I just answered the same question on another thread... for your enjoyment, here it is again...
I just dug back through my old emails. This is about hip pain that is caused by positioning on the table. However, I've seen the same type of thing MANY, MANY times through the years with other types of surgery induced pains. 3 weeks is way early. This may take only a few weeks to fade or it may take a few months. I've known a few cases with substantial surgery induced pain that was permanent, but these are very rare and represent a tiny percentage of the patients I know... (reconsidering my answer, the cases I know with permanent pain were in familiar pain patterns - presumably from permanent damage before surgery. However, in some of those cases, the post-op pain was worse than pre-op.)
These are emails from a friend who had 2-level ProDisc in November 2003.
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12/06/03 Mark, this is the stupidest thing I ever did... the hip pain is so much worse than my pre-op pain. I hope this wasn't a huge mistake!
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12/18/2003 Oh, and the fu**ing hip pain is back tonite. Happy holidays!"
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12/25/2003 Just thought I'd give you a quick update on my recovery - today was my second day with NO pain meds. That's right, you heard me, NO pain meds. I still have pain meds, but don't need them, at least for right now.
I have a little discomfort lingering in my left hip (ice takes care of that), but no major pains anywhere. The biggest thing I notice is it feels like both hamstrings down the backs of my legs are really tight, but stretching two or three times a day helps that, along with walking. I'm also sleeping all nigh longt. The only time I woke up the last three nights was because I was coughing - I took some cough syrup and back to sleep I went.
I still feel tired - like I don't have as much energy, but that's probably from my cold. Pretty cool for only 30 days post-op, huh!?!?! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts - who knows what tomorrow will bring.
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1/25/2004 Okay - you gotta promise you won't yell at me or shake your head in disgust!......
I mowed my lawn today (just the front). It didn't hurt one bit, and even now, two hours later, I'm still feeling fine. I did wear my back brace however.
I'm dropping off my bike tomorrow for a tune-up - I think I'm ready for a bit more than just walking and stretching.
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I'm on my way to having a normal life again.....unbelievable!
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Doreen was not in the Army, but she is a cop. She returned to her job, back to high speed chases, wrestling drunks, martial arts training. She's also into horseback riding and was on our ADR ski trip last March.
See the video here.
Give it time... you are along for the ride. Your recovery may be fast or slow, but you just had a huge surgery. I'm very encouraged that the things you are asking about don't sound too serious. All the best.
Mark