Quote:
Originally Posted by badgirl
Well i went to the dr about my back upon you guys advice and they let me know from the x-ray that I have 2 bones the L5 and the S1 are touching because of severe deteration and they are saying the only thing to do is surgery, I don't know about this. Do you guys think I should get a second opinion? She is sending me to see a neuro-surgeon. I feel like I am a snowball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger and will end up having back surgery that I may not need. Again I come to you all for advice and opinions maybe some of you have had this before and can tell me what you did.  |
My GF this summer. She was all kinds of worried cause the Dr. said she needed surgery. Everything turned out ok though.
Her (39 y/o 5'2" and 145 pounds) and I (33 y/o 5'7" 195) moved Railroad ties about 6 months ago. Not regular railroad ties, but railroad ties that had been sitting in a drainage ditch (street run-off) for about 2 years. We moved a couple of them out of the ditch and saved the ones that were sunk in the mud for last. The first few were probably close to 250 pounds or so...not too bad. But then we got to the ones that were water logged. We both got it out of the mud and when she straightened up....OWIE!!!! She hurt her back really bad....Keep in mind she's a small girl to be doing stuff like this, but she's full of gusto.
So I helped her to the house and helped put ice on it while she called the chiropractor
After going to the Chiropractor (who told her to stop lifting heavy stuff like that) a few times she finally went to the Dr. and got x-rays. Dr. told her that she'd have to have surgery on her Budging Disk. She was almost inconsolable.
Got an appointment for a neurosurgeon and .....
The surgeon said that she didn't need surgery!!! Just some pain meds and a TENS unit. If that didn't help in 6 month then the discussion of surgery would be revisited.
It's not a little over 6 months later she's had 3 epidurals of cortisone, some pain and muscle relaxant meds, and uses the TENS unit every other day. We don't think she will need surgery.
Moral of the story....visit the surgeon first. See what they have to say. If they say surgery then I'd get a second opinion just to be sure.
Neurosurgeon has more experience with that sort of injury than the Dr. so they will be able to tell you more about your options than your General Practitioner.