I have had a spinal fusion on 4 levels which was done in 2 stages. First stage the surgeon went into my spine sideways and replaced 2 discs with cages and then 2 weeks later went through my back and put another cage, 2 plates and 8 screws. I am pleased to say that I no longer have lower back pain but I can only stand and walk for short periods of time as my back tightens up and I get pain in what seems to be my right hip. Has anyone had similar and do they know what it is?
Fused 4 levels L3 through S1. Have had hip pain over time when I walk "funny". Very common to change your gait when you've been in pain (back, hip, knee, etc.). See a chiropractor. You may have a misalignment of your hips or a locked SI joint. A few weeks ago, I woke up with a level 10 hip pointer. Turned out to be my quadratus lumborum (QL) muscle. Two sessions plus a massage fixed that one up quickly. Start with a chiro. Not invasive and NO DRUGS. A lot of this pain can be alignment related.
If the chiropractor can't help, then back to the neuro or ortho to find the root cause of the problem. With your back like that (mine was too), I'd think it's more alignment and/or musculature. Easily fixable.
Yr still very early post op when standing yr back is using all ur muscles to support u , you will still be very bruised sore and swollen inside , its going to take time , arnica tablet from holland and Barrett £4 heal you from the inside out
Hola chiko, espero que estés bien, solo quería ver si podrías ayudarme con lo que está pasando en este momento.
Como sabes, tuve una fusión L4/5 hace 14 años y desde entonces tengo dolor crónico, lo que me llevó a tener un quiste aracnoideo torácico T2-6 con compresión de la médula espinal y ahora degeneración cervical con púas óseas a múltiples niveles y discos abultados, especialmente C6/7, y una ligera lordosis.
Sufro espasmos musculares crónicos del romboides y el trapecio, y mi pierna izquierda ha estado adormecida con debilidad durante 4 años ahora, tengo inyecciones en las articulaciones lumbares y sacroilíacas cada 4 meses y ahora estoy fuera de todas las medicinas y solo tomo diazepam y gabapentina cuando ya no puedo más.
Lo siento por hablar tanto, pero es aquí donde cambia todo, en la última semana algo ha pasado en mi parte baja de la espalda, siento como si se estuviera desprendiendo, apenas puedo estar de pie y caminar es excruciante, mi quiropráctico dijo que algo ha cambiado desde la última vez que me vio hace una semana, ahora estoy teniendo adormecimiento en mi pierna derecha inferior, lado del pie y dedo, que creo que es S1 y ciática en ambas piernas 😕 también tengo miedo de que algo haya pasado con la Fusión.
Me hice una resonancia magnética hace 4 semanas, pero aún no hay resultados, pero mi médico ha ordenado una resonancia magnética de emergencia. Tengo mucho miedo de la cirugía, ya que he sufrido 14 años sin respuestas de mi fusión, ¿tienes algún consejo mientras espero los resultados?
Ah, y también me están enviando a hacer pruebas EP y EMG, gracias.
Advice? Yes...drink heavily...only kidding...but maybe I made you laugh...
My only experience with sciatica down BOTH legs is when my neuro found stenosis at L2/L3 last year. Eight months into a knee replacement recovery and it just completely knocked me down. Didn't get it all figured out for a while. MRI showed it in late November, a CT/Myelogram with contrast confirmed it in January, and a pain shot to L2/L3 double-confirmed in February. Took until the end of March 2017 to get the surgery to fix it (surgeon coordination required).
Neuro told me I had two choices. Option A was to open my back, pull all the L3 to S1 metal and re-fuse me L2 to S1. Ten days in the hospital plus six months of back brace and rehab. Or...
Option B: a LATERAL Lumbar Intervertebral Fusion (LLIF). A General Surgeon goes in from your SIDE (lateral) and clears a path to your spine through the muscles and moves "stuff" out of the way. The Neurosurgeon then goes in, destroys the disk, puts the "device" in place, cranks it open with an Allen wrench, backfills it with a bone graft from your hip and backs away from the table. The General Surgeon does the close. All finished in 90 minutes. One night in the hospital, ZERO rehab.
Thank you...I'll take one from Column B, please...
Result: Immediate stenosis relief (all the pain was gone when I woke up), speeding down the hallways, climbing up and down PT stairs. See the attached pix. You'll clearly see the "device" above my old fusion; the lateral picture shows how the neuro cranked the posterior edge open further than the anterior edge to maintain spine curvature.
