Lower back fuked, been given these two options for surgery or hope it will get better on it's own. Been fuked for a year and still cant hold my 7 month old daughter for 5mins without being in pain rest of day.

Looking for good or bad experiences with either. I'm leaning towards disc replacement.

It's my l5 s1 I was told. I've always had poor flexibility coupled probably with years of heavy lifting with likely poorer form than I should have likely helped contribute to it. Just a guess though I dont recall any specific injury that I can exactly pin point to.

In for answers - I understand that disc replacement is better than fusion if you plan to be active.

have you tried any treatment like decompression, supplements for inflammation, etc.

Bro..Have disc pain issues and my dad also..I choose to go the medicine and exercise route. My father had his back fushed. Over time..The fushed areas weaken the bones around them..causing more fusions..Before my dad passed he said to me..I should have done what you've done...Good luck Bro.

I also wonder if you have a disc replacement if you have further problems if a fusion is possible later down the road. I kind of figure if you go fusion route off the hop you remove any other option at that level. But I'm no dr. So could very well be wrong. Have follow up in 2 weeks to tell him what I have decided.

I have tried decompression and anti inflammatories lyrica other meds etc that give temporary relief but never full relief. I cant even cut my grass without being laid up for remainder of the day.

I'd have a far more detailed discussion with your surgeon. I know 3 people (one is my mom) who had disc fusion done. All 3 continued to have issues later as well. I know 2 people that had disc replacement - both are able to do yoga and are more flexible than I am. They lift as well.

Your particular situation might be different. Before surgery I'd explore every option possible.

That's my concern over the fusion. My dr shrugged it off saying there is minimal chance of that yet I have read more than a handful of thing stating otherwise. Also longer recovery and loss of mobility.

fuk brah, i had back pain from a disc in the past... it's awful. i was fortunate to be able to get over it, hope you figure something out

I will be for sure. Wait times are so long up here he told me 9 months to a year to get it preformed. He told me to book an appointment and then try other avenues first, said I can always cancel appointment if I have found a treatment that seems to help.

OP do you have pain meds? Sounds like it's a pain just waking up, man... I wish you the best brother and hopefully you find some relief very soon.

Thanks m8. My favorite time of day is bedtime when I can sleep and my mind is off the pain. Cant even play catch with my boys or teach youngest to skate because I cant pick up ball repeatedly or lift little guy back to his feet. Frustrating sitting in the stands and my wife has to/gets to do it.

I’ve had l5-s1 annular year and protrusion and ddd for 2 years, disc space is half the height of the one above (mri) Feeling down my leg to my foot. I’ve done everything possible:

Discogram
SI injections
Epidural
Chiropractor
Heavy opiates

I’m going through with replacement finally if insurance approves, if replacement fails you can still fuse it, there is secondary impact to the disc above so more fusions are likely to come if you go that route.

I have cyclobenzaprine for muscle relaxer but doesnt do much other than put me to sleep, lyrica for nerve pain but never felt it did much, surgeon said I can taper of that now hes pretty convinced its mechanical pain and not nerve pain as I dont have it running down into my ass or legs. Always a constant pain and pressure centered in lower spine. Have the other usuals tramacet naproxen robaxacet. Enough to tolerate it but always there to throb now and again while on to let me know it's still there.

That's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks. Good luck with replacement. I was pretty sure i was going to go disc route. He said he didnt know outlook of disc replacement beyond 20years as that's about as far back as it became a common option but said if it does deteriorate it can just be replaced again.

Np, I’ve got lower localized constant pain, pressure feeling, the more I tighten my lower back the more pain, never has gone away can’t believe it has been two years. Good luck, it’s the worst since everyone has a different diagnoses and pain level with back injuries, some can have ddd but no pain whatsoever.

i'm not a doctor but have you tried inversion tables/reverse hypers

both surely less expensive than surgery and have the potential to help

my father had a fusion done over a decade ago and has had not a hint of pain since.

Nov 2010 - L5/S1 lamenectomy and discectomy. (not a replacement or a fusion) It fixed the bulging/ruptured disc problem, but the doc drilled away a lot of calcification from arthritis and bone spurs which left me with scar tissue the size of my thumb impinging the sciatic nerve (my arthritis is no way worse but not because of the surgery).

8 months ago, I couldnt stand at the stove long enough to scramble eggs. But in sept, i started keto and have dropped 40+ lbs. I can now walk several miles (on a good day) without having to stop and stretch the nerve pain away or massage my calf (where the most nerve pain is). But in Feb or so, i switched to the carnivore diet and it, hands down, helped me feel so much better. It is AMAZING for inflammatory issues. You get rid of the bulk of oxaloates that are present in all foods, but there are a chit ton in veggies, which you eat a lot of on your standard keto diet. Once I switched to carnivore, and stopped eating mostly protein rather than high fat...I. Felt. Amazing. I HIGHLY suggest you try it OP. But for god's sake, research it first and educate yourself. It's not just eating whatever meat you can find. You need to be eating 80% fat and 20% protein or your guts will grind to a halt, you'll be having 5 alarm ass pisses and you wont be able to trust a fart. Also, do keto for a few weeks to INSURE you are in ketosis and the transition to carnivore will be easier

You arentsupposed to bend at the waist or with a rounded back. It stretches the intervertebral ligaments (no bueno). A fusion will def limit flexibility but I would suggest working on on increasing it int he mean time. But do it the right way.Fusion is a last choice hail mary. It will take care of arthritis and DJD/DDD issues but the trade off is generally lots of nerve pain which is waaaayyyyyyyyy worse than musculoskeletal. Pain medicine rarely works because you need nerve medicine for nerve painVERY long shot but have you thought about an electrostimulating implant? I'm not sure what its called but they put electrodes in your spine and you use something like a TENS unit on the outside to provide a constant nerve impulse. The idea is kind of like reverse psychology. If you over stimulate an already overstimulated nerve, it tends to shut down. PM Lunatic. He had one put in not too long ago for his hip pain and he said it was helping (the last time we spoke about it)Just be ware that opiates, int he long term, WILL cause hyperalgesia: Where you become more sensitive to pain even if its normally something small/light (pain-wise). I was on somethign similar to what you are on (it doesnt have acetaminophen though) and it worked well since it stays in your system for a long time but when i got off (had no troubles with getting off), the pain was TERRIBLE. But after a month or so, it eased up considerably (when I wasnt exerting myself and causing it to get worse).

Free healthcare in Canada brah. Buying Inversion table would actually be more expensive. But yes I have tried one. Temporary relief only while in it, returns quite soon after getting off.

I try to use as little as I can for pain meds, if I have nice easy days at home I can go without meds, laying on floor and stretching can sometimes provide some temporary relief, still in pain but liveable but once I start doing anything that involves any amount of weight that's where things start to cause probs. I've had some periods in last 3-4 months where I've made it 2-3 weeks without meds if I take it real easy. Still cant walk more than a few blocks but liveable. Just want to have some sort of life back, I dread shopping incase I get stuck standing in a line for 15mins or more. If so i have to leave shopping cart with wife to go and sit down in car with heat on back.