I had the same surgery done in 2002 at the age of 30. It actually went very well for me and I was back to work in 10 days, but only because the doctor I worked with died suddenly and I had to race back to help take care of the office. My NS wanted me off for 2-3 weeks at least, but I have to say I did pretty well for almost 4 years until my next "saga" started. But, I can encourage you that it was pretty uneventful, except for them not controlling my pain quite well enough right after surgery and then had to give me bigger doses of pain meds and I started vomiting. But, that can happen with any surgery, so it wasn't necessarily related to the BACK surgery.

I'm hoping you have a great experience and get some relief soon. It's no fun...I understand! Hang in there!

Erika

this also in Dec 07. and I had totally the opposite experience than the last two posters had. Mine was radical which means that they removed most of the disc. My surgery was also considered failed though. I was not even able to lift my right leg for about 3 months after surgery. Also could not Bend, Lift, Twist for I do not even remember how long. Everyone is soooo different in their recovery time and that is why it is hard to find info on the recovery time. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best is my motto. Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

In June of this year. Surgery went well enough. Spent one night in the hospital, hated that... but then who LIKES it? I was unable to bend, lift or twist for 6 weeks. back to work in 3 (desk job). I still have sciatic pain, but it's greatly reduced and manageable with OTC drugs like Tylenol and Aleve. I've heard it can take a year or more for the nerves to heal so I'm waiting....

I hope it all goes well for you too!

C

Hi!

I've had a slipped L5S1 disc for over 10yrs and the initial sciatic pain resolved with only occasional back pain over the years. So was doing really gd - tennis, wake boarding, rock climbing, skating etc. But lying in bed a month ago, I turned to lie on my side and popped the same disc. I couldn't lie on my back for 5 days after that despite taking paracetamol+codeine, diclofenac, celecoxib, tramado, lyrica and Vit B all at once throughout the day. (Yes, I know diclofenac and celecoxib are similar classes of drugs!) Even then, the wringing and shooting pain in the leg was killing me. My ear grew sore from lying on it all day and night, the side of my head on which I lay developed pimple like lesions from the perspiration and heat. Showers were hell since I could only stand stooped for like 1 min. Ended up squatting while showering and at times, literally crawling back to bed.
Finally on the 5th day and doped full of meds, I managed to lie flat with legs propped high and repeated an MRI. It showed a sequestrated disc.
Anyway, to cut long story short, got a microdiscectomy done 5 days after the MRI.
Felt like I had been delivered from hell! Sciatic pain was totally resolved. Numbness took a few days longer but that didn't bother me a bit. Now I'm like 3 plus weeks post op and itching to go for a run. Gonna go for a nice power walk and try a bit of jogging later in fact!
Hope Madia's went fine.
And yup, nerves can take up to 1.5yrs to recover. Usually pain is the first to resolve. Power and numbness recover slower and numbness may not recover fully depending on case.
Gd luck to all!

hi everyone. ive been reading through all these comments and it seems everybody is differen't at healing etc.
ive recentley had an l5 s1 disectomy and its been three weeks since the operation.
i had sciatica pain for around three years (shooting pain down the left leg and under left foot). i used to just get on with it until it got serious in december last year. i couldn't walk far at all and i had to walk with a lean to my right(my right hand would be touching my right knee) to ease the pain a little. i got severe burning and tightness feeling in the hamstring area and i couldn't lift my leg in the air at all.i also lost reflex in my left ankle.
i was worried that the surgery had not done the job but it is still early and i need to give it time for my nerves to heal.i now have abit of reflex in my ankle and it seems i can lift my leg higher. im getting tingling in my left buttock and a little under the foot, also my hamstring area(sorry i dont know what this is called) still feels tight.
i guess what im saying is that im not sure if its going to be 100% but im hoping in time it will be alot better. im walking ok although i haven't gone far yet. i was told that 90% of people have success some straight away others take longer. sorry for the long message!