If you have single-level stenosis, this cures it in a heartbeat. You just need the diagnosis and then find a neuro who's done a thousand of these. He'll know the GS to call. Search YouTube for "globus lateral" to see a cute animation of the procedure.
Hope this helps...
Jajaja sí, me hiciste reír...gracias
Eso suena genial y lo mencionaré a mi médico de cabecera y a mi quiropráctico cuando los vea la próxima vez, no estoy segura de que a mi cirujano le guste la sugerencia de LLIF, pero nunca se sabe, podría sorprenderme, sin embargo, es hora de investigar sobre un cirujano que conozca bien esta operación.
He estado escalando las paredes este fin de semana por el dolor, así que espero obtener algunas respuestas pronto, te mantendré informado.
Gracias por tu ayuda, realmente la aprecio, espero que tengas un gran día 😊
I had surgery L4-S1 with cages in April 17. I was really active before and trying to get there again but my body won’t let me get very far. I notice my hips still ache, especially at night. I asked my doctor~ doesn’t seem concerned. Any thoughts? I do believe it’s 200% I proved however if I try to run, pain in my right glut very high. Dr thinks my hamstring but I know better. It’s my hips that really bother me.
Podría ser donde tomaron el injerto óseo para tu fusión, he oído que el dolor aquí puede ser tan malo como el dolor de espalda, si este es el caso puede tomar un tiempo para asentarse, ¡buena suerte!😊
Hola Diane,
Me encantaría saber cómo te sientes 8 meses después de la operación. Me hice una fusión lumbar de 3 niveles hace 6 semanas y sufro de dolor en la cadera, y ahora también me duele una de mis rodillas. Las caderas se sienten magulladas y duelen todo el tiempo. El peor problema es un dolor como una descarga eléctrica que proviene del punto donde la articulación del muslo se encuentra con la cadera en el exterior de mi pierna derecha y se irradia hacia la ingle. Puede ocurrir sin aparente razón cuando estoy sentado, de pie, caminando o simplemente alcanzando algo de cierta manera.
El fisioterapeuta dice que es solo muscular, pero se siente más como si las caderas no estuvieran alineadas correctamente. Es mi lado bueno el que me está dando el mayor problema ahora.
¿Mi problema es similar al que tú tuviste? Gracias.
Diane 35061,
I had L4 L5 disc replacement and not quite a month out now I am suffering with pain in both hips. It feels like my hip joins are out of wack. I cannot walk for very long and sleeping is horrible. When I do sleep, I cannot pull my legs up without bad pain waking me at the new disc site. I am now seeing others in the same boat. Any advice?
Consulta a tu médico o fisioterapeuta sobre un cinturón para la articulación sacroilíaca (puedes comprarlos en Amazon). Esto podría ayudar a apoyar tus articulaciones mientras te recuperas, pero verifica primero. También he estado postrado durante un año y he mejorado significativamente y en un tiempo muy corto al ir a la piscina y simplemente caminar de arriba a abajo y de lado a lado para empezar, pero nuevamente, por favor verifica con tus médicos.
Es muy pronto y puede tardar meses o incluso un año en recuperarse, algo que no creo que los médicos realmente te preparen para ello. Mencioné a Sherry sobre un cinturón de articulación sacroilíaca. Solo verifica con el fisioterapeuta o el médico antes de hacer cualquier cosa. También ir a la piscina para caminar suavemente, incluso si es solo por unos minutos a la vez, pero de nuevo, verifica primero. También los paquetes de hielo son muy buenos 😊.
Hi Madeleine,
Have only just seen your post. I'm not too good to be honest. I have a flank bulge which is apparently due to nerves being cut or damaged during surgery. This has caused my muscle in the lumbar wall on my right hand side to collapse as the nerves are no longer feeding the muscles. They don't want to operate as this would be a serious operation whereby they would get a big piece of mesh and connect it to the muscle down the side of my spinal fusion. This would go round my side and be connected to the bottom of my ribs and top of my hip. It would then be taken round to my stomach muscles. They would have to move the bowel and kidney to get behind them. It is a very rare condition. Guessing that this is why I have been struggling to walk and I still am. My Neuro surgeon was very upset and has asked for a second opinion. But I cannot walk very far without my back going into spasms, my hips become extremely painful and I have groin pain. Just goosed basically and wish I could turn back the clock. The prognosis for the bulge is not good as I have been told that there is nothing holding my guts in and could get to the size of a football.It is like living a nightmare.
