Pain in my butt

Chronic back pain can be distressing and can diminish quality of life as you have found. Speaking plainly, it sucks and my heart goes out to you and all those individuals (and their caregivers) who must live in near-constant pain.

My wife had an auto accident a few years ago and suffered disc herniation at L4-L5, as you have. She has not worked full time since and she spends a lot of time in bed in pain. Not fun for her or me. A while ago, as an alternative to risky disc-fusion surgery, we found out about a procedure called an IDETT (intradiscal electro thermal therapy). The procedure is minimally invasive and not nearly as risky as disk surgery. If I recall correctly, the success rate is better than that of disc surgery. They basically insert a wire into the disc under X-ray and heat it up, which causes the herniation to heal. I believe it is done under mild anesthesia. If I were you, I would look into this procedure and find out if you are a good candidate.

My wife is actually an ideal candidate, but she has now developed a phobia to undergoing anesthesia, which has caused her to postpone the procedure. Possibly after undergoing psychotherapy for this irrational (but very real) fear, she will eventually have the IDETT. SHEESH!

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that there are other alternatives to disc surgery. Do some research and find out more about the IDETT and you could also look at something called a nucleoplasty.

Good Luck!

Sorry to read of your condition, get well soon. OTOH, my brother is interested in getting a late model Subaru - are you anywhere near Philly?! (With a business like that, you're probably in Seattle - where he just moved from!)

Ernie, i'm sorry to hear and learn of your situation. Health issues are never easy to deal with, especially when it comes to just being able to perform normal run of the mill, day to day functions. Health is something that most of us take for granted and don't realize the value of it until something "bad" happens.

While i've never had to deal with anything near as serious as what you state, i've had more than my fair share of visits to medical therapists, specialists and chiropractor's. Learning from experience, i would only like to pass on that one needs to exercise on a regular basis and never overlook the importance of having a good "sleeping platform" aka "bed". Much of the pain that we suffer can be relieved by simply paying attention to the basics that are bodies require. I'm sure that i'm preaching to the choir on this, but i'd rather have others think about such things now than have to deal with the repurcussions later.

Once again, best wishes and we'll be praying for a full and speedy recovery. In the meantime, crank some tunes and keep pushing forward. Sean
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All my wishes from afar for patience (back problems take time to heal), perseverance (keep the music flowing). May the butt remain & the pain go away! Cheers

Hello,
Wanted to say sorry for your back problem, I had surgery 5 years ago for an L4/5 herniated disk, and although the sciatica pressure was relieved, other problems can arise from surgery such as
problems from scar tissue, muscle weakness,possible arthritis,and constant pain. I wanted to add another alternative to surgery, which may be available which involves injection of a papaya enzyme into the nucleus of the disc, and over a several week period shrinks the disc and impending bulge. The downside is that if there is an allergic reaction to the enzyme,death can occur, but I understand that there is a test which can be performed to rule that out. Good luck on your recovery, and hope you can avoid surgery!
Jerry