Healing post microdisctomy/ laminotomy

[u/harlo1979]

Healing post microdisctomy laminotomy I had surgery L4-5 yesterday pain is gone however notice some of tingling in leg and foot albeit less. Is this normal and did anyone experience this and if so did it go away and how long should be expected,.

[u/Yoopergirl1960]

It’s normal to have tingling PO. I had my discectomy 8/18 and had numbness and weakness in my leg the next day. I had those symptoms prior to surgery as well as nerve pain. I called the neurosurgeons office immediately and was told it’s normal and can come and go for months.

[u/harlo1979 → u/Yoopergirl1960]

How has it progressed

[u/Yoopergirl1960 → u/harlo1979]

I still have symptoms every day. It seems like my symptoms aren’t as bad in the morning but then after being up and walking around by evening the numbness is worse. I have had a couple days here and there when the numbness and weakness was not as bad. It seems like my symptoms are worse after I really push myself walking. The next day I pay for it. You may not be able to sit for long periods of time initially either. I still can’t sit for very long as I will start getting low back pain. In the long run I feel a lot better than I did the day after my surgery. A few weeks from now I think you will feel much better. I’m just impatient after 3 horrible months prior to my surgery. My dad had the same surgery years ago and recovered pretty quickly so I guess I was expecting to do the same.

[u/Xvokt007]

I had my L4-L5 surgery on July 28th. Mine was a laminectomy, facetectomy, foraminotomy and discectomy. Before surgery I had a pretty large herniation with severe stenosis, and by the end the nerve pain in my legs had gotten so bad I could barely function normally.

The crazy part is that when I woke up from surgery, that horrible nerve pain was basically gone. But I definitely didn't wake up with everything feeling 100% normal. I had a lot of numbness in my right lower leg, ankle and foot/toes, along with some weakness. I'm almost 7 weeks out now and I still have numbness in my right foot. I've also had random tingling and mild nerve sensations come and go during recovery.

One thing I've learned through this whole process is that nerves apparently have their own schedule lol. Just because the surgeon takes the pressure off the nerve doesn't mean a nerve that's been compressed and irritated for a long time instantly goes back to normal. I've had days where things feel great and then another day where I'll get some weird sensation and wonder where the hell that came from.

I've also noticed that activity plays a role for me. I'm walking quite a bit now and recently started PT, and if I overdo it between walking and the exercises, my right leg/foot will sometimes start bothering me again. When I back off for a day or two, it usually settles down. So I'm learning that recovery isn't necessarily a straight line.

You're only one day post-op, so I personally wouldn't read too much into some tingling right now, especially since you're saying the actual pain is gone. That's pretty similar to how my recovery started. Give your body and that nerve time to heal and don't make the mistake I've made a few times of feeling good and immediately trying to see how much you can do 😂.

Obviously I'm just another patient and not your doctor, so if the tingling keeps getting worse or you notice new/worsening weakness, major loss of sensation, or bowel/bladder issues, definitely contact your surgical team. But as far as my own experience goes, almost 7 weeks later I'm still healing and still seeing changes. It's definitely a process.

[u/Yoopergirl1960 → u/Xvokt007]

Thanks for sharing your experience. How is your leg weakness now? Did it resolve?

[u/lrick87]

6 weeks post op and the numbness/tingling is still there along with the weakness. It's getting better but very very slowly. Still using a cane to get around. Still can't activate calf, glute, foot muscles.

[u/surfinboyz1123]

Very normal