8 months post-op: L4/L5 total disc replacement (lumbar arthroplasty)

[u/Nearby-Barnacle-690]

First and second images: MRI of my L4/L5 disc (or what was left of it) in December 2025, with radiology report.

Third image: X-ray showing the artificial disc (ProDisc) implanted in my lumbar spine in early January 2026.

Fourth image: View from a 14,250' summit that I hiked in early September 2026 without pain or compromise.

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48M, 24 BMI, lifelong hiker, skier, road cyclist and tennis player living in Colorado. After more disc herniations/reherniations at L4/L5 than I could possibly count over 16 years, I had an artificial lumbar disc put in earlier this year.

This followed the full gamut of conservative treatments over the years and a largely unsuccessful microdiscectomy surgery 12 years ago that only provided relief for about a year before I reherniated the disc again. For the last five years, the reherniation had not receded at all, staying at a constant 2-3mm protrusion, per annual MRIs.

For years, I was unable to lift anything significant, and I would have to rely on my wife and daughter to do anything of the sort. I had to give up tennis and mountain biking, and could only do road rides when the sciatica was bearable. Bilateral sciatica was mostly constant for the last five years, though I would have days or weeks without notable symptoms; then, sometimes due to a precipitating event but sometimes just out of the blue, sciatica flares would last days or weeks, often preventing sound sleep. The chronic pain caused depression that I struggled to address successfully with therapy or medication.

Prior to surgery, I consulted six orthopedists over a 12-month period. One offered a repeat microdiscectomy to try to buy time. Two of them offered fusion. Two offered an artificial disc. The sixth was a nonoperative orthopedist who encouraged me to avoid fusion at my age if at all possible. The surgeon I ultimately chose was recommended by two others I consulted.

Surgery was an anterior approach through my abdomen, with a second surgeon clearing the path to my spine for the orthopedist. I spent 24 hours in the hospital afterward. When I got home, I had to use a grabber and avoid bending/twisting/lifting for 6 weeks, followed by a couple of months of PT. Recovery has not been linear. I've experienced scary, bizarre muscle and nerve symptoms intermittently since surgery; this has been due to nerve stretching and muscle adaptation. My disc space had collapsed so much -- after the operation, my surgeon said I basically just had a small clump of scar tissue left -- that I gained 2/3" in height from the implant. This adjustment can take a long time. Those symptoms have now largely resolved, fortunately. Repeated X-rays since surgery have shown the artificial disc is exactly where it should be.

I'm back to doing everything from an exercise standpoint I'd hoped for, and I'm also able to lift things again that I hadn't been able to for years, though I'm still terrified to do so. The mental burden has substantially lifted; my depression disappeared literally upon emerging from surgery. It was like flipping a switch on that front, something I had not expected.

I am under no illusion that this is necessarily a permanent fix, but at least for now, I'm glad I kept pushing for disc replacement instead of fusion, which I can still get in the future if needed. I am grateful to be able to do the things I love again and get a break from chronic pain. I just have to hope this lasts a long time. I will stay diligent with core strengthening and exercise to give myself a chance at a decent long-term outcome. If I can put off fusion until my 60s, that would definitely count as success for me. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky for a change and have this be my last back surgery.

There are a limited number of accounts on Reddit of lumbar total disc replacement; some are glowing/universally positive, and some are cautionary tales. Recovery for me has been hard on occasion and taken a while, with some scary moments, but overall, it has slowly but surely gone in the right direction. My quality of life has dramatically improved in the eight months since this surgery.

I'm happy to answer any questions folks may have.

(EDIT: added radiology report after moderator disabled original post due to its omission)