Quote Originally Posted by obscured78 View Post
I'd say it's been at least 5 or 6 years since they did disc replacement in lower back. I'm not sure if their decision had anything to do with insurance or FDA. They just weren't having good enough success rates that they stopped. He said some company is working on new technology for lower level disc replacement but it's not out yet.

Fusion is a very last resort. No motion on that level after surgery and then the risk of adjacent levels failing after the surgery. All depends on where your quality of life is before u make that decision. I had herniated disc and had microdiscectomy to fix that which completely healed my nerve pain however that level L5-S1 is collapsed and he said I need a fusion if I want to treat the back pain that I still have. I'm not quite there yet. I hurt everyday but I push thru. Just started back to gym. Only thing that I love but I can't do is go mountain biking but I'm still believing by faith in Jesus one day I will mountain bike again.
My fusion is at the l4-l5 disc, and the only problem I have is slight loss of range of motion. It less than 5%, but it affects certain things I do in the gym, but theres alternatives. I can still squat and deadlift. I was lucky enough to find a doctor that did his residency under some of the best spinal surgeons in the country, and has a 95% success rate for fusions. When I made the decision to get the fusion they found I no longer had a disc left. It was virtually gone, and the only reason I was able to function day to day was pain killers by the handful.

I was very lucky, I hear stories like what guns01 posted all the time. I actually had a chance to get an artificial disc. I fit all the requirements for a trial that was testing a new disc replacement. Some people got the fda approved one, and other got the new one. I applied and was chosen, I only backed out because the travel was to much. Im kind of glad I did now that I hear they aren't that effective in the lumbar spine.

I hope both of you get back to 100%, because back pain is horrible.