Anyone have advice for someone about to undergo back surgery?

Be prepared to take it easy and rest for as long as your physician tells you to. Most people actually feel a lot better before the muscles that the surgeon has to dissect through in order to get to your spine have had a chance to heal properly, and are prone to over doing it and causing muscular damage. Additionally, you may feel the urge to skip therapy sessions because you are feeling well, but therapists are a crucial part of the recovery phase. The have the knowledge to assist you in rehabilitating your back in the most efffective way possible, with the least amount of risk for injury. They also will help you to do things that you might be unwilling to do yourself as part of the recovery phase (because it hurts a little). And keep an eye on your incision site: if it gets red, hot to the touch, or begins to leak cloudy fluid, it is important to contact your physician or be seen at the E.R. immediately. An infection is bad enough, but if they plan on putting any hardware into your spine (screws, rods, etc.) and infection would mean going in and taking out all of the hardware that was just put in until the infection was gone and then repeating the procedure all over again.Anyone have advice for someone about to undergo back surgery?
Get good sleep and stay hydrated in the days before the surgery and try to stay relaxed. After the procedure, be sure to do the rehabilitation that is recommended to you, all of it. Any time you have anything surgically done to you, especially something with bones, you need to be sure to do all of the rehab.





Good luck with it all!