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  • Pain from metalwork

    Has anyone else had the problem of the connectors irritating the surrounding musculature? I am 55 and had the op last November, my recovery would be well under way if it were not for this problem. The only way to manage it is to lie down every 2 hours - would really like to know if anyone else has experienced this and how long it might last (consultant is a bit vague on this). Would like to get on with my life!

    Thanks,

    Lavinia

  • #2
    hardware

    Hi Lavina,
    I had my surgery in November as well. I still suffer with some residual back pain, and lying down also gives me relief. However, I'm unclear the type of pain you are experiencing, (how do you feel)?
    Regards,
    Gayle


    November 4, 2004, 57 yo
    Instrumented Spinal Fusion ~ T 10 -S1

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    • #3
      post-op need to lay down

      Lavinia:
      I had the same thing 5 months after surgery. The recovery is SO long that it is easy to get impatient. I just had to accept it and there was no way I could speed it up. The boney areas which hold the hardware will be sore for a long time because bone takes a long time to heal.
      Hope this helps.
      Karen
      Original scoliosis surgery 1956 T-4 to L-2 ~100 degree thoracic (triple)curves at age 14. NO hardware-lost correction.
      Anterior/posterior revision T-4 to Sacrum in 2002, age 60, by Dr. Boachie-Adjei @Hospital for Special Surgery, NY = 50% correction

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      • #4
        Thanks Karen, you really are a great support. I think it's the flesh rather than the bones which are hurting - it feels like metal digging into flesh and the consultant diagnosed it promptly by prodding where the connectors are! But good to know that it probably will decrease eventually. I think you said that after 6-9 months things were mostly better, so I'm hanging in there!

        Lavinia

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        • #5
          New Pain

          I had my scoliosis surgery nine years ago, at age 16. I have just recently started having a lot of pain where the metalwork is the most prominent. My doctor suggested gaining weight so that the metalwork that sticks out would have some padding and wouldn't hit chair backs and such (I'm very thin). But it drives me nuts! I can't sleep on my side at night, I have to lie flat on my back. When I bend forward, I can actually feel muscle or something rubbing or catching on the metalwork. Ouch! I'm going back to my doctor to see if something has come lose or worked its way out (I hope not!).

          Comment


          • #6
            LeahMarie...

            You should talk to your surgeon about removing the component of the implants that is sticking out. It's usually a relatively easy surgery, and you stand a good chance of it resolving your pain.

            Regards,
            Linda
            Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
            Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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            • #7
              sacrum

              Are you and Lavina referring to the area of the sacrum? I am (gulp!) three and 1/2 months out and the only area I am having trouble with is the sacrum. It
              is a fairly new pain, (two weeks) spanning both my lower hips at the sacrum ( I was fused all the ways down). The pain seems to make the backs of my legs ache all the way to the feet. After about 4 hours up, I have to take a pill and lay down. Does this sound familiar? Kathleen

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              • #8
                sacrum

                Are you and Lavina referring to the area of the sacrum? I am (gulp!) three and 1/2 months out and the only area I am having trouble with is the sacrum. It
                is a fairly new pain, (two weeks) spanning both my lower hips at the sacrum ( I was fused all the ways down). The pain seems to make the backs of my legs ache all the way to the feet. After about 4 hours up, I have to take a pill and lay down. Does this sound familiar? Kathleen

                Comment


                • #9
                  Kathleen - no, my main pain is not the sacrum but near the top of the spine - the top two connectors at T2 and T5. Having said that, it is a little better than 2 months ago, and I now can stay up for up to half a day provided I don't do much so I continue to be hopeful. Probably not worth getting too worried at 3-4 months - I am sure at least a year needs to pass before we get any idea of the long-term position - and in fact it sounds as though you are doing really well! At the same point I was still on opiates or in a lot of trouble and pain withdrawing from them, and having to lie down for much of the day. But it is so frustrating and such a long journey, with no certainty at the end of it.

                  Very best of luck, I'm always interested to hear how you are doing,

                  Lavinia

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                  • #10
                    pain post op

                    Kathleen:

                    It was 3 months before I came off narcs(because I insisted and wanted to drive) but I needed alternative pain management for many months afterward. I worked with a pain specialist who used, at various times: neurontin, tylenol arthritis, alpha-stim(TENS), SAM-E, and lidoderm pain patches; after 4 months I was allowed to use Aleve. I had withdrawal when I cut down on narcs which causes depression-normal and treated by pain management with antidepressents for a couple of months.

                    I also had weird pains all over my operative areas for a good year. I tried not to dwell on them to avoid going nuts over every little twinge. Parts of my back would "wake-up" during the healing process causing "itching".
                    It is normal, at this stage, to feel tired of the whole thing. I noticed this in your posts about the surgery being final-no going back.

                    Surgery at our age is much more brutal than for younger people. Knowing what I do about anatomy and physiology it helped to understand that my body was going to "object'' to it's new, "uncoiled", though healthier, position after being that way for so many years. Muscles, tendons, nerves, spinal cord are all either streched or shortened. The spine becomes stiffer and harder to correct.
                    I personally would not delay surgery if my curves were progressing in adulthood .The younger, the better the correction and the shorter the recovery.
                    Yet, I would do it again in a heartbeat-even after all that.

                    Karen
                    Last edited by Karen Ocker; 05-23-2005, 07:16 PM.
                    Original scoliosis surgery 1956 T-4 to L-2 ~100 degree thoracic (triple)curves at age 14. NO hardware-lost correction.
                    Anterior/posterior revision T-4 to Sacrum in 2002, age 60, by Dr. Boachie-Adjei @Hospital for Special Surgery, NY = 50% correction

                    Comment

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