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When Your Doctor Suggests A Laminectomy To Treat Your Lower Back Pain
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Lower back pain is difficult to treat, unless you can lay in bed for weeks while your back heals. Non-invasive treatments try to relieve your pain, but can be ineffective if you're an active person. Your orthopedics doctor may tell you that surgery is the next treatment to try to get rid of the pain. Here is what that surgery looks like and the recovery after the procedure.
The Origin of Your Pain
Nerves branch off from the spinal cord and travel between the vertebrae out to other parts of your body. In the lower back, the nerves head out into your legs. When the pathway for the nerves becomes obstructed, either through a back injury or abnormal bone growth, the nerves are irritated and can become swollen and painful. You'll have pain in your lower back, hips and legs from an irritation of the nerves coming out of your lower spine. The goal of surgery is to remove that irritation, and reduce the inflammation and pain.
Surgery as the Treatment Option of Choice
Non-invasive options, such as physical therapy and back braces, attempt to support your back while the body naturally heals the problem. When these are inadequate for getting rid of the pain, surgery to relieve pressure on the nerves is your best option. One procedure, called a laminectomy, is performed to address the problem.
A laminectomy is the removal of parts of the vertebrae so the nerves can travel freely again. Once the surgeon can see the problem area, there are other corrective measures they can take to relieve tension on the nerves, such as:
- remove bone growths along the nerve pathway that are irritating the nerve
- remove part of one or more vertebrae that are pressing against the nerve
- remove all or part of a ruptured cartilage disc between two vertebrae
- remove bone from inside of the nerve pathway to make the channel for the nerve larger
If the cause of the nerve irritation is due to fractures of one or more vertebrae or your doctor must remove an entire cartilage disc, they will have to do additional work to stabilize the spine, such as:
- use bone grafts to fuse two or more vertebrae together
- attach metal rods or cables between two or more vertebrae
The length of your recovery depends on the extent of the procedure done on your back during the surgery.
Recovering from Back Surgery
Recovery from a procedure, such as removing a bone spur from the spine, may take a few weeks as the tissues in your back heal and the inflammation of your nerves goes away. More extensive work, such as removal of a cartilage disc and fusion of vertebrae, may take months to fully heal.
Regardless of the procedures done, physical therapy will be a big part of your recovery. The focus of this is two-fold:
- regain flexibility of the muscles in the lower back made tense by the nerve irritation
- strengthening of the lower back muscles to prevent future back injury
Recovery from any back surgery will take time, but you can look forward to the day when you are finally rid of that annoying and persistent lower back pain. Contact a company like Family Medical Clinic for more information.
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