Is the spinal fusion the death of all fun?

Ok Mutants, here is an article that was inspired by a chat with one of my young mutant whelplings. She is a fantastic young lady, who just recently had spinal fusion (within the last year) and we met through a mutual friend.

Now, during the conversation, a question or idea was raised regarding the removal of a fusion. Now, generally, a fusion is done for following reasons:

Degenerative disk disease
Spondylolisthesis
Spinal stenosis
Scoliosis
Fracture
Infection
Tumor

Now, whilst these look all fun, and awesome scar showing off potential scenario's, they all require that the spine be set to as close a functional alignment of the spine as possible. For example, in my instance (Scoliosis/Kyphosis), having the spine fused halted the degeneration and curvature of the spine in its tracks. In this scenario, any form of continued movement would have me be the ideal change on the ground looking person in the pack. The question then stands, is not having a fusion better? Well, honestly, that would depend on the situation. Most doctors recommend fusion as an alternative to bracing. This creates what is called internal fixation, and leads to an obvious decrease in spinal mobility.

Now back to the original question, are there any instances where removing the fusion be good? Without knowing too much of the mechanics behind it, my answer still stands at a no, based on the following reasons:

Increased chance of infection: This is due to several factors. Firstly and most obvious is the re-opening of a surgical site, which by its very nature, is going to cause internal and external matter to come into contact. Secondly, the fact that the bones will have to be damaged to remove the fusion. As my surgeon told me a long time ago, that if a bone is broken internally, and there is a chance of infection externally, then you not only run the problem of blood infections, but marrow and spinal chord infections can occur. This is what nearly killed off this old mutant. And finally, as with all forms of surgery around the spine, the chance of paralysis occurring increases each time you go into a persons spine. This would be increased by the potential of dislodging internal matter into the spinal chord, and causing severing of the spinal chord through something much akin to having grenade fragments in your back.

A potential for relapse, or deterioration of the spine due to weakness in the core strength of the muscles surrounding the spine: Now, as well all know, not only is the back held up by pieces of scotch tape and duct tape, with a few bits of blutack thrown in for good measure, but we also know that there is bone, muscle, tendons and cartilage. These are all very dependent on being in harmony with each-other. Now, when these are cut into, scar tissue becomes a new factor thrown into place. Now internal adhesion, aka internal scar tissue, adds a new twist. By having to cut through already formed scar tissue, you actually create more scar tissue. Now, the original layer forms an adhesion between the two opposing sections, for example, skin. Now, opening this scar up again, or the internal scar tissue, can actually weaken the structure of the site, and make the internal areas around the site more painful. It has been known for internal scar tissue to fuse organs onto the surrounding structure and thus creating huge a mounts of pain, let alone a decrease in the functional output of the organ. Which for me is why any weight on pressing on the curvature of the spine decreases my breathing immensely, where going on a bike ride feels quite manageable. A lot of people, even flatbacks and normals, let alone us mutants, totally neglect the concept of core strength in their daily well being. For obvious reasons, having all of your abdominal muscles supporting your spine is going to go a long way to easing up the pain that many of us experience when we have had back trauma. There are many good exercises for this, but the oldest is still one of the best, and that is to lay on your back, and suck your stomach in and try to engage all of your muscles around your stomach. Sure this exercise isn't going to get you the abs where old Russian peasant women will come flocking to wash their laundry on, but it will stop your back from becoming weaker and making you look like the letter L trying to look at the ground.

Loss of feeling, sensation: If you have ever cut your finger deep enough with a kitchen knife, and you are all healed up, and notice that your finger tip is numb, that is because you have severed, or severely impaired the wiring from your brain to your finger. Ok, so now picture that on your spine. Sure, having a dead spot on your body can make for great party talk and even a few dares, but, honestly, you would like to feel that the water is too hot before you become lobster red from the burning. And seeing that the human body is still a marvel of regenerative power, the nerve endings never seem to reconnect just right. Imagine that happening two or three more times in a row.

So my little mutant friend, and for my general readership as a whole, I hope that this has answered a lot of your questions? Now, I know you have more, so I will give the answers to you briefly. No, getting a fusion removed will not instantly heal your pain or appearance. If life is anything to be learned from, you may just end up making the problem worse than it was originally. Yes, doing all of those tedious little exercises the physio people do have a purpose other than trying to drive you insane. A lot of the exercises are designed to re-introduce movement into the spine by activating the muscles around it, and to activate the spine as little as possible. This also increases the healing rate and chances of nerve regrowth by using pathways that are commonly engaged on a daily basis, and re-establishing a link that is already there.

Be well my dear friends, remember, we are all a community of people trying to make ourselves feel better! So remember, that showing someone else that there is a benifit to healthy choices, is just as much a reward unto itself as the as making a living doing it.