Re: Disc Herniation, How bad is It?
eastern11:
Bint-e-Naeem, Don’t worry, its not such a horrible thing. I had my operation in Pakistan before marraige. I doubt that you will have that as I was pretty much immobile and in horrible pain when I had it. So the doctor should prescribe physical therpay most likely. But please don’t go to chiropractors and the like. See a specialist first. I saw a neurosurgeon in Pakistan and he said I had a horrible case, even if my case was 70% bad no surgery would be needed. The surgery was micro surgery and after 45 days I was taking 7 flights of steps if needed,pain free
EPIDURAL: I got married, came to USA, had my first baby and developed some back pain in the second trimester. Got a regular pregnancy maternity belt and a rocking chair. The pain went away. Consulted the anesthelogist about the epiduarl. He said it would be no problem and there were none. Second baby, got an epidural and got a paralyzed foot, its now 95% better and no one can tell when I walk. Don’t know if it was due to the surgery. Thedocs said likely the baby was pressing on a nerve during labor that’s why it happened. Anyways, I had noback pain during pregnnacy. Also, I think this should be an issue for you as you havedisc herniation in the upper vertebrae not lower where epidural is given. If worse comes to wosre, you can ask for ac-section, but I doubt it shall come to that.
GENETICS: My mother’s side of the family has this probelm, but none had surgery. Interstingly, my dad in Pakistan just had this operation, he is quite old and he is back home now after afewdays in the hospital. So I guess genetics plays a role.
ONGOING ISSUES: Post operation I was pain free, then maybe when my first born was a year,I developed severve back ache and got an MRI. Also saw a neurosureon. He said there was no need of further operations but I had developed another herniated disc. He prescibed physcial therpay, 12 sessions, Uptill session 6, I saw no improvemsnt, but after that Iwas good as new. I am supposed to do physcial therpay excersices at home but never do! I was pain free (completely) for years and then got another bad case, more physical therapy and then back to normal. This was I had 3 sessions for my back so far past surgery. I am usually pain free but sometimes get backj ache if I overdo it. What helps is warm water during showers and lots ofrest besides pain killers. Physical therapy is the last resort.
MORE KIDS: My friend had severe back issues and she went on to have 4 kids!! So this should be an issue.
YOGA AND MASSAGE: My doc told me not to try any massage until the MRI and I havenever looked back. Regular medicine helped me even in a third worls country lkike Pakistan and I didn’t go to any big shot hospitals even there but a medium one. The surgeon was very good though. Massage etc. can hurtthe dsc so don’t do any of these things until you have the ok. I am not supposed to do gym either. I can use th treadmill and tye excersicebike and maybe a few more machines but basically walking is it.
RECOVERY AFTER CHILDBIRTH: No , aside from the paralysis thing, which may or may not be due to the epiduaral, my back didn’t hurt at all during or after childbirth.
And oh yes, don’t sleep on the floor as some desis will tell you. Its not good for theback. The nuerosurgeon here in theUS told me not to. Just get anice firm mattress. It worlks wonders. I had a lot ofback ache 5-6 years ago and changing the mattress helped.
Thank you so much Eastern for such a detailed & hopeful answer. The more I know about other’s experience, the easier it seems to tackle things. We have a firm mattress & I am glad that you mentioned the not sleeping on the floor part. Just recently someone was suggesting this. I don’t think I’ll be attempting it anymore.
Gemini_the_Great:
I was diagnosed with disc herniation after the constant back pain during pregnancy.. I have been told that it will take about 6-18 months to fully recover with the physical therapy, exercises and thats just how it is! I have had constant calf pain starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy and we all thought it was related to the disc herniation but just found out that it wasnt and that’s a whole separate issue!!
Everyone is different.. I had horrible back pain during pregnancy and I was taking percocet for that, had 36 hours of back labor that ended with c section, and I still have severe lower back pain! But other than no issues with the baby, fertility etc!
Gemini have you tried the physical therapy then? Has it it helped you? And how long did it take?
The best thing you can do is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
Continue using the ice packs. Personally, I avoided all medications cause I know my body is very sensitive and I didn’t want to become dependent on them. It made my recovery a lot tougher and more painful.
