Is it safe to bar-hang for spinal decompression? along other doubts (scar length, etc

[richardis]

Hey there,

I have been submitted to surgery on February of 2016. Fused from T3 to T10.


1) I was thinking if those who are fully recovered (+2 years of surgery) benefit from doing chin-ups or some bar-hanging to alleviate the stress of the joint just under the fusion or just to work out? Let me rephrase it, can we do it?

2) On another note, I would like to know how many inches of scar do the surgeons leave away from the fused vertebrae? I would like to know this to better pinpoint the spot/vertebrae of pain. For example, the lowest vertebrae instrumented of mine is T10. Should I assume that the scar ends on T11 or T12?

3) Just out of curiosity, let's suppose I need revision surgery in the future. Is it possible to further correct the curve of the fused spine? If so, how they -the surgeons- do it? Do they need to fuse more levels to accomplish this?

Sorry for the disparate subjects of the Qs, but it is difficult to topic all the doubts I have.

Thank you in advance

[LindaRacine]

You should probably not do any hanging until you've talked to your surgeon about it.

Every surgeon has their own technique, but your scar is probably about as long, or maybe a little shorter than, your rods. The surgeons open as little as possible typically, and then retract the soft tissue to get more exposure. If you have an area of specific pain, and can pinpoint it, you could have your surgeon tape something metal over the spot before your next radiographs.

I think it's a little sick to be thinking about revision surgery at this point, but it is possible to straighten previously fused curves by doing osteotomies.
http://www.spineuniverse.com/profess...-surgery-fixed

[richardis]

Thank you. I am not thinking about another surgery. It was a curiosity. I am sure there are others who will find your info useful, as I do.