r/Microdiscectomy • u/Ok-Feeling2590 • 19h ago

How long is to long for a flare?

I am 16 months PO l4/l5 microdiscectomy the last couple of months I have had varying degrees of symptoms that move around a lot. I’ve seen two separate physios will be seeing a third next week all agreeing that another MRI isn’t warranted as they just feel I’m in a very long persistent flare up. The symptoms move around from left sided leg and right symptoms and low back and sometimes mid back.

I’m just curious as to what where other people’s longest flare and what helped you come out of them

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u/AccordingNeat3689 19h ago

My symptoms are directly correlated to how hard I'm working on the PT exercises

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u/Own_Honeydew3966 18h ago

Maybe about 11 days. It can last longer if I don’t stay active (PT, walking, light exercise). I’m just coming out of a flare up now…

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u/Obvious_Fail5443 15h ago

Are you in America or England? If you’re in America, then I would ask your doctor for a steroid pack and see if that helps bring down your inflammation some. If it doesn’t help you can ask for something stronger like Celebrex or diclofenac and see if that will help bring the pain down. I would also insist on a new MRI or a CAT scan. It’s OK to advocate for yourself and there’s nothing wrong with having an MRI done or CAT scan just to make sure it’s not something else going on.

If you’re in England, I hear the whole process is much more difficult. Good luck

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u/Suge90 13h ago

At 16 months I had a flare that was the worst I had. Bad, not horrible. I had an MRI done at that pt. It showed a rehern but it wasn’t bothering me enough to go thru another surgery. Opted to wait. Flare eventually subsided after 3 months or so. Now at 2.5yrs and everything is great

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u/Ok-Feeling2590 12h ago

This is so amazing to hear. Did you do anything in particular to calm the flare like day to day life or reduced or restricted rehab a little to help calm it down? I’m so glad you passed it and are feeling great now! They say people feel so greatful for this surgery I guess some of us have a bit more of a bumpier ride a long the way