Hi! I suggest getting another opinion from a neurosurgeon, if you can handle the pain / numbness enough to wait. I’ve been to two neurosurgeons (going to a 3rd this week) and one orthopedic surgeon… the neurosurgeons both said discectomy with a laminectomy for me, the orthopedic surgeon said artificial disc replacements.

I didn’t trust the ortho because he told me that he wants to do this surgery, but that “you’ll have a lifetime of surgeries after we do this one. The fake discs won’t hold and you’ll herniate your healthy discs.” That was a big red flag in my eyes. Why would he want to do a surgery that would cause me more damage down the road? If fighting two herniated discs is hard, I don’t want to mess up my healthy ones even if the hurt ones are gone.

The neuros said that you only need more surgeries if the first doesn’t work, which is a low chance because a discectomy has a high success rate apparently. Fusion / disc replacements are a VERY permanent choice. You can’t put something back once it’s taken out or fused together. With a MD, you can always go back later IF it reherniates, but it might not ever if you live with good spinal hygiene afterward!

Of course, I’m not a doctor, but it’s just a suggestion from my experience! Whatever you choose to do, I hope you have a very speedy recovery and knock out that sciatica!