[Don Plumley]

My wife had a T12-L1 extruded disc in 2000 (at 38). Started to have a dropped foot, so intervention was called for. We interviewed a number of surgeons, including one which we told him he would not operate, but if this were his wife/daughter, would he?

She had a microdiscectomy