Does surgery for spondylolisthesis help relieve pain?

Hi to the previous posters Uprights post is excellent, it is a true reflection of my experience also. It will be one year next month may since surgery and my quality of life has improved beyond recognition no pain asscoicated with the spondy what so ever. As part of my fitness routine that I try to stick too I stretche and work on core muscles which I would do before the op if I was you just to aid your recovery if u can. I also use a multgym to tone up but not going to risk an injury using heavy weights. I have recently filled a skip doing a house clearance erm lifted numerous heavy things routinely and in summary I'm trying to say after a period you can go about day to day pyhsical tasks and probably live that rugged outdoor lifestyle on the farm or digging your garden or throwing the kids round! I think that just know your limits would be a wise thing to say. Also in contrast after you have repaired I think you have more stamina so maybe you wouldn't lift like before but you probably could work longer! What I'm trying to say is your active life is not over as a result of surgery and you could get out and about doing light tasks in weeks, but I'm not a doctor and everyone different you need to listen to your body and get help with lifting for the first month or two, just be careful in future :o) Goodluck Sap

grading is done on the distance of slippage. 25% is a 1 50% is a 2 75% is a 3 and 100% is a 4.

I am so surprised that your having such problems. When I was 30 years old I had a spinal fusion done on the last 3 vertabrae in my back. I was in hospital for 9 days. When i came home I was able to walk with a back brace and a walker for awhile. I got well in 3 months and then went back to work which I lifted 70 pounds at a time quite a lot of times a day. I worked for 25 more years before I had to have a spinal fusion at C 3-4 and some bone spurs removed. I also had a pain stimulator implanted at that time. I get along with pain medicen and I use a walker for short walks and a scooter for long trips that I need to make.

I am so sorry for your pain. I have been told that surgery is my next option. After reading your story, I think I'll pass. I, also, am in a great deal of pain. Like you said, pain meds can only do so much. Did you ever try homeopathics for your pain? They help somewhat.

I just had to comment to let you know your post gave me comfort and was extremely informative and wanted to say Thank you to you for this

Hi i am a 13 year old girl considering spial fushion..... I have been diagnoised with spondylolithisis, a diesease in which a vertabre is broken off and the spine may slip apart from the other part of the spine potentially causeing paralysation.... i do not know if it is a good idea to do this because i am so young... i have very bad pain every day it has stoped me from doing sports and horseback riding...i fell useless.

Just wondering if u ever had an injection? If so, did it work? How long has it been since the surgery and how have u heeled?

my doc told me the same thing about not having surgery until i absolutely cant stand it anymore. luckily i have a pretty high pain threshold (i used to win bets in college by having someone hold a match in their finger nails and put it under my wrist. they dropped before i would move my arm. still have horrible scars 20 years later). hoping ii can hold out forever.

I have been putting off my surgery also. I demanded physical therapy even though my dr said it couldnt help at all. He was wrong and the stretches and exercizes have helped tremendously with my pain. I am much more functional now and do not feel like I have no other options.

