5 Tips to Ease Your Recovery from Spine Surgery

Surgery may not be anyone’s ideal choice, but when it can stop chronic and life-limiting pain, it can be a very solid choice. This is often the case with spine surgery, which can help relieve back, neck, and radiating symptoms in your arms or legs.

If you’re opting to have the team here at Texas Spine Consultants perform your spine surgery, you’re in very capable and skilled hands. Michael Hennessy, MD, Andrew Park, MD, Chester Donnally, MD, Robert Viere, MD, and Heidi Lee, MD all have extensive experience helping our patients to regain pain-free movement through spine surgery. 

If you’re joining the 7-8 million people around the globe who undergo spine surgery each year, finding ways to ease your recovery are steps well worth taking. Here are five to get you started.

1. Address potential obstacles at home

You’ll be moving a little gingerly after your spine surgery so do what you can to eliminate obstacles or tripping hazards. For example, loose rugs, exposed wires, and items on stairs should all be addressed. And, now would be a great time to make sure that handrails are tight. Take a good hard look around your house and try to identify, and eliminate, any potential problems in terms of getting around.

2. Prep your spaces

It’s also a good idea to spend some time prepping certain spaces of your house. For example, you don’t want to be reaching up high or bending down low for things in the kitchen. Instead, think of what you use often and have these items handy on the counter. This same concept holds true for your living room, bedroom, home office, and bathroom — place everything that you need within reach. 

3. Engage in your rehabilitation

After your spine surgery, we’re going to send you to physical therapy (PT) and we urge you to keep up with these appointments and whatever exercises your therapist gives you to work on at home.

PT not only gets you moving more quickly, it plays an invaluable role in strengthening your spine, supporting the surgery, and relieving any postsurgical discomfort. In other words, PT helps get you back to pain-free movement more quickly.

4. Follow our instructions

We supply each of our patients with complete aftercare instructions and we also supply more guidance during follow-up visits. It's important to follow our instructions to the letter. Don’t skip ahead on your get-back-to-activity schedule and, conversely, don’t go too slowly in your recovery. If you follow our instructions, you’ll strike the right balance between allowing your spine to heal and pushing it to function better.

5. Ask for help

You’re going to need a little help after your spine surgery so don’t be bashful about asking friends and family to pitch in. Whether it’s grocery shopping or walking your dog, people enjoy lending a hand.

And, don’t forget that we’re here to help, too. If you have any questions or concerns during your recovery from spine surgery, we’re just a phone call away. Simply contact one of our offices in Addison or Plano, Texas.