Re: Having microdiscectomy tomorrow1/16/12
Welcome to the board. Sometimes patients get an unrealistic sense of the surgery due to the fact that it doesn't involve a hospital stay, and many spine surgeons are quick to pass it off as "minimal." This gives the patient a false sense of the fact that it is still the spine that is being accessed and parts are being removed from it. It is major surgery.
I don't have statistics to quote you, but the biggest "danger" of reherniation is in the first six weeks after surgery. It is not a common occurence, but it does happen, and, in many cases, it doesn't take much for the reherniation to happen.
To avoid the problems associated with reherniation, it behooves the patient to be as careful as possible in the weeks following surgery. Avoid activities that involve bending or twisting at the waist, pushing, pulling, reaching up overhead or to the side and lifting anything beyond the weight limit given by the surgeon. Also, it is important to avoid sitting for longer than 15-20 minutes at one time. Sitting puts 30% more stress on the discs than standing or lying down.
Think of this period of recuperation as a time to retrain yourself. Become aware of using good body mechanics, having good posture and maintaining proper structural alignment.
Plan on "babying" yourself and your back for a couple weeks...and remember that it will take the disc a good six months to toughen up after surgery.
Good luck tomorrow...and let us know how it goes.