Back surgery or not?!

Back surgery or not?

I threw my back out, had sharp pains shoot through my legs. My doc says I might have to have back surgery. The MRI tech says to try and stay away from back surgey. My main family doc has just had her third surgery and may need to go again. I haven't heard of any success stories with back surgery. I have been told that there is no avoiding surgey if the pains or numbness in you legs do not go away, so they would have to do emergency surgery.

Sounds like you have a herniated disc and a pinched nerve. Back surgery sucess really depends on the extent of the injury and how seriously you take rehab. My mom had surgery for a herniated disc 10 years ago. She still has trouble with the pain and stiffness along with some tingling down her left leg but its a big improvement on the pain. The main problem is when they do surgery on your back there are so many nerve endings and delicate tissue in the surrounding area it's hard to know for sure a true success rate. I would say any surgery is risky, you have to decide if the risks outweigh the benifits, or vice versa. Physical therapy after surgery is vital to keeping healthy. You have to do what they tell you and continue an excercise program after you finish your sessions. Sounds like you have it rough. Good luck!