Dr. Corenman
The current situation is that I do have overall improvement in the feeling of the foot but symptoms remain in the L5 dermatome distribution at the dorsum & balls of the foot are very sensitive and carry wrong pulses of pain, numbness and a heat sensation while the foot is to much time in a closed shoe.
This impacts my my ability to wear certain shoes, to run or to hike freely/for distance and to put pressure on my foot while squatting or bending on my toes.
I’m still considering a fusion surgery to completely decompress the nerve.
A neurosurgeon I consulted with told me that low back fusion surgeries are not intended for this purpose but mainly for a spine instability or deformaty that cause strong back pain and/or movement problems. He said that I might lose more then I will gain from doing a MIS TLIF.
The truth is I also cannot seat freely and when my back bends at certain angle (which should be normal) I start to pressure growing causing pain on leg so I immediately need to straight up back to L/90° posture or stand up to relive the pressure and then sit back again.
From your own experience and medical studies you know and based on the idea that the nerve is not fully “free” i.e. there is still a forminal stenosis and some mechanical pressure at certain postures can a fusion surgery affect Radiculopathy/paresthesia symptoms (almost two years after discectomy & laminectomy) and help fix the sitting problems (probably will transfer the pressure to L4-5 which is relatively OK)?
Thank You
Happy New Year