I tried the decompression thing. Stopped the pain in my leg. Not my back.
Did the injections and radio frequency for about 10 years. Helped for a time, but pain always came back.
Finally after about 12 or 13 years of pain and barely able to get around, my left leg from the knee down became numb and I couldn't do much with my foot.
Went to neurosurgeon and was very pleased with the results. Still have pain when I stand too long, carry something heavy or bend over too long, but I can do things now. At one time, all I did was lay down till it hurt, sit down till it hurt, then lay down again. Pain pills didn't work for me.
My pain management doctor recommended a good neurosurgeon. Said not to do any kinda fusion surgery that will restrict motion.
When you have a fusion, the disc above it will eventually go bad, and so on up the spine.
At the time of my surgery about 3 years ago, there was not an artificial disc replacement for the lower back, but there was one for the neck.
I was out of work for about 2.5 months.
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