How long should I sleep after lumbar surgery?

Lumbar spine surgery is mainly performed on patients with more serious conditions such as lumbar disc herniation. After surgery, people generally need to rest in bed for a while, because excessive exercise may cause secondary damage to the surgical wound. So are there any special requirements for the rest time? Let me introduce it to you today.

1. Early lumbar support and protection

Conventional surgery for lumbar disc herniation is an open surgery, which requires the stripping of the waist and back muscles before entering the surgery. The surgical operation will inevitably cause damage to the muscles and soft tissues. Soft tissue repair after the operation requires rest and protection. Therefore, the patient needs to stay in bed for a certain period of time. Generally, if the patient does not have severe osteoporosis, the bed rest time for simple nucleus pulposus removal is 2 weeks, and the waist belt must be worn for 6-8 weeks; if there is intervertebral fusion and internal fixation, the patient can get out of bed as appropriate one week after the operation, but a waist belt will be needed for 8-12 weeks after getting out of bed; for minimally invasive lumbar surgery, since there is less damage to the soft tissue, the patient can get out of bed and move around in advance, and generally the patient can get out of bed the next day after the operation. The latest lumbar foraminal endoscopic minimally invasive nucleus pulposus removal surgery can even allow the patient to get out of bed one hour after the operation, but the patient still needs to wear a waist belt for 4-6 weeks after the operation.

2. Early prevention of nerve root adhesion and lower limb muscle strength training

Adhesions within the spinal canal and nerve root canal are still inevitable after lumbar surgery. Severe adhesions within the spinal canal can cause serious complications and are one of the main reasons for poor surgical results. Straight leg raising training in the early stage after surgery is a good way to prevent nerve root adhesion. It is also one of the methods of lower limb muscle strength training. Generally, straight leg raising training can be started on the second day after surgery. The training method is 3-4 times a day, 30-50 straight leg raisings each time, alternating legs. Straight leg raising training generally lasts for 4 weeks, especially in the early 1-2 weeks after surgery. It is very important.

3. Functional training of waist and back muscles

Functional training of the waist and back muscles is one of the main methods to improve the waist support function. It can not only quickly restore the strength of the waist, but is also the main means to prevent and treat postoperative low back pain. Commonly used methods of waist and back muscle training include "Little Swallow Flying" and abdominal and hip lifting training. Waist and back muscle training can usually be performed after the wound pain is relieved 3-4 weeks after surgery, 2-3 times a day, 5-10 minutes each time, and generally lasts until 12 weeks after surgery.

4. Control of the scope and amount of activities after surgery

After surgery, patients generally feel weakness in the waist when they start to get out of bed, so the range and amount of activity should be increased gradually. At the beginning, they mainly get out of bed to eat and urinate. With the recovery time and waist and back muscle function training, the time and range of activities of getting out of bed should be gradually increased.

5. What is the best exercise after lumbar surgery?

A good exercise method can not only exercise the organs of all parts of the body, but also will not cause side effects to other tissues. Swimming is a very good way of exercise. It can not only exercise the organs of all systems of the body, but also will not cause strain on the lower limb joints caused by conventional shore exercises. Breaststroke and butterfly stroke, in particular, are the best ways of exercise after lumbar surgery. Generally speaking, you can start swimming 4 weeks after surgery.

6. Prevention of recurrence after lumbar spine surgery

Except for lumbar disc herniation nucleotomy and intervertebral fusion and internal fixation, which are radical surgeries, postoperative recurrence of lumbar simple nucleotomy and minimally invasive nucleotomy are common problems. So how to prevent it? That is to reduce the factors that cause re-herniation, try to reduce bending movements and bending exercises, especially strenuous bending and bending to lift heavy objects, and at the same time strengthen the training of the waist and back muscles.