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Epidurals are a miracle technology

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Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#21

Post by rythmshifter »

DivingForGold wrote: post #2

Male scheduled for my 3rd epidural with steroids next week for on-going spinal stenosis, relieves pain for a few days, then back to pain. Will go for minimally invasive micro laminectomy next, tired of treating symptoms and not the root cause. In that procedure surgeon will remove parts of lower vertebrae that is pinching the nerve bundle, nerves that progress down each leg. Success rates of better than 70%, it's a g…

My mother had this surgery and advised me to never have it done due to complications

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#22

Post by thelastgallon »

DivingForGold wrote: post #2

Male scheduled for my 3rd epidural with steroids next week for on-going spinal stenosis, relieves pain for a few days, then back to pain. Will go for minimally invasive micro laminectomy next, tired of treating symptoms and not the root cause. In that procedure surgeon will remove parts of lower vertebrae that is pinching the nerve bundle, nerves that progress down each leg. Success rates of better than 70%, it's a g…

Go for surgery if you have neurological symptoms (loss of sensation, motor function, etc). If its pain, try your best to avoid surgery and find the right physiotherapist to help you be pain free. Spine surgery is risky and there is a risk of cascading failures.

Don't completely trust any anesthesiologist (pain management) or neurosurgeon (for surgery) or chiropractor or random folks advice to do yoga/stretch. Spend quite a bit of time understanding the anatomy, read up on everything and maybe you will find the right set of exercises to help relieve pain. Troubleshooting disk/spine/nerve issues is very hard and most doctors don't have any time to investigate it deeply. They just look at MRI. There are lots of people with the same problems showing up on MRI, but they are pain free.

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#23

Post by Cyph0n »

tptacek wrote: post #18
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you until I remember how expensive medical school plus internship is in the US. If doctors cannot pay back their student loans, it doesn't matter. The majority of folks in medical school have family that can support them now - not fixing education will make this even worse. Don't get me wrong. I support state-sponsored health care, especially after moving from the US to Norway over a decade ago. Just the pea…

Medical professionals in the US make multiples of what the same professionals make in Europe.

And the best of the best of medical students the world over compete to enter the US market. Being US board certified garners the highest pay even outside the US (eg GCC).

It’s kind of like our industry - the higher comp is a big reason behind how the US attracts talent from all over the world.

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#24

Post by mef51 »

I've heard a few times now that giving birth while lying on the back is a relatively modern invention and that for most of history women adopted squatting or leaning forward positions.[1] And that the back position is actually much more painful. How much does laying on the back increase the pain to the point where an epidural is necessary? Is it still necessary in the other positions?

disclaimer: I know nothing about this

[1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260401-women-were-never...

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#25

Post by Calavar »

tptacek wrote: post #18
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you until I remember how expensive medical school plus internship is in the US. If doctors cannot pay back their student loans, it doesn't matter. The majority of folks in medical school have family that can support them now - not fixing education will make this even worse. Don't get me wrong. I support state-sponsored health care, especially after moving from the US to Norway over a decade ago. Just the pea…

Medical professionals in the US make multiples of what the same professionals make in Europe.

This gets said a lot and it kind of irks me. (I am a physician.)

US software devs also make 2x what their European colleagues do, but that never gets called out as bloat. Plus US software devs make that 2x pay without taking our additional loans for medical school at the rate of $75k per year or doing years of low pay residency where their salary doesn’t give them the means to pay off those loans.

