Recovery from disc extrusion surgery depends heavily on which type of surgery you elect to have, as well as your overall health and any potentially complicating conditions you also have. For this reason, you should consult your physician for a complete, personalized prediction for what you can expect if you have surgery. Here, however, we can give you a general idea of what happens after an operation.

Recovery timing

Most people want to know how quickly they’ll recover from spine surgery and how fast they can return to the activities they’ve been missing out on. As with any surgery, you can plan on experiencing some downtime to allow the body to heal following an operation. However, the timing of this recovery ranges widely. If you’re thinking about surgery, you may need to rest for a few days and then gradually work through the healing process for weeks or months, or you may even need to commit to a longer healing process. The precise recovery time you experience will depend largely on the kind of surgery you have and the actions you take during your recovery time.

Surgical approaches

Conservative surgical approaches are relatively invasive procedures, while USA Spine Care’s minimally invasive methods aim to minimize the damage to muscles and other tissues surrounding the spine. That means that minimally invasive approaches generally require less recovery time compared to open spine options.^{^}

Helping the healing process

As with any surgery, you will need to use pain management techniques such as taking medication to help with short-term soreness at the incision site. For your long-term health, it is important to begin moving as soon as you’re able to and as your physician advises. Exercise, no matter how minor, can help improve circulation and strengthen muscles fibers, allowing the body to heal more quickly. You probably won’t be doing any strenuous activities or heavy lifting for a while, but taking walks and stretching are advisable for most patients.

What to keep an eye out for

Whatever type of disc extrusion surgery you have, your physician should discuss with you the possible signs of infection, such as a fever or swelling at the incision site. It should be noted that USA Spine Care’s minimally invasive surgery has a 0.55 percent infection rate,^{^} which is lower than the 16 percent infection rate for other surgery providers.

For more information about USA Spine Care and our disc extrusion surgery, contact us today. We’ll happily tell you more about the advantages of our minimally invasive spine surgery and explain the recovery process.

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