigs. Eat and drink healthy. And just take it slow and be POSITIVE
Mine was herniated t9 t10.

PMA - positive mental attitude

It heals the body and spirit. Stay strong, stay positive. Everyone's healing time is different.

You can do it!!! I had the ladder thing put in over 20 years ago. Believe me I was not looking forward to that = SCARED!! But now doing fine, the discomfort is slowly just coming back but not debilitating as it was before surgery. I have heard all sorts of stories about my surgeons before going in and that did not help. I am extreeeemely happy with the results......jk

it's a well-known fact that length of daylight influences healing time.

two month vacation in the Carribean ought to do it.

j/k...hope you heal up soon!

Asked an ortho surgeon about post-op pain one winter. He replied, "nobody gets well until Spring arrives".

I had an L5/S1 discectomy at age 29 and a a fusion on the same disc after bursting it again 3 yrs later. The fusion was a year ago and recovery from the fusion was way easier. I was pretty well doing everything I normally did days after the surgery. Mainly due to the fact you are lag bolted together back there. The discectomy surgery though was not as quick simply because you have to take it easy as you're waiting for the tissue around the disc to heal. What helped me the most was a heavy protein diet post surgery for atleast 2 months and lots of walking. I walked 700 miles in the first 4 months after my surgery. My physical therapist said that she believed that to be the key to my rapid recovery. If your sitting idle the scar tissue will develop around the nerves and create more problems down the road. Hope you recover quick. That nerve pain caused by blown disc's is a pain I would hesitate to wish on my worst enemy.

Surgeon offered surgery.
Regular MD suggesting avoiding untill the pain was too much
Neighbor lady suggested an MD physical therapist . PT was incredible, he looked at my MRI , x rays, medical history,,,,,, and soforth.
He said I would be in great shape and quite fixable. by April. By March I was good to go ( I did my own home workouts too)

I also had L5-S1 discectomy. Mine was done in 2009, I believe. I had physical therapy for 8 weeks, no lifting more than 10# for like 6 months. I did what I was supposed to do to heal up, then made the mistake of getting back in to building construction. I did OK for a couple of years, then the pain became pretty bad. It took about a year for my back to calm down and heal up after I quit construction. I now do flooring measures for a living and I have zero pain. Keep your core (abs) strong and you will do alot better. I will say, I cannot do alot of hiking, walking or other repetitive motion or it will flare up for a few days. You will never be what you once were, but it will get better as long as you don't do anything stupid. I was 39 when I had my surgery and no additional surgeries since.

You all should look up the DMR method. It's a life changer

My surgeon suggested doing it in may because you heal faster Fusion discetomy whole nine yards .BIG reason was walking is the best medicine for any back surgery It’s safer to walk in warm weather one slip and your crippled for life
Yes I suffered greatly for 4 months waiting Injections and pain meds when I couldn’t sleep post poned it until may I was 52 then Still have trouble I had 3 levels needed fixing but ins said no ! Lol

Appreciate all input guys I waited almost a year to get it fixed but in the end I had to the bulg was rubbing a hole in my sciatic nerve and was getting bad . Was just trying to figure out how long this recovery time might be and things to expect. Some time hearing other people stories gives you a little insight to what to expect. Plus I have been stuck in house for 2 months and going a little nuts .

In May I had surgery fusing 15 vertebrate. Was my 6th surgery. I thought I was in good shape for my age, but that really knocked me down. Did 6 weeks of therapy, which helped but have realized that there are so some things I will never be able to do. Can't bend over to tie my shoes, which is really frustrating, or just picking up anything off of the floor. Most of the pain is gone, except up between my shoulder blades. I was able to run some traps. Getting down to make sets wasn't bad, it was getting back up. Bought one of those folding walkers and took wheels off. That worked pretty good

Keep going and never ever quit

43 years ago I had my first Laminectomy and I was 6'1" Since then I have had 13 more back surgeries or interventions not to mention epidural block nearly every 3 months for the last 10 years. Oh yeah they put a neural stimulator in. I am now 65 and 5'11"

Now I was very fit and could easily run a 100 set landline for 3-5 months for nearly every year for the past 50 seasons. I ignored the back pain and when it got bad I saw a orthopod and subsequent surgeon. One old surgeon told me this info. "Mans back is just not made for us to walk upright." Hes right...You think about it, if you weigh 200lbs and are 6 foot tall. 100 pounds or more are putting pressure on a donut in your spine no more 1.5 inches in diameter and about .4 inches thick. Now when you bend over the pressure on the disc increases exponentially.

While Laminectomies and Discectomies repair the areas of the disc and the disc itself, its like putting a patch on a radial tire. It will fail again and when it does other mechanics come into play. For example you probably will have bone on bone rubbing long before the pain starts. That rubbing causes osteophyte growth and eventually narrowing of the foraminal space. And soon spinal stenosis to varying degrees. In short the nerve root that goes to your legs, arms, core, neck, and head get poked by these bonish formations that look like stalactites.

