In September of 2011 I underwent a Laminectomy for a herniated disc at L5/S1. The operation was performed by a Neurosurgeon who advised decompression to alleviate a large herniated disc applying pressure to a nerve root. He also removed a Schwannoma, unrelated to the L5/S1 disc issue which you can read about here. The entire procedure lasted approximately 5 hours and I stayed one night at the hospital.
My recovery took several months and involved a few weeks rest then a long period of Physiotherapy. There was inflammation in the area(s) of incision and I was constantly looking for pain relief from the burning sensation. I later found out through an MRI that scar tissue had formed around a nerve root which was probably the cause of the burning.
It’s taken several years for the pain to settle down from the Laminectomy and follow up imaging shows that there’s far less pressure on the nerve root from the protruding disc at L5/S1. Overall, i’m please with the results even though it’s taken a lot longer to heal than I thought it would.