My daughter is 13 and is 7 weeks post-op from her L4, L5, SI fusion with reduction and decompression for dysplastic high grade (4) spondylolisthesis. She had cauda equina syndrome from the spondy, which had compromised her bladder function, as well as tight hamstrings/abnormal gait. Her surgery was about 10 hours long; we had a pediatric orthopedic spine surgeon and a neurosurgeon for her surgery. Within 24 hours after surgery inflammation set in and she developed foot drop. She had plantar flexion (pushing the foot) but no dorsiflexion (lifting the foot). She was very weak from the surgery and it took a few weeks to learn to walk again, which required an AFO brace—and a walker for a few weeks. At 5 weeks post-op we finally got 1/4th of a foot dorsiflex, which has steadily increased now to 3/4th. The doctors were always confident her foot would recover but stated it could possibly take months. Nerves do not like to be messed with, AT ALL, and they take on an “injured role”…even if there is no over-stretching (she had an EMG on her the entire time of the surgery). The CT scans post-op looked good but with the inflammation and swelling of the nerve we were forced to wait and see what would happen. We were told kids her age have a 30% chance of developing foot drop but an 85-90% of full recovery and I believe, through faith and good docs, that she is going to recover fully—and thankfully it doesn’t appear it will take months (possibly 18 months was what we were told) for it to completely return. However, even with 3/4th dorsiflex there is a lot of strengthening to do, as the foot did nothing in the way of dorsiflex (moving up), inversion (moving in toward the body) or eversion (moving out away from the body) for 5 weeks. It has been a very bumpy ride that consisted of a lot of nerve pain (she takes 600 mg. of Gabapentin, Ibuprofen, Roxicet, and a daily vitamin) and foot frustrations galore. Her nerve pain is finally decreasing!! Thank God! She is getting there by doing physical therapy twice a week—AND two times daily at home, with deep muscle massage, a lot of walking, and taking her medication. She's been a couple of days without Roxicet now, which is great. She even does walking on the treadmill, without the AFO, to build strength in that foot. I posted this because there isn’t much out there on kids recovering from this type of surgery or what the recovery may look like. I didn’t expect the recovery to be so brutal but the great thing is seeing some light at the end of the tunnel! She has consistently said her back feels great every since surgery, her bladder is corrected…and I know when we get over this last hump, she’s going to be better than ever but it didn’t come without tears and a lot of hard work. Best wishes to anyone out there recovering from this very awful surgery or anyone fighting foot drop; it is mentally and physically exhausting but the fight is worth it!

I had this surgery but also had another surgeon who removed my organs and repaired my spine from the front then flipped me over and continued every other thing was exactly as you except my first surgery was 13 years ago and it left me worse than before they removed a lot of the metal a year after surgery and that releived a lot of the pain .It is now all back and the pain is horrendous even the big guns medicine is not enough.My new surgeon says he can minimally invesive surgery which will allow quick healing little scaring bla bla I am really scared but I can not live with this kind of pain 24/7

Hi there. Would you mind sharing what kind of Pilates and related exercises you do to strengthen your hips and lower back? I had spinal fusion for spondylolisthesis seven years ago, with great success. Lately, however, my left hip is often tight (though not painful it is a pretty intense and consisten tightness). I think strengthening the muscles around it would help and am curious as to what you have tried that has worked for you. I do a lot of yoga and find hip openers quite effective (such as Pigeon's Pose or Butterfly).

Hi I was just diagnosed 2 days ago but have been living with it for 2 years now. I have grade 3 bordering grade 4 already. I'm in soooo much pain. they put me on vicodin and ibuprofen. Praying that God will get me through the surgery that they say I'll need and the recovery. Don't want to be unrealistic about it all But I need to get back to a normal life. I'm the sole provider for my family and I'm only 23. Really a test of faith. But God is good and family is great about everything. Not really advice but its nice to know I'm not the only one. Thanks for listening=)

hello im 13 and im a girl i had my surgery 2 months ago for the same reason mr.jason it really helped the recoverie was painfull but worthit go for it!

Hi,

I have been searching for a blog such as this one to find someone who had a similar surgery experience to me; my injury occurred through dancing at the age of 14, I had pins put in which broke and eventually had an L1-5 fusion at Stanmore Hospital with Surgeon Stewart Tucker.

I had surgery at 14 and 15 and am now aged 27 - I recovered very well from my surgery all those years ago and have considered myself to be fitter and more flexible than most other people! HOWEVER, for the first time in 12 years i'm starting to have similar back pain again and would like to talk to someone else to see how their back is after years.

I would like to know if the fusion can actually weaken and if there is anything that can be done to limit this; core strengthening exercises maybe? Also, has anyone had a natural birth since having severe spondylolithesis and if so, what were the implications?

Thanks