What do patients need to pay attention to after spinal surgery? How to do recovery exercises? How do I take care of myself? I believe that many patients have a bunch of questions to ask, so I will focus on the common problems so that you can take better care of yourself after surgery.
1.Doctor, I don’t feel any pain at all after the surgery, but today is 4 days after the surgery, I feel the symptoms of back pain, leg pain and numbness.
After the lumbar disc herniation is removed, the original herniated area is filled with blood and muscle tissue, which is clinically manifested as rebound pain 3-5 days after surgery. This is manifested as the same symptoms as before surgery, but with less pain than before surgery. The occurrence varies from patient to patient. Some patients will experience it, some will not. The duration of pain varies from patient to patient. Please don’t worry, the symptoms will be relieved gradually with the extension of time, and the relief time is usually about 1 month, or 3 months to 6 months.
2.Doctor I want to ask when to start exercising after surgery? How to exercise?
Generally, if there is no obvious pain after surgery, you can do straight leg raising exercise in bed. Soon you can do the lumbar back muscle exercises of the little swallow fly and five-point support (see my article “Neck and lumbar back muscle exercises (little swallow fly and five-point support)” for more details). Three months after surgery, you can do sports such as walking, jogging, swimming and other lightly stressed lumbar sports, and about one year after surgery, you can do strenuous activities such as badminton, table tennis, basketball, etc., but it is not recommended to exercise too strenuously and reduce confrontational sports.
3.What do I need to pay attention to in my daily life after surgery?
As the saying goes, it takes 100 days to break a bone, and we generally recommend that patients who have undergone surgical treatment should rest for about 3 months. During the rest period, you need to protect your waist from heavy work, keep your waist warm, and avoid prolonged sitting. Whenever possible, the patient should try to use a sitting stool instead of squatting. The neck surgery should be rested for about 3 months, and the patient should move around under the protection of a neck brace to avoid falls and strenuous neck activities.
4.My home is far away and I need to go back by car, can I go back by sitting?
We recommend that patients who have lumbar spine surgery go back lying down, in a car you can lie down on the back seat, in a train you are advised to buy a sleeper, in an airplane you are advised to buy first class and go back lying down, in general you should try to go back lying down, not sitting down.
5.How long does it take to remove the stitches after surgery? How long can I take a shower?
Patients who undergo surgery in our clinic generally have absorbable sutures within the skin, so there is no need to remove the sutures. The only thing that needs to be removed is the thread of the drainage tube, which can generally be removed at the local clinic 7 days after surgery. You can take a bath about 2 weeks after surgery.
6.Doctor, I don’t have any pain in my neck or lower back after surgery, but I still have numbness, what should I do? Do I need to take any medication?
The symptoms of numbness are usually caused by nerve irritation. When the nerve is compressed, pain is first perceived. When the nerve compression surgery releases the compression, the pain sensation is not conducted, and then the numbness is highlighted. This is why postoperative pain symptoms are relieved quickly and numbness is relieved slowly. It usually takes about 3 months for the numbness to be completely relieved. If the numbness is not heavy, no medication is needed. If the symptoms are felt to be heavy, you can take oral Micropod and neurotropine for relief.
7.How to control the amount of exercise for daily rehabilitation exercise?
The amount of rehabilitation exercise should be gradual, not too hasty, and the daily amount should not cause the original symptoms.
8.Doctor, how long do I have to wear the post-operative waist brace? Will it cause other complications if I wear it for a long time?
In principle, the waist brace should be worn for about 3 months, but it is not necessary to wear it for too long. Only when you get out of bed, but not when you lie in bed to rest. And when you lie in bed to rest, you can strengthen the back muscles exercise, which can relieve the atrophy of the back muscles, and can speed up the time to take off the waist brace.
9.Doctor, how often do I have to review?
Generally, you can come to the outpatient clinic for review 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years after surgery. Patients who are close to the hospital can come to the outpatient clinic for review, while those who are far away can take films locally and send them to me in the form of photos.
10.Can I smoke and drink after surgery?
It has been proven that smoking and lumbar disc herniation are positively correlated, so it is recommended to quit smoking. Alcohol must be consumed in moderation, tobacco and alcohol are not good things, try not to smoke or drink.
9.Doctor, will lumbar disc herniation recur after surgery?
After a suitable exercise process 95% of patients can return to normal life and work status. If fusion surgery is done, the operated segment will definitely not recur, but there is a possibility of a new disc herniation in the segment without surgery. Lumbar disc herniation is a degenerative disease, our intervertebral discs from about 20 years old began to degenerate, and with the age of the lumbar disc degeneration will continue to accelerate, which is like a machine, with the use of time lengthened, the machine parts will be damaged. Minimally invasive PELD surgery is a palliative surgery, only to remove the herniated nucleus pulposus, the risk of recurrence of the operated segment. If recurrence, you can still perform minimally invasive surgery for revision, but the probability of revision is relatively small, good functional exercise and correct posture of the lumbar spine, can greatly reduce the risk of secondary surgery.