Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffR
Mike,
Recovery time is very patient dependant as well as work dependant. Some people are able to return to sedentary jobs in a few weeks, others take 8 weeks or more.
In terms of pain it is usually a different pain that what you felt before, i.e. it is surgical. I am a pretty big wimp when it comes to pain and I found it manageable - much better than I was BEFORE the surgery. I was also lucky in that my numbness and pain in my leg occurred only a month before my surgery so that started going away within days of my surgery, however the longer you have had the secondary symptoms generally the longer they take to subside - and if they have been going on for too long then they may be permanent.
In terms of exercises post-op - nothing beats walking, seriously. Your doctor doctor should provide additional exercises and stretches that will help, and given the degeneration you have I would expect you to have serious hamstring tightness and distraction pain when your spine gets jacked back up to normal. This subsides over time though.  FYI most physios will not have experience with ADR patients, if they do that is a bonus, but my doctor's guidance was anything that is okay for fusion is okay for ADR and your physio SHOULD know what to do with fusion patients. In terms of specific excercises, they should start off relative light and then build up over the course of weeks.
Hope that offers some help.
-Jeff |
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for your reply, luckily the job I have now is quite sedentary, so getting back to work ASAP will be be brisk hopefully. I'm glad also the pain you had was better post op to pre op, as anything better than I am now is a +
With regards the physio it was something I hadn't thought of and thank you for pointing it out, I have now spoken to the spinal unit and im glad to say yhey have their own dedicated Physios .
Can I be cheeky Jeff and ask you one more question, what type pain relief did you have before the op, as my Doctor has given me Pregabalina yesterday and the side effects look quite interesting to say the least :-)
Again many thanks Jeff for your reply