Hey y’all, first time poster here. I’ve been reading through old posts and wanted to see if anyone had updates or suggestions with low back surgery.
My story - I’m 11 weeks post laminectomy of L5/S1 disc. The pain has SLOWLY improved but my low back still feels week and I still get some radicular pain in my leg - mainly hamstring area but my foot can feel a bit numb at times. I had the the nerve pain for about 10 months and was managing conservatively until I aggravated the condition while doing light back squats (were talking 95 lbs).
Anyway, I’ve become a little worried and depressed as I feel like I should be further. I have begun riding the assault bike, doing light days of shoulders, legs, back, chest, etc… i relive it will take time but someone please tell me that they’ve had a similar story and that they were eventually able to get back to their normal life. I’m going crazy!
Hey man sorry it hasn’t be a complete fix. For what it’s worth back pain surgery is pretty hit and miss. Even a successful surgery needs some rehab work after to make things right but you can do it.
Stuart McGill has great resources for self management of back pain that very layman friendly. Needs you to be thoughtful and dedicated to working on the issue/s though. No quick fix.
Used it myself to guide me out of some back pain that had me off squats/deads for 6 months last year.
OP, back pain is often a self-limiting condition, and many can come back from near crippling injuries. The most important factor is a careful re-introduction of relatively pain-free movement (honestly, whatever you can tolerate: swimming and walking through water are really great choices if feasible) and progressing total volume over time.
This doesn’t have to be a lifelong issue, but the treatment is going to require small changes over time.