Hi everyone and thank you for replying. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. My problem appears to be the severance or damage to nerves which has caused a flank bulge. Basically a break down of muscles on my right side due to the nerves not feeding into the muscle. This has caused my fat and guts to move over rather like an enormous hernia as there isn't any muscle to hold things in. I have seen a complex hernia guy with his plastic surgeon. He has called it a breakdown due to denervation. Nothing that they can do really. Would mean an enormous and serious op to attach mesh to the muscle in my back at the side of my spinal fusion, to attach it then to the bottom of my ribs and top of hip and to take forward to attach to stomach muscle in an attempt to keep everything in place. To attach it to the stomach muscle apparently will mean my bowel and kidney moving. If it had been spotted earlier, there might have been a chance of reconnecting the nerves. When it appeared shortly after the op, I mentioned it to my physio who said that it was a knot in my muscle and started doing deep massage which the hospital has admitted would have made things worse. He now no longer works for them as he also had me doing excessive exercises and they found that there were several failings in various areas by him and not just in my case. My neuro surgeon is asking for a second opinion from a surgeon who he obviously trusts. In the meantime, I have been told that this bulge can get as big as a football and cause me pain. It is getting bigger and is starting to cause discomfort. I can walk very little, have severe nerve pain in my hips and groins. It is a nightmare and I just wish that I had never had the fusion.
Dios mío, Dianne, esto es absolutamente terrible. He estado investigando durante años debido al dolor crónico que he sufrido por una fusión fallida y nunca me he encontrado con nada parecido. Espero que te recuperes pronto y esta vez seas bien cuidada.
Por favor, mantennos informados sobre tu progreso, enviando abrazos 🤗
I’m going through this very thing right now. I feel like I’m being stabbed with an ice pick on the outside of my right hip. I feel sore, bruised and at all times. I had l4 l5 S1 fusion in 2013 now this…
Sooo, its about four in the am. had repair of a repair back surgery. Heres the tally:
Second surgery: 07 March 2022
8 hours, 2 surgeons, 41 screws, 1 wedge, plates and baskets with Lamifusion from T-4 to L-5 (how ever many that is)
Guys, I was in excellent mental, physical, and emotional condition prior to all this going down. Since surgery I have experienced a depression the likes of which I have only read. The pain has been an exquisite, never relenting, journey through hell. And now my hips hurt so ferociously I often times cannot walk. Is this normal? Ive been back to surgeon but no one seems to have answers. Can someone please help me? I am not up at 0400 hours writing this because of boredom. At this point I have been up through the night because it hurts so bad to turn simply turn over.
I will take all advise to heart. Please help me.
Yes, exquisite right hip pain. Becoming worse.
-3 spine surgeries last 20 months
-Fused T10 to S1
-68 screws
-6-6" rods from Fractured Sacrum to Iliac Crest
8 months since last surgery
-Pain in right hip down to big toe is becoming unbearable
-Stopped prescription meds 3 months ago
-right leg gives out at times
-Pain so exquisite causing me to yell out at times
-Sleep ~2-4 hours each night
-Cannot turn over in bed
-Walking near impossible without a walker
-Wake up to a daily ass whooping and lay down with a determination to make it through the night.
-Talk myself into standing from sitting as pain is beyond anything i’ve ever known
-Walk daily
-Always have been very active
-Have had cortizone injections in hip
What can be done? How can pain be minimized?
Hola,
También tuve una fijación e fusión doble instrumentada.
Desafortunadamente, mis 2 discos estaban demasiado dañados para las jaulas.
Aún sufro de dolor en la parte baja de la espalda, cadera y pierna. Especialmente al estar de pie o sentado por mucho tiempo, al inclinarse hacia adelante o al subir escaleras.
Ahora estoy viendo a un diferente consultor que cree que el dolor puede provenir de la articulación sacroilíaca y está buscando solucionarlo. Me pregunto si tu dolor también proviene de allí.
Hola,
Tengo estos dolores punzantes, como descargas eléctricas, después de mi fijación y fusión con doble instrumentación.
Mi consultor me dijo que es por los nervios que se cortan durante la operación y que intentan reconectarse (¿tiene sentido?).
Básicamente, los extremos de los nervios están “chispeando”.
¡Realmente se siente así y hasta me hace gritar cuando ocurre!