numb area

[lindsay]

its 4 weeks post op. exactly

and i was wondering to all the girls who have had this surgery recently...like shelby or scoligirl, do you have numb spots along your scar? mine is only at the very top of the scar and it is totally numb for about 2 inches. i realized this when my mom was washing my back with a loofa and i couldn't feel it on me.

how long is this going to last, or will the numbess never go away?

[Pips]

I'm 5 months post op and still have numb bits along my scar. I expect they will go in time...

[tulsamom]

hi lindsay its Shelby. I still have numb spots alog my scar, and my lower back. Im finally able to sit at the computer. I go to the doctor tomorrow. I cant believe u get to ride in the car and go swimming, i wish i could do that. My mom took all of my steristrips off yesterday and i have scabs at the top and bottom of my scar. Do you ever have really bad itches in your lower back? I get them a lot, i try to scratch them but its like it itches inside my body. Please write back.

[lindsay]

hi shelby!

it's great that your on the computer! you just got the steristrips taken off? so they didnt wash off in the shower? my doctor took them off the wednesday after my surgery. as of yesterday the scabbing is completely gone, they got rubbed off in the shower and such. so now i feel more comfortable in a bathing suit. my back still itches too. last week it was keeping me from sleeping. i tried to lay on my side and rub up against a pillow. haha it didnt really work like i wanted it to though. but going in the shower and let the water beat down on me helped me and i have a loofa attached to a long handle so i reach back there and try to scratch as best as i can. but other than that i cant really do anything about it. im hoping it goes away soon!

write back about your doctor visit. i had mine last thursday and i got x-rayed and i got to see the rods in my back. it was really amazing to see the before and after. our spines are so straight now!!

Lindsay

[tulsamom]

Hi lindsay

Okay i will be sure to write back tomorrow after my doctors appointment. Im so excited because tomorrow i actually get to go somewhere! Is your back still swolen! Mine is. Well I gotta go, thanks for answering my questions. Bye!

[ScoliGal]

talk about the numbness!!! my scar is 15 inches long and about half of it is completely fine-- like i can feel like- the other half which is the top half is completly numb including my shoulders up to parts of my arm pit... i hate it when im itching and i scratch but i cant feel what im scratching so the itching doesnt go away!!! its complelty normal for some parts to be numb because when they open your back they had to cut some muscles and nerves and nerves take a really long time to heal. i talked to a girl that was 4 years post op and she stil has some numbness.

[lindsay]

yeah, my scar is 14 inchs and only the top few inches are numb. but same as you, parts of my shoulder blade are totally numb on both sides. wow 4 years? i guess i'll just get used to it then!

i straighten my hair for the first time in a month!! it's been up in a bun for the past 4 weeks. when i was straightening it some glue still was in there from when they glued the electrodes on me! even though i shower everyday and scrub to try to get it all out! i got a little tired holding up the straightener but i feel better this way!

to shelby: i told my mom you just got your steristrips off. she wondered if you had stiches or surgical glue. i had the glue and mine were taken off the morning of my second day post op. and yes my back is a little swollen along the scar.


tomorrow is exactly one month since the surgery!! i remember being in the hospital and praying for this day to come, im so happy thats all over with..

[ScoliGal]

lindsay
u had glue? i had staples!!! 76 of them... on my second day post op they pulled them out and it felt like many mosquito bites. after that they put steri strips and the bandage. all my steri strips are off now! thats because i yanked the off lol at about a month post op i still had at least half of them left(13) and i got tired so i just pulled them off myself

[lindsay]

oh my god! 76 staples! my doctor uses surgical glue and they steristrips came off the wednesday after my monday surgery. so my scar is scab free and healed. just a pink line right now. but wow! staples! i dont think i could have taken that. you're like my hero lol

[ScoliGal]

i thought i only had steri strips!! then on 2nd day post op my doctors assistant came in and said, ok its time to pull out your staples.
and i was like WHAT?!! staples??? nobody even told me lol

[Ca2roline]

im about 1 year post-op. I notice every once in a while that around my scar, i feel numbness too. Like i cant feel anything on my skin. I thought it was weird. But im not worried about it. I just think that because, the surgeon cutting through your skin like that, it killed some nerves there. So it doesnt bother me. Almost kind of cool. But yea, thats just kinda me being wierd, haha

[amby3000]

me too!

im exactly 3 weeks post op now, and some of my back, along the scar is completely numb. I also noticed it when my mum was feeling my back and i couldnt feel it at all! i was really worried, but from what ive read on this site, it is completely normal and may take a few years to get back to normal.


xxxxxxxxxxxx

[tulsamom]

Hi Lindsay!

I had my 4 week post op doctors appointment this Tuesday. My doctor said that i could only be in the car if it was absolutely neccessary. He also said that i cant go swimming and that he prefr that my freinds came to me instead of me going to them. So basically the only thing i can do for excercise is walk. He said that i could go to the mall for about an hour because i can ware out easily. That was about all my doctor said. I will write back tomorrow!

[violinprincess3]

numbness is common with any type of scar, especially with spinal surgery because the cut is so deep. it should eventually go away, you can quicken the process by "densensitizing" it, apparently rubbing it with a hairbrush or something like that works really well

[lindsay]

wow our doctors are so different shelby! mine said go about my daily routine as best as i can. so i've been going grocery shopping with my mom, like to target, and i was at my neighborhood swim meet for 3 hours on tuesday night. i couldnt believe i was able to stand up so long but i was with all my friends.

today will be my second land physical therapy. i did all my pool therapy for the past two weeks and now im in the gym. on the last day of my pool therapy the therapist had me doing some freestyle. it was way cool. i finally took a shower and got dressed all alone today. i know i sounds like a little kid but i was happy that my mom didnt have to stay in the bathroom with me. my arms can finally come all the way over my head to shampoo and get a towel around my hair.

and i did a little driving yesterday! i've had my permit for 4 months. so that was pretty cool. i felt more normal.

i hope everyones doing well!!

<3 Lindsay


oh, i was wondering did anyone have to have a bone graft?? i didnt, but i was wondering if anyone else had one..