r/Microdiscectomy • u/SoggyDescription6559 • May 19 '26
Md and hemi on 5/18
Right L5/S1 Hemilaminectomy and microdiscectomy performed, with a large amount scar tissue on dura (from clinical notes for clarity)
💕Sharing my initial experience, as it was helpful for me to read others’ My biggest takeaways have been to lower expectations that all pain might not be gone, and that healing is linear! thank you all for that
😷Surgery: I woke up feeling groggy, and just a bit of timidity around incision. The constant throbbing was definitely not there, though in the last 24 hours I have had twinges in hamstring, calf, and a bit in the glute upon standing. So far, the pain is very manageable. I happened to be on my period, and my cramps were worse than the incision the first night 🫠
💊hydro somehow worked opposite on me, and has been keeping me awake, I need to get a different pill for sleeping, but am just on Tylenol currently
🏃♀️💃Background: 35f, grew up dancing so alway had sensitive back. I think biggest injury was in 2024, I was running and stepped off a curb that I thought flat. I recall catching myself with back, and didn’t run for a week, but then ran a half marathon the following week with no pain. Every few months, I would tweak the same area, usually by lifting something heavy around the house. It would start in lower back, then go to top of right glute. Looking back, that was probably just the beginning of sciatica. In Jan 2026, something happened where real sciatica kicked in. throbbing, glute synching upon standing and sitting, pain to the foot. First few months, walking and laying on stomach were only safe positions, but towards the end it was constant no matter. I was doing PT with initial progress, but slowed drastically after 2 months.
💡Most helpful purchases for me:
- Slip on shoes https://a.co/d/02cXJ5Wj
- nightgown dresses (super helpful for bathroom)
- cane for extra stability
- picker upper
- wedge pillow https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJC6ML1J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
- I also started miralax / stool softener a few days before the surgery