If you’ve been living with serious back pain for a while, you’ve probably been through several therapeutic solutions which haven’t worked for you. You may still be trying but when you’re in pain, it can get exhausting.
And once conservative treatment options have been exhausted, people like you often start considering surgery.
Surgery sounds like a big deal and it is but there are new techniques which are making it much less intimidating. One of these is minimally-invasive spine surgery.
If that’s an option you’ve been thinking about but you’re wondering about the amount of time it might take to recover, this post is for you. We’re going to share what you need to know about recovering from minimally-invasive spine surgery.
Hospital Stay
Your hospital stay, while recovering from minimally-invasive surgery, is much shorter than it might be with traditional, open surgery.
That’s one of the key advantages of the technique. Incisions are small, meaning less bleeding and a greatly reduced chance of the most common surgical complication, infection.
All minimally-invasive procedures are different. In some cases, patients can return home within hours after surgery. With the lumbar fusion, you may be required to remain in hospital overnight, being released the following day.
Recovery Time
Again, recovery time is radically reduced due to the small incision and reduced bleeding. Another key factor is that this technique dispenses with the need to cut through adjacent muscle, which represents less trauma.
Because all these procedures address different conditions of the spine, varying recovery times apply. The spinal fusion will require more time, due to the bone needing to fuse.
Also impacting this post-surgical factor are patient state of health, as well as lifestyle factors which may impede normal healing (smoking, obesity).
Your medical team will maintain close contact to observe your progress. You may also be assigned a physical therapist to help you strengthen your body and to restore lost mobility.
While all of the above is true, what’s great to know about recovering from minimally-invasive spine surgery is that the nature of the intervention is significantly less physically traumatic. This delivers excellent recovery times. So, work with your recovery team and you’ll be feeling more like yourself before you know it, if you choose this route.
Things to Talk to Your Doctor About
As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, we realize that you’ve probably been through the therapeutic mill with your back pain. But do you know you’ve exhausted all avenues of relief?
Talk to your doctor about your progress and your health goals. Ask about minimally-invasive surgery and whether it’s right for your back condition. Should you decide, in consultation, to proceed, prepare yourself by stopping smoking and losing as much weight as you can prior to surgery, if you’re overweight.
You’ll find that your doctor will agree with us on both counts, as these are two key factors determining overall outcomes and success rates.
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