turning your head

[retired Mom]

just how far can you turn your head after surgery. It seems you would have to be able to turn it some to drive at 3 or 4 months post op

[rajma]

just how far can you turn your head after surgery. It seems you would have to be able to turn it some to drive at 3 or 4 months post op

I am fused T4 to L4 and in 5th week of recovery. I can turn my head around to look at the side 90 deg. Cannot yet turn to look in the back. Not drving yet since I am still weak and under influence of narcotics

[mbeckett]

Turning my head

I am not quite 5 months post-op and have been driving my car for about 3 weeks now. I would have to say that the limited range of motion in turning my head is one of the concerns with driving. But I'm not so sure it is the limitation of turning my head as it is more not being able to twist my torso to see more to the left or right. I had limited range of motion in my neck before surgery but was able to wiggle around in the seat to see what I needed to see whereas now I'm not suppose to be doing that for at least a year. I did just buy two blind spot mirrors to put on my outside rearview mirrors which I believe will help some. I also just read that someone uses a hand-held mirror to assist with looking behind them when they are in the car. I also try to park in parking spaces that will be easy for me to get in and out of even if it means having to walk extra to get into the building. I also started praying that God will protect me as I drive which come to think of it isn't a bad idea even if you have full range of motion. I've never been worried about my driving, it's other people's driving that raises some questions.

Marjorie

[LindaRacine]

It depends entirely on how high one's fusion goes.