Because this is a pain caused by your back, the affected extremities don't care. So muscles of the extremities jump into action to protect the affected area. You could get leg cramps, back cramps whatever. All caused not because of an actual injury to the extremity but because your backhas and arthritic osteophyte (bone spur) poking at the nerve roots as they leave your spine.

You asked how long to heal. Ill be honest as (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). You won't ever heal to the old you and it will get worse. Despite what the Drs tell you and how careful they are. Arthritis will soon set in. If it fails again then you get a fusion and even more arthritis, Also if you get a fusion remind yourself that a fusion removes the disc from from the space below and that area becomes rigid. So now instead of having pressure from bending on a disc 1.5 inches form L5-S1 the disc at L3-L4 at around 1 inch in diameter is tasked with carrying your 100 lb torso. It will fail, you'll get another discectomy or laminectomy and soon another fusion. It never ends...all because man never evolved its spine to walk upright...we should be walking on our knuckles yet.

Ill admit I was young when this all started and over the years I was very very active. I would go and go until I hurt so bad I had to lay on the ground. in pain. As for you at your age, I think your lucky. Why, because your back muscles aren't like they used to be. Now they are supple unlike that of an active 20-40 year old. Thus when your body detects pain in the lumbar additional damage to the transverse process, pedicle and foramen will be less. You see (no offense to heavy folks) those that are an athletic build have more back issues then the heavier folks. Same with younger vs older IMHO. Also you are less active.

Heres some words of advice. For every inch of fat over your belt you are adding 100 lbs more force to the disc area. Note I said athletic build causes more problems after the disc has been damaged due to damage to the bones and arthritis. Whereas weight over your belt affects the disc itself.

If the DR allows and your healing is complete on the outside. Ask him for some lidocaine prescription back patches or Voltaren (Diclofenac topical gel). Also ice is better then heat! Take a bag of ice. a couple of towels and put the towels then the ice between your couch cushions for 20 minutes. The ice will ease the surgical inflammation and thus stope the back spasms.

Sorry if I put doom and gloom on the page. But once you study the spine and what it does, I tell folks now. Do not get back surgery. There are many cases where a disc bulges and moderately heals itself, all the while a natural fusion process begins. The great thing about the natural fusion is less arthritis because Drs are not in there manipulating the bone!

LDW mentioned putting on shoes, I wear boots most of the time, but getting them off is an uncomfortably ordeal. And forget cutting you toe nails, you have to get your buddy to help you there. Before surgery, (and I put it off a long time = 5 years), I had to sleep in the car sitting up with the seat belt on. No problem going to sleep in a bed but getting up in the morning and gettting out of bed, sitting up, was extremely painful. When I came to after surgery I knew instantly that the big pain was gone, maybe a month to get going again. Slowly for 6 months but I am back in action with some discomfort but no pain. Oh and I had to buy the tens machine for pain control but really never used it much, now that is 10 times cheaper then then.......jk

Best invention for those of us that cant bend. A grabber and a sock puller. Trick I use on tennis shoe is tie them just tight enough to be snug and use a shoe horn to slip them on and off after a few time they will slip on with out the shoe horn. . Hunting boots are a different matter. Used to have boots with rings for the strings now all brands use hooks for the top laces . makes it difficult to put them on with all the clothes on.

Invest in an adjustable bed !!! raise the head up and roll out You will learn . Best money I ever spent right beside a hot tub for pain relief.

I have had 8 major surgery operations including back and the best I can tell you is listen to your body. Yes listen to the surgeon and therapist but I have always pushed it and recovered better than most and they told me I healed well. I always ask what should I absolutely not do and keep that in mind. As example on my last knee surgery I did times 10 what the therapist wanted me to do and did it 3 times a day vs 3 times a week. Just for reference Im over 70 and yeah heal slower be heal well

Appreciate the info guys.I will give you a little background I have had 7 other surgery’s in life to knees ,3 hernias, liver , gallbladder all the good stuff . I live a pretty active life hunt hard sometimes fish but then trap all winter close to the Yukon river pretty big lines . That is what got me in to this mess . Lasted year we got 18 wolves and that took a toll on my back and when I felt first pain in back and foot should of stopped but kept going . I have no doubt I will overcome this and might not be the same as before but will push to get there . When I was 42 I took 3 Cypro Antibiotic pills and it shredded everything tendon in my body from my eyes to my toes. It took 3 years to rebuild after that. I had to learn to be patient and persistent but got back over time . But the one thing I learn from the cypro mess was I found a website that had thousands of people going through or been there and there recovery stories help a lot for me to see what others had done to get over med stuff.

Doc has been telling me to take it easy so I have been laying around for 2 months watching television every time I have asked him if I can exercise lightly he told me no. So yesterday and today I said I am done started walking and pushing it a little and feeling pretty at moment.
Appreciate it guys . John