Ice packs got me through the worst of it last summer. My son was 2 years old at the time (and extremely tall like his ammi) so he still wanted gaudi and cuddles. It was really hard given his weight and height. I also had to drop him to the daycare everyday. Just sitting in the car would cause my discs to slip and I would often lose sensation in my left leg altogether. I still get tingling in my left leg, but alhamdullilah, for the most part I am ok now.
I did see a chiropractor for several months, then physical therapy and then when I was ready, hot yoga. Like I already said before, I only started yoga about 6 months after my injury. I couldn’t do it right away.
I will tell you one thing which should give you hope. My doctor said I could never exercise again. I love doing intense workouts like bootcamp and running outdoors … and I am now able to do all the things I loved. I just have to be careful and conscious in what I do.
So yes, I run, do stairmaster, do lunges and crunches … recovery is LONG and PAINFUL but you need to listen to your body.
Is there anybody who can help you??? I depended a lot on my mother and sister to help me with even giving my son a bath. I just couldn’t bend or do anything. It was an extremely depressing and demoralizing period of my life. Inshallah you will get through it.
Gia, my Sonu was sitting on my sciatic nerve for most of my pregnancy. I also had the same back issues when I was pregnant but didn’t pay attention to it. You will be ok. Just be careful and don’t put pressure on your lower back. Get a back support for your chair and even your car if you can.
I did try Spinal Decompression therapy and it actually made it worse. This was long after I recovered … so my advice to all of you is do not try this.
I also looked into buying a traction board for my home. Basically, this allows you to hang upside down and puts space back in between the vertebraes in your spine. Disc hernations often occur due to the vertebraes sitting directly on top of each other. The disc in between the vertebrae bulges out due to lack of space. So the traction board allows you to hang at an angle, stretching the spine and creating more space in between the vertebraes. A lot of people think this tool is a life saver and use it daily for a few minutes in the morning and in the evenings.
I did not get it. By this time, I decided to try hot yoga and those stretches I mentioned above basically do the same thing as the traction board.
I also want to add that you want to be careful with Googling information. Everybody is unique and there are a lot of scary stories out there, but that doesn’t mean it will happen to you.
You should ask your doctor if you should take a vitamin called “Glucosamine, Chondroitin with MSM”. It is a vitamin specifically for joint pains, arthritis and spinal issues.
I have been taking it since last summer. Actually, I started taking a lot of vitamins last year. My body was really run down due to stress and fatigue which is what made the disc herniation and healing period even worse. Make sure you strengthen and nourish your body. You want to eat foods and take vitamins that will make discs and cartilege stronger.
Thank you much Mehnaz for all that you shared. I have been avoiding the google route because I know that people usually only share their bad experiences. I will look into the vitamins. Possibly ask my doctor. I am also going to look into the traction board you mentioned. Its great to know that despite the fact what your doctors told you, you are still able to “work” your body. I had planned on doing a 5k this year. Lets see if I’ll still be able to make it happen.
Past two weeks have been horrible. I did a baby shower & my pain shot back up & then the first spine specialist I saw basically made my case sound a lot worse & sent me for further MRIs & Xrays. I went for a second opinion to another specialist & he is saying that for now we are going to only do Physical therapy & see how my back takes it. He doesn’t want to insert any extra “pins & needles” inside my body.
You are so so right about the listen to your body thing. I am slowly learning when to stop & when to work my body. I recently purchased a “walk at home” dvd so I can start doing cardio again. I was going to try it today but chickened out in fear of increasing my pain.
I don’t have any help except my husband. We don’t have any family within 1000 miles. For the past 6 months he has been giving baths to our daughter & when we travel together in a car, he is the one who puts her in the car seat. He has been doing our weekly laundries & so many other things. But he has been helping since a long time. And although I am grateful, this very act of his has been putting my self esteem down. I have started cooking for two days so I can take a one day break between preparing meals. Other than that man in simple words it hurts. I am really hoping physical therapy will do its wonders.
For now no more chiropractic visits & definitely no massage therapies. Its ice packs, pain killers here & there at night time to sleep & physical therapy.