For those of you who have had decompression surgery what has been your outcome. Are your symptoms better? Do you feel different after? Have you had any side effects after? Thank you.
Hi Jackie, my understanding from reading our members posts is that surgical outcomes and experiences have been very individual. I guess the people who have had the quickest recoveries and most complete symptom relief are those who don't come here very much now because they are out living their lives to the full again.
In the Discussion section we have a whole area dedicated to Surgery and Recovery which you may like to browse through at your leisure. Some people also post their experiences in General or as a Blog.
Hope this helps get your information gathering off to a start. Kindest, Jules
Hi, Jackie! I haven't had surgery, but I read somewhere that around 50% people become symptom free, 20-30% improve significantly and the rest stay the same or get worse. These numbers aren't very precise, because there hasn't been much research about it. When I read that, I thought " That's wierd, I rarely read that they get better", but I guess that's just because they go back to their normal lives, like Jules said. And also we have to take into account the recovery process which can be quite long.
HI Jackie,
I had my surgery 7 years ago now, but I still use this site because some time it is just nice to talk and offer advice where I can.
My symptoms HAVE improved, are they completely gone, no. But they have been significantly better. I still suffer with my left arm and sometimes my body feels heavy, but that is to be expected. I have felt a lot different, and it may sound silly but with each passing year I feel stronger and more positive. If you any other questions please do ask :)
Lottie. xx
Hi Jackie,
I am not gonna rain on any parades or anything else but I am from the side that is worse after surgery but no one is sure why they just keep poking me. I was much better the first few months after surgery and my Doc was going crazy talking to me about things he wanted to put in his book. Then I hit my head on a low ceiling and on the bottom side of a desk my 3rd month back at work and from then on it has been so many Docs I am going crazy. All said and done I would have the surgery again in a heart beat if it would help change how I am. But I have been to several guys that say it will not do any good to reopen me so lets find another way. I think if I was asked if the surgery was worth it I would say it was very worth it just from what I know now. I had full movement of my neck back and still do although some angles hurt now. I was back at work in a little (2 months 3 days) and was doing good till the head injuries.
Ron feel free to ask my anything about it.