Am I stuck with taking pain medicine the rest of my life?
I have had four lower lumbar back surgeries. The first was in 1982, before endoscopy surgery had been invented. My surgeon explained the surgery procedure, but he failed to tell me what to expect in my later life. The surgeon cut all the muscles on the right side of my spine, in order to reach my herniated disc. That surgery healed normally, with the exception of my cut muscles. They have never healed and they cause a great deal of 24 hour pain in my lower back. Today, a surgeon advised me that I have massive scar tissue that has formed in this area. Removal of the scar tissue is not an option. The tissue will only grow back. Question: am I stuck with this pain for the rest of my life? Has anyone had a similar surgery and how are you handling your pain?
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8 Answers
Oh yeah. Join the club. I think it’s the worst thing to happen to me, so far.
I don’t like being one to bring bad news, but yes, you will have this pain for good. I am not a doctor, and I have never had back problems, but I have never met a single person who had back problems who did not have them for life.
You could maybe join a gym, try and build up other muscles so the bad ones don’t need to do so much work, but it’s never going to be 100% again.
Keep slim, get strong, and don’t do any hard physical work.
EDIT: The pain/problem you are stuck with, the medication… thats debatable. Maybe you can get it to a level where it hurts a little some times, so you can quit the medication.
Have you tried a pain clinic? There is a staff there with many disciplines in addition to the MDs. They bring experience, patience and understanding to a complicated problem.
You may find some different modalities to deal with and mitigate the pain.
I’ve heard of people having scar tissue removed from a lot of areas. Wouldn’t you have relief during the time it was trying to grow back? And why do other people’s not always grew back? Maybe you could get a second opinion about treatment. I went through a pain clinic and have had a rhizotomy to burn nerves that served the areas that hurt the most. You could get a referral.
@john65pennington Find a yoga therapist who specializes in assisting people with physical limitation. A yoga therapist would be able to help you stretch and strengthen the muscles that are strained from having to compensate for the effects of the surgery.
I avoided highly recommended back surgery for a herniated disc thanks to yoga therapy and have been pain free for over 8 years I know because I regularly do yoga.
I would also try accupuncture. There are no guarantees, but it can’t hurt and would probably help.
Thanks everyone. Here is the situation: if you hold a straw at its bottom and bend it over, everything will bend, except the part you are holding. This means the scar tissue is preventing me from bending and it hurts like you would not believe. Doctor states my scar tissue has completely surrounded my spine in the lower lumbar area and preventing me from physical movement there.
Ain’t this a b___? All this started right after I retired.
@john65pennington You are talking scar tissue not concrete. The benefits of yoga come slow but when they do you will be simply amazed. Pushing through my herniated discs were some of the most painful moments but after 2–3 months I was able to relax and the best part is it no longer hurt to sleep late in bed. After 20 years of painful sleeping I was ache free.
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