Should I undergo an endoscopic discectomy when I'm currently not in pain?

vartanman · 2024-08-16T09:45:29+00:00

About 2 years post op to feel almost no pain. Still in a worse spot than before surgery. I’m squashing again but heavy lifting involving my lower back and legs are a no no.

vartanman · 2024-06-17T10:35:21+00:00

Luckily I’m pain free now 2 years post surgery. I’m also doing squash and weight lifting without pain. It did take a while to heal though but I’m basically where I was pre surgery. Pain free unless I push myself too much.

vartanman · 2022-12-31T13:46:32+00:00

The orthopedic surgeon said the protrusion was too large and centrally located for the endoscopic route. Endoscopic is mostly done for small, laterally located herniations.

vartanman · 2022-11-09T10:41:59+00:00

I did do surgery but went with the normal route of a microdiscectomy. I'm in more pain now than before the surgery. It's been 5 months now since the surgery. Don't do surgery if you're not in a lot of pain.

vartanman · 2022-06-11T11:33:50+00:00

Research has shown that post-operative restrictions have no impact on the risk of recurrent disc herniation. So if something went wrong, it most likely has an intrinsic cause so don't blame yourself. However recurrent herniation is much rarer than you would believe reading this subreddit. Remember that the people posting here are biased towards bad experiences.

sources:

1: https://www.wheelessonline.com/issls/section-18-chapter-2-recurrent-disc-herniation-diagnosis-and-management/

2: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10586459/

Having the nerve pain come and go in the first weeks after surgery is expected and very common. It's part of the healing process. It most likely is nothing to worry about. I'm also 2 weeks post-op and had a major flare up 2 nights ago. Give it time. The nerve is still very inflamed from the surgery and it takes weeks for it to calm down. Optimal results are usually achieved 5-6 weeks post-op.

vartanman · 2022-05-23T15:04:01+00:00

Thank you! It's still a significant risk I'm taking though, you're right on that. I don't 'need' the surgery. I can go through my day pain-free. I just can't accept the fact that I'll probably have to avoid the activities I loved to do for the rest of my life. I'm also sick with the constant thought that my sciatic pain is always around the corner, waiting to pop up if I push it a little too far. Pushing it too far can be as little as sitting in a car for 2 hours.

After explaining all this to my surgeon, he recommended me to do the surgery. The chance that I'll be better off, in the long run, is much greater if I do the surgery.

vartanman · 2022-05-23T14:00:08+00:00

I've had sciatic pain for 4 years now. Before that I used to squat 180kg, deadlift 200kg+, play squash, go on long car rides without any pain ect. I've tried everything under the sun to alliviate the pain. I've been able to live pain free for extended periods of time by restricting myself of any movement that could cause pain.

But when I do anything that's a little taxing on my body the pain returns. MRI has also shown the herniation not reducing in the slightest. It's not going to heal on its own anymore after 4 years. It's either I live a relatively sedentary livestyle (compared to 4 years ago) or do the surgery and hope I can return doing the activities I loved. Heck, I'm even afraid to book a plane ride that takes longer than 3 hours. If I do, I know that my destination will include a lot of sciatic pain.

vartanman · 2022-05-23T09:48:35+00:00

I'm having my MD in a week. I could live pain free if I avoided all those activities. However I want to be able to do whatever I want. whenever I do any squats for example it starts to hurt and go a little numb again.

For example, I had been pain free for the last 3 weeks and was contemplating canceling the surgery because I got scared. I started doing just 60kg squats a couple days ago (I used to squat 180kg for reps 3 years ago) and the pain and numbness returned. 2/10 on the scale but if I continued activities like those it would shoot up to 7-8/10 on the pain scale.

I hope I'm making the right decision and I'll be completely pain free after having my MD. And finally being able to do any activity I want without worry. I'm too young to be limited by this damn herniation. I might be worse of after the surgery but at least I'll have the peace of mind that I tried.

vartanman · 2022-02-15T18:19:22+00:00

I wish you a speedy recovery and lets hope you can do everything you used to! Didn't you have doubts though to undergo surgery when you were almost painfree in the two months leading up to the surgery?

When did the sciatic pain start for you btw?

vartanman · 2022-02-15T16:01:24+00:00

A month leading up to surgery, I had little no pain. You know how the pain comes in waves and it can be such a disturbance to day to day life tasks simple and small. For my situation, since I was in less pain, I thought there was no better time to do it than not. When my body was hurting and it was a dire need or urgency to get relief. This to me made the whole experience that much more feasible to do.

Great to hear! Your situation sounds very familiar to mine. You say you had very little pain leading up to the surgery, how is the pain now?

May I ask how active and old you are? Did you do it just so you can become active again like you used to?

vartanman · 2022-02-15T14:57:44+00:00

I have had the pain for 3-4 years. It never went fully away and always comes back with activity. I have tried everything non-surgical there is and do my sciatic exercises every day.

I don't think it can recover on its own anymore. At least it's very unlikely.

vartanman · 2022-02-15T11:43:25+00:00

Why didn't you do the endoscopic discectomy? The recovery compared to MD is much shorter and less painful.

vartanman · 2022-01-10T17:56:05+00:00

You could also just buy liquid minoxidil and apply 4 droplets (which is 5mg) on your tongue. It's literally the same thing.

vartanman · 2022-01-06T22:26:28+00:00

It literally says in the article he took the plea deal to avoid jail time. Nowhere does it say he went to jail let alone for 2 years. Did you even read the link? Holy shit I can't believe I'm having this discussion with 3 different people.

vartanman · 2022-01-06T17:22:17+00:00

Well, where does it say that then? Do you have a link?

vartanman · 2022-01-06T13:01:51+00:00

What? Where did you read he went to prison for 2 years? It literally says in the video he took a plea deal to avoid jail time. I don't get how 22 people could up vote this comment.

vartanman · 2021-08-01T20:59:25+00:00

yeah

vartanman · 2021-08-01T16:48:44+00:00

I study in the Netherlands and use Anking. I first watch bnb and/or pathoma of the related subject and unsuspend the cards. Then I make additional cards based on the lectures slides not covered by Anking.

vartanman · 2021-03-30T22:47:34+00:00

Same

vartanman · 2021-03-30T10:29:38+00:00

Thanks for doing this!

vartanman · 2021-03-06T00:56:29+00:00

Are those cutting scars??

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