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#26

Post by wiz21c »

thelastgallon wrote: post #22
DivingForGold wrote: post #2

Male scheduled for my 3rd epidural with steroids next week for on-going spinal stenosis, relieves pain for a few days, then back to pain. Will go for minimally invasive micro laminectomy next, tired of treating symptoms and not the root cause. In that procedure surgeon will remove parts of lower vertebrae that is pinching the nerve bundle, nerves that progress down each leg. Success rates of better than 70%, it's a g…

Go for surgery if you have neurological symptoms (loss of sensation, motor function, etc). If its pain, try your best to avoid surgery and find the right physiotherapist to help you be pain free. Spine surgery is risky and there is a risk of cascading failures. Don't completely trust any anesthesiologist (pain management) or neurosurgeon (for surgery) or chiropractor or random folks advice to do yoga/stretch. Spend q…

why "not" yoga/stretch ? I understand it may not be the right thing for every kind of pain but the way it is usually presented (your body needs movement) sounds convincing. (I don't practice yoga but taichi)

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#27

Post by ortusdux »

brookside wrote: post #4
DivingForGold wrote: post #2

Male scheduled for my 3rd epidural with steroids next week for on-going spinal stenosis, relieves pain for a few days, then back to pain. Will go for minimally invasive micro laminectomy next, tired of treating symptoms and not the root cause. In that procedure surgeon will remove parts of lower vertebrae that is pinching the nerve bundle, nerves that progress down each leg. Success rates of better than 70%, it's a g…

(While it's clear you've done a ton of your own research for your own case.) Steve Kerr's advice after his own back surgery complications (albeit microdiscectomy, not a laminectomy) make me hesitant: "If you're listening out there, if you have a back problem, stay away from surgery... Rehab, rehab, rehab. Don't let anybody get in there."

I helped a friend through a microdiscectomy, and it could not have gone better. Laparoscopic procedure, short recovery, lifechanging reduction in symptoms. The biggest hurdle was that their insurance required PT/rehab prior to authorization, even though all the experts involved agreed that it would not help.

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#28

Post by causality0 »

thelastgallon wrote: post #22
DivingForGold wrote: post #2

Male scheduled for my 3rd epidural with steroids next week for on-going spinal stenosis, relieves pain for a few days, then back to pain. Will go for minimally invasive micro laminectomy next, tired of treating symptoms and not the root cause. In that procedure surgeon will remove parts of lower vertebrae that is pinching the nerve bundle, nerves that progress down each leg. Success rates of better than 70%, it's a g…

Go for surgery if you have neurological symptoms (loss of sensation, motor function, etc). If its pain, try your best to avoid surgery and find the right physiotherapist to help you be pain free. Spine surgery is risky and there is a risk of cascading failures. Don't completely trust any anesthesiologist (pain management) or neurosurgeon (for surgery) or chiropractor or random folks advice to do yoga/stretch. Spend q…

I have to cautiously agree with you, with the caveat that many physios don't seem to know what they're doing either and the effectiveness of therapy can differ wildly based on which therapist and what regimen they use. Speaking as someone with a herniated disc that went through a discectomy which re-herniated immediately following surgery. Frankly I've only just now started getting relief by reducing the amount of weight pushing on the disc by way of treatment with semaglutide. Could've saved myself thousands of dollars in medical costs and rehab if I'd just done this a year ago.

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#29

Post by eblume »

mef51 wrote: post #24

I've heard a few times now that giving birth while lying on the back is a relatively modern invention and that for most of history women adopted squatting or leaning forward positions.[1] And that the back position is actually much more painful. How much does laying on the back increase the pain to the point where an epidural is necessary? Is it still necessary in the other positions? disclaimer: I know nothing about…

When you've been given an epidural, you are generally required to be in a bed. (This doesn't answer your question, but I think it is relevant.)

Re: Epidurals are a miracle technology

#30

Post by thelastgallon »

wiz21c wrote: post #26
thelastgallon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go for surgery if you have neurological symptoms (loss of sensation, motor function, etc). If its pain, try your best to avoid surgery and find the right physiotherapist to help you be pain free. Spine surgery is risky and there is a risk of cascading failures. Don't completely trust any anesthesiologist (pain management) or neurosurgeon (for surgery) or chiropractor or random folks advice to do yoga/stretch. Spend q…

why "not" yoga/stretch ? I understand it may not be the right thing for every kind of pain but the way it is usually presented (your body needs movement) sounds convincing. (I don't practice yoga but taichi)

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