Hi i have a herniated disk in my back Im only 24?

the doctors say i need to have a operation because its so severe. has anyone had this operation before ?. what are the risks and does the operation work. please help, im in so much pain. i have tried physio, remedial massage, nerve root injections in my back(cortisone) and nothing seems to help

I would see a chiropractor before having surgery...look into the intersegmental traction table Holly mentioned, the Doctors that have it are few and far between because it is a very expensive piece of equipment, but has a very good success rate. To say there are no worries or no risks like a couple answerers noted is not at all accurate. It really depends on the severity of the herniation, as well as the manner in which they plan to "fix" it. If they are planning on putting in a synthetic disc be aware that the oldest replacement discs are less than 5 years old. There is no research beyond that, but keep in mind that hip and knee replacements only last 10-15 years on average. Other risks include death, paralyzation, infection, no improvement, early onset arthritis, numbness, tingling, chronic pain, loss of bladder and bowel function, as well as other problems. Granted most of these are uncommon, but all the statistics in the world don't matter if you are that 1 in 10000 that it happens to. If your problem is severe and they are worried the herniated material will cause more problems and you have exhausted other conservative treatment options, consider the surgery. I highly recommend you see a chiropractor for a trial period before going under the knife though.

my mom has some of those and she gets injections to deal with severe pain all of the time

i had a herniated disk when i was 16 and it was horrible... i had the cortisone shots and those seemed to help so luckily i didnt need the surgery... but good luck and i'll be praying for you.

look it up on the internet and ask your doctor and he/she should know or the surgon

You don't have too much choice. If you can't deal with the pain, or have neurological changes like losing strength in your extremities or worse..losing bowel and bladder control. Then you have to intervene surgically. The risk are: nothing changes or worsening symptoms. Then you have to figure in a very small chance of paralysis or death. Infection is not at all uncommon but thats fixable. A pretty common thing is a spinal fluid leak, and thats also very fixable but will extend your hospital stay.

I work for a chiropractor and physical therapy place ... There is something called the DRX 9000 which has helped many of our patients who have been told they needed surgery. Look this up or ask your doctor if he knows about it.

Hi there, I'm so sorry for your pain, I've been there and unless you feel it yourself you would never believe how bad it is, huh?
Good news is, I had the surgery done Dec '05, and it was the best choice I've ever made. There really aren't any immediate risks, other than the risk of surgery itself. I was admitted to the hospital the night before my surgery, had the surgery in the AM, and was walking in the hall that PM, with much less pain than I had been in. Actually, I woke in recovery knowing that I felt better, I could tell that the pressure had been lifted. Anyway, I went home the next afternoon. I'm not gonna lie, the first couple of days where a little difficult, but it wasn't long at all that I had my independance back. I don't know if your sciatic nerve is affected in your situation, but a little hint if it is, after surgery you may want to buy one of those toilet seat risers, it makes the seat about 4" higher. You can't believe how much it helps, for some reason it is really hard to get up and down from there. Also another hint, for the first days, when you are getting out of bed or a chair, have someone in front of you so that you can lift straight up, instead of leaning like you would on your own. In about 10 days you should be doing really well!! I tried to get up and around as much as I could because I knew if I layed around it would take me longer to heal.
Sorry this was so long, but I really want you to know that there is no reason to be worried about the surgery, It's worth it.
I hope you feel better soon, so sorry you have to feel that awful pain!! Good Luck

If you have a good doc' you'll be fine! I'm 25, had back surgery when I was 22 for herniated discs in the lumbar spine. Obviously, becoming paralized is a risk, re-injuring the disc if exercises aren't followed to strengthen the muscles, infection...... basically things that go along with any other surgery. For me, I had a complete disc replacement at L4-L5 and L5-S1. . . it has totally been worth it! I was released from the hospital 3 days after the surgery and back to doing "normal" things within about 3 months.