Back Pain Support Group

Please read what I just posted here :

http://dailystrength.org/c/Back_Pa...

Look at my profile photo. My T10, T11, T12 and L1 is fused and my L5 and S1 has an artificial disc replacment. The fused discs are amazing, they dont hurt at all. The disc replacment is only 3 weeks old and still incredibly painful. Ask your doctor if there is anyway you can get an artificial disc replacment. The problem with fusions is that over time, they tend to cause other discs to go bad.

Question for those of you who have/had t10-t12 disc problems.

Had acdf c6-7 on 7/1/08, considerably helped nerve pain, nausea, vertigo, etc. However, still having alot of difficuly & filing for ss disability. Back is constantly getting out of alignment (on a daily basis/several x/day) in the area I believe to be t10-t11. Once this happens, it obviously causes my muscles to spasm/tighten, left shoulder goes up & wings out as though I'm tucking my lft shoulder forward/shrugging which then causes muscles in neck/shoulders to feel like steel rods pushing up through neck and head tilts slightly right.

Does any of this sound familiar? Thank you for your input!

I'm 23 and when I was 20, I broke C5-C6, L5-S5 in a car accident. I had a cervical fusion on C5-C6 in Nov. 2005; lumbar/sacral fusion on L5-S1 in March 2007; and another lumbar/sacral fusion from L4-S1 in July 2008. The cervical fusion went very well, it only hurt to swallow for the first week or so. The first back surgery failed, but it was due to me falling and my body rejecting the cadaver bone. I got another back surgery to fix the L5-S1 and to fix L4-L5. My L4 was slipping and getting close to the spinal cord. This was the easiest surgery I ever had. I was up and walking around the next day, felt my legs for the first time in 3 years, and was even driving 13 days later. My pain is getting better (65% better). I would definently recommend getting the surgery, but I would only trust a neurosurgeon doing the surgery, since that is what they specialize in.

I have had 4. Even thuogh I have ended uo on disability, I still say each one was with it. I live in constant crovic pain, but I blame that on my 3rd surgery. As bad as I am, I would dp it again because the differece is day and night.

I had a fusion of L5-S1 in July 2007. The pain afterwards was bad, but I only took pain meds to sleep and it was tolerable. I fused solidly because they used BMP, a lab created protein or something that causes bone growth. To help the fusion be more successful do not take NSAID's afterwards and if you smoke quit at least until you know you are out of the woods.

My fusion was successful. I do still have some residual issues, still do question if I made the right choice over artificial disc replacement. Overall I am ok, but I do have some nerve pain in my feet when I sit a lot along with extreme discomfort in my tailbone area from sitting. I think the cause is scar tissue and inflammation, it seems to be completely unrelated to the fusion itself. In fact, the symptoms I have now are completely new post-op. All the nerve pain and numbness I had before the surgery is gone.

I can work and do normal things, it is just song sitting that flares me up so snowstorms are the enemy right now due to the long commute that ensues.

I also agree with one of the previous posts and strongly recommend having the surgery done by a neurosurgeon versus an orthopaedic surgeon. They are better trained to deal with the spinal cord and nerves, etc.