Hello,
So I will be having this done next week and very nervous. I had a injury and now I have no feeling in my leg from calf all the way to the toes and severe pain. I am looking for advice…encouragement…shared stories…and most importantly…Were you able to return to riding.
T.I.A
Hi, I had one “microdiscectomy” in 2007. This was after two prior from 1994 which were also called micro but as with bikinis micro got a lot smaller with time:cool:. I was very careful to follow the recovery protocol given by the surgeon in all cases but I returned to riding both times. Since 2007, I have also put a serious premium on maintaining core strength/flexibility and body weight, I use any sign of numb toes in my left leg as a “get stress, diet and exercise under control” warning. The lesson being my body was struggling to maintain my lifestyle without surgery, surgery fixed the acute issue but I own the rest. In both cases before surgery, I couldn’t get across the room or sleep a full hour without help. I am NOT without limits in what I can do, but if I am thoughtful I can get through weeks at a time without back pain, and I am 110% grateful. In short, don’t take anything for granted but do not give up hope.
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DIR
Thank you for sharing! This as you know is a nightmare! zero feeling from calf down and thats after a few rounds of high dose steroids. The pain meds help but honestly nothing seems to help the “neuropathy”" " pins and needles/burning" feeling. Cant sit can’t stand can’t lay…grrrrr. I ended up in the ER and the neurosurgeon was concerned enough to move a patient time to get me into surgery. But really I am very nervous about this one I guess because its so close to the spine.
Wishing you all the best next week!
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DH had one about a year and a half ago. He had no complications, the surgery was immediately effective, and he continues to do well. His main symptom was severe sciatica. He was barely able to walk prior to the procedure.
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I had one around 10-12 years ago, after trying every conceivable non-invasive treatment/therapy. I had no complications with the surgery itself. I had some residual pain/numbness that took time to resolve. I returned to riding and have had no issues around the ruptured disc itself. I also work on my core strength as much as possible. I also know what sets off my PODs (my PT coined this term: pissed off disc syndrome, where my back spasms and hurts and we have to go back to PT exercises to settle it down). Thankfully, only sitting trot or no stirrup work when my core is weak sets it off, so I’m good if I’m fit! Good luck-- it’s an easy surgery and a quick recovery. Do all the PT and follow doc’s instructions!!
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I am one month in from a microdiscectomy after experiencing similar symptoms that also included foot drop. I was very surprised at how fast the MRI and following surgery was scheduled after the appointment to discuss my “foot” problem…my back has always been problematic, previous MRIs never revealed the damage that even I could discern this time…I have no idea how or when I ruptured the discs. PT has started and I am cautiously optimistic that feeling will return. My PT team is great and I am diligently doing all exercises at home as I want to return to riding and other life activities. The hardest thing for me was having to rely on my family support team for many things, especially immediately after surgery…I am in my 50s and realizing I don’t bounce back as quickly as I once did! My surgeon and PT team don’t believe there will be any problem returning to riding.
Best of luck to you next week.
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Kera 13 & Ohiogreenbelt
Thank you for sharing!
I had one last July. It worked well although for me, it was about 6 months to get the max benefit. I had been dealing with the offending bulging disc for about 8 months with all the requisite non-invasive treatments. I had back pain and nasty sciatica with numbness into my foot although no foot drop. Post-op I did PT until October then started working with a personal trainer to get some core strength (totally non-existent before surgery). I am 63 and finding rehab takes a long, long time:sigh:.
Jingles for a good outcome.
Susan
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I had discectomy surgery in 2014. I had been dealing with my herniated disc since 2012. I was walking with a cane, I had foot drop, I was numb from my bum all the way down to my calf. I had foot drop and my foot was completely numb. I couldn’t sit, stand or lay down for any length of time. Most of the time I was only able to sleep for a few hours in a recliner. I was on so many pain killers including morphine. While waiting for my surgery, my surgeon told me that I was at very high risk of losing bowel and bladder control so I had to be very careful in the weeks leading up to my surgery.
I went into surgery at 8AM and I was home and resting in my own bed by 1PM the same day. I was off all the painkillers within a couple of days.
I distinctly remember waking up from surgery and feeling absolutely no pain for the first time in two years. I regained all sensation in my leg immediately and had slight numbness in two toes for about 2 weeks.
I was back on a horse 6 weeks later with absolutely no pain since. It took me a long time to be able to do sitting trot (probably 2 years) due to the scar tissue at the incision site. My lower back was quite stiff for a while but I have not had any pain since. I did experience horrible leg cramps at night while I was sleeping for about 2 years post surgery. I would only get them on the days that I had not ridden. My doctors couldn’t explain why this was happening but they have gone away for the most part.
Back pain is debilitating so please go into your surgery with positivity and an open mind. While I know my experience was 'best case scenario", discectomies have an extremely high success rate and the procedure is not overly invasive. I was terrified going into surgery but coming out, I realized it was the best thing I could have done.
Good luck and keep us posted!
