Anyone ever had a slipped disc?

My Mum slipped a disc in her back or similar (think it might have been the stuff between discs) she had a lot of pain, was laid up etc but didn't have an operation. In the end she went to see an osteopath and hasn't looked back, the difference is remarkable.

He went to an osteopath originally but was referred on for surgery because he was getting sciatica and nerve damage - apparently if it doesn't impact on the nerve it's better to not have surgery and wait for it to recover, so presume that's what your mum had? How long was her recovery?

Hi Looby

I had 2 slipped discs last year, 1 in January and had the op in April, then all was fine until about July when I started to get the severe pains in my back again, after much prodding of my consultant I managed to get another scan and they found that the disc underneath had now slipped, (apparently this is a very common 'side effect' if you opt for surgery). With the second one I declined further surgery and had physio instead and am now pretty much back to normal. If the operation was a total success he should not have any pain at all, as I didn;t for the first 10 weeks after or so, if I were him I would push to get another MRI scan done to see if perhaps another disc has gone. Also did they remove the whole disc or just slice the protruding part off? Oh and has he had his outpatients appointment yet?

He went back to see the surgeon again after 6 weeks - is that what you mean? The surgeon said they wouldn't even think about whether it had worked or not for 6 months after the op to give everything time to settle. He had a hole in the nerve apparently but they reckoned on 3 months for that to repair.

Were you taking any painkillers after your op, or was it literally all gone straight away? Pain-wise he seems no different to before the surgery, although it's different pain because the sciatica is gone and now it's all back pain. The only improvement has been that he's a bit more mobile now.

Gosh my consultant said they could tell straight away whether it had worked i.e had the pain gone, and that normally within 4-6 weeks everything should be back to normal. The only thing I had a problem with after was my wound which took a while to heal up due to a haematoma(sp) but all pain had gone which really it should do as the disc is no longer there to put pressure on anything.
I have to be honest and say if I were him I would really push for another scan even if it's just to make sure that another disc hasn't gone, I know this can be hard though we ended up paying for my first scan as the docs were like 'just take the painkillers for a while longer and see what happens'. I got my chiropracter to refer me on and was seen within 1 week amd the results were back within 48hrs.
As I said before with my 2nd disc the pain started to ease by itself and so I decided to go for physio rather than another op, maybe he could get a referral from his GP for physio and see what they say.
I can fully sympathise with him though I was off work for a year with mine.

Hmm, really does sound like things are not right, doesn't it. He's pretty hopeless with doctors so will have to push him to push for a scan. I've got to say, the treatment he's had from the surgeon/aftercare has been rubbish - it was all done privately too.

He's having physio and has had hydrotherapy too. They seem to help with the mobility and range of motion, but the pain is still there.

I can sympathise with the rubbish aftercare bit, I didn't get to see my consultant until 5 months after my op as they kept cancelling my outpatients appointment with him.
I really would try and get him to push for a scan so then at least you'll know whether it's another disc causing problems or something else that isn't right.
Soemthing else that made me think is can he stand upright completely straight or does he bend slightly to one side, or forwards or backwards?

He can stand straight - can't bend forwards really at all. Well, he can but it's painful. He can't lift anything and can't drive for more than about 15/20 minutes and finds being in a car at all impossible for more than about an hour.

He is still working though - only had about 2.5 weeks off after the surgery (We have had MANY conversations about that!!!) although he can't work full-time yet and probably won't be able to for at least another 6 months I'd say.

Well if he's not bent over to the side that shows that the disc hasn't pushed out of the side, although it could still mean that one has pushed out forwards or backwards.
I can't believe he went back to work so soon!! I only just went back this January after being off for a year, however my job is primarily driving, and as I couldn't sit in a car at all in the first stages of the discs going and afterwards not for very long, my work had no issue with this. Also I work for a large bank so I think they were a bit worried that the driving has caused it.
Anyway as I said I'd push him to get another scan done then you know where to go from there. If it's not another disc it could be anything from nerve damage (you already said there was a bit of that already), to scar tissue, to infection. SO I think the easiest thing to discount is another disc, as from everything that I was told by my consultant is that the op should get rid of the pain pretty much straight away.
I hope you can get some answers on this as I know how wearing it can be with back pain, especially when you're on lots of painkillers, and I suspect it's not much fun for you either.
If I can help with any more info that I got just email me through here or put a message out, I lurk most days ?

Quick update Mercedes, just thought I would let you know he's being referred to a pain consultant for xrays and facet joint injections (long-term spinal blocks basically) which should hopefully help with the pain so he will be able to start physio. His physio reckons it's normal though - he said some people just take a long long time to recover. ☹️