When recovering from a discectomy, there are some assistive devices that can be helpful. One of these is a walker. If you had spinal disc surgery in your lower back area to address leg pain caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve, you may benefit from using a walker during the first few weeks of your recovery. This article discusses how a walker can be a useful accessory as you recover from a discectomy.
Reducing Your Fall Risk
During the first few days after surgery, you may still be a bit too fatigued or drowsy to use a walker, as it could increase your risk of falling. If you have even a minor fall after having a discectomy or a less invasive microdiscectomy, you could reinjure the affected spinal disc or experience another herniation in the same general area.
Maintaining Your Balance
Lower back spinal discs often affect the sciatic nerve if a herniation occurs. This often means dealing with pain and nerve-based symptoms that include numbness and tingling sensations. Even when the sciatic nerve is no longer irritated by a herniated disc, it can take time for the nerve to fully heal. As a result, you may be a bit unsteady on your feet as you heal and recover.
A walker provides added peace of mind and security as you become mobile during the early stages of recovery, especially if you had a lumbar discectomy. Plus, you will be more likely to be active while recovering if you use a walker as an added source of stability and support. If you do not make an effort to walk post-surgery, your recovery could take longer, or you may not get the maximum benefits from physical therapy. Additionally, a walker can benefit you by:
• Helping you maintain your sense of independence
• Making it easier to get around your home and other environments
• Easing stress on your healing spine
• Reducing the need to rely too much on other family members to get up and move around
Finding the Right Walker for Your Needs
You have several options to consider with walkers if you decide to use one during your initial recovery period. A standard walker has four legs with rubber tips to help with traction and reduce friction. Additional options include:
• Two-wheeled walkers – This kind of walker is not good for supporting your full weight, which may be a problem if you need to put your weight on it to get around.
• Three-wheeled walkers – These walkers are a bit lighter, yet they provide more support because of the extra wheel and you can safely place more of your weight on them.
• Four-wheeled walkers – If you do not need too much support after your discectomy, you may prefer this type of walker.
Even though discectomy surgery is a common and generally quite successful procedure, a hole is frequently left in the outer wall of the disc. In fact, 70 percent of all reherniations come from large holes in the disc. These reherniations often require additional surgery or even fusions. Fortunately, there is a new treatment specifically designed to close the large holes that are often left in spinal discs after discectomy surgery. Barricaid is a bone-anchored device proven to reduce reherniations, and 95 percent of Barricaid patients did not undergo a reoperation due to reherniation in a 2-year study time frame. This treatment is done immediately following the microdiscectomy—during the same operation—and does not require any additional incisions or time in the hospital.
If you have any questions about the Barricaid treatment or how to get access to Barricaid, ask your doctor or contact us at 844-288-7474.
For full benefit/risk information, please visit: https://www.barricaid.com/instructions.
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