re:
Yes, I was in a brace for maybe a couple months? I don't remember the exact amount of time but it was at least a month. After that I did 3 months of physical therapy. I opted to continue my physical therapy another 6 months just for my own piece of mind and they said it wouldn't hurt. I'm pretty skinny and don't have much muscle mass so I wanted to make sure my back was extra strong.
I think if you have a good Doctor like I did, the IDET would have been the best decision you've ever made. Dr. Derby was recommended to me by numerous orthopedic surgeons when I lived in California.
I opted for the IDET since it allowed me to keep my discs and still allowed me the option to have the fusion if the IDET were to fail.
I believe there are still studies in the works where synthetic discs are being used in place of metal. I'd looked it up as a "just in case" measure years ago but haven't kept up with it since I've gotten better.
|