Testing only from gregpark.io/blog [to be updated]
About three months ago, I had a microdiscectomy to repair the disc between my L5 and S1 vertebrae.
Before this surgery, I didn’t know anything about disc injuries or the discectomy procedure, so I’m sharing what I learned here. If you are considering this surgery or experiencing a similar injury, I hope this helps you.
- Why get surgery?
- My injury timeline
- How did you injure your back?
- What is microdiscectomy recovery like?
Why get surgery?
Not everyone needs surgery, but my surgery was necessary. My disc had severely herniated (20mm) and ruptured such that the disc and disc fragments were seriously compressing the nerves in my spine.
This compression caused intense pain, numbness, muscular weakness, and other altered sensations everywhere between my lower back and right toes.
After months of conservative treatment with no positive results, I had reached my limit. I wanted my life back. After consulting with three specialists, I scheduled my L5-S1 microdiscectomy.
My injury timeline
- February 2024: I note in my journal that one of my annual goals would be to “fix my lower back pain.” It is only a minor annoyance at this point, and I assume it was purely muscular. I am still running regularly and carrying on all normal activities.
- July
- I notice that some slight lower back stiffness has returned one morning. By the end of that same day, all of the pain and stiffness have returned at full force.
- I return to the clinic and am prescribed physical therapy (PT).
- I start PT, which is a mix of core exercises and stretches done 1-2 times per day.
- Two weeks after starting PT, I wake up in blinding and paralyzing pain throughout my lower back. I cannot move and am stuck on the bed, debating whether to call an ambulance. The pain subsides after a few hours, transforming into a searing sensation throughout my right leg and foot.
- Over the next few days, I begin showing the classic signs of sciatica: pain, weakness, numbness, and “pins and needles” all along my sciatic nerve, which runs from the base of the spine through the toe.
- The rapid change in symptoms scares me. I take myself to the ER, but I’m sent back home without any treatment. The doctors refuse any imaging and tell me that I should just take some muscle relaxants and ibuprofen.
- Aug
- After jumping through many, many hoops, I finally get an MRI, which shows a massive herniation (20mm) at L5-S1. The disc had ruptured and was compressing my spinal nerve. At this point, I am no longer able to flex my calf, and my walking is impaired.
- I take the MRI to three providers: one orthopedic surgeon specializing in pain management and two neurosurgeons.
- The orthopedic surgeon suggests waiting a few weeks for an epidural injection of steroids, while both neurosurgeons suggest immediate surgery. Both neurosugeons indicate that this must be done quickly to prevent any further nerve damage, which can be permanent if the nerve isn’t decompressed soon.
- This scares the hell out of me, so I schedule a single-level discectomy (L5-S1) as soon as possible.
- August 16: Surgery!
How did you injure your back?
I was an active runner, stretched daily, had a core exercise routine, alternated between sitting and standing throughout my workday, always tried to lift heavy objects with good form, etc. I’ll never know why this disc decided to give out on me. Shit happens, I guess.
What is microdiscectomy recovery like?
Restrictions: No bending, lifting, or twisting
I had strict restrictions for six weeks:
- no bending my back
- no lifting of any objects heavier than five pounds
- no twisting
I was also advised to limit sitting for 10 minutes or less at a time.
I wasn’t ready for these restrictions. I knew there would be some restrictions, but I thought they would be for days, not weeks.
These restrictions make daily life harder but not impossible. See the tips and tricks below for some tools that helped me in this restricted state.
How I felt after surgery
Day 1
The actual surgery only took about an hour. I slept through the procedure and came home the same day!
I had some pain at the incision site, but it was nothing compared to the back pain I had been living with.
Weeks 5-13
I had my first post-op check-up with my surgeon’s office during week 5. At this point, they said I could drop the restrictions, but be very careful. I hadn’t picked up anything heavier than five pounds for weeks, and now I was cleared to do anything. Good, right?
Truthfully, I was scared to pick anything up, or to bend, or to twist. I didn’t trust my back. I was deeply afraid of re-injuring myself and going through another surgery for my family’s sake.
At the urging of my surgeon, I started physical therapy in Week 6, and it was exactly what I needed. I was tremendously stiff and guarded after months of pre-surgery sciatic pain and then months of post-surgery restrictions. PT is gradually helping me rebuild mobility, strength, and confidence.
By Week 11, I was able to fully take care of my 15-month-old, 30-pound son again. I could finally pick him up, carrying him around, get him in and out of his crib, and so on. That was easily the biggest milestone for me.
Nerve healing, irritation, and flare-ups
Surgery decompressed my poor sciatic nerve, and now it could finally begin healing. Nerve healing is not fun, though.
For the first ten weeks, I experienced intense pins and needles, numbness, pressure, and strange sensations all along my sciatic nerve. These “flare-ups” often followed new physical activity and lasted anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day.
First time walking over 500 steps? Flare-up.
First time unloading the dishwasher? Big ol’ flare-up.
Oh, you want to sit down for 10 minutes? Have a huge flare-up!
At week 13, I still get flare-ups, but they are less frequent, less intense, and less surprising. I treat them with lots of ice and walking.
The emotional rollercoaster of non-linear healing
This is the hardest part for me.
I naively thought surgery would be a magical event that would turn me back into my old, pain-free, physically active self.
13 weeks later, I’m not there yet.
I’m getting closer over time, but my recovery feels slow and inconsistent. One bad flare-up can send me spiraling into fears about re-injuring myself, about never running again, about never picking up my kids or dog, about never again sitting comfortably, and on and on.
With every other injury or illness I’ve had, recovery was linear. Day after day, things improved.
But recovery from this disc injury has been non-linear. Good days, then a bad day, then an OK day, then a terrible day, then back to a good day. Some days, I feel like I’ve slipped back several weeks. The next day, I’ll wake up feeling fine.
Something that helps me on those bad days is taking stock of the things that I can do now that I could not do before surgery.
Things I can do at three months post-op
- Take care of my kids
- Take care of my dog
- Walk for several miles at a time
- Sit through an entire movie
- Sleep through the night
- Drive a car
- Load and unload bags of groceries
- Cook a meal for my family
These are huge. When I was unable to do these, working or taking care of my family was nearly impossible. I can do all of these things somewhat comfortably now, and I have to remind myself how far I’ve come.
But there are still things I long to do but still can’t, like:
- Run a mile
- Do a pushup
- Touch my toes
- Shovel snow (I don’t know, I’m a dad from Ohio, I love it)
- Lift something heavier than 30 pounds
- Stop thinking about my back all the time
Hope that helped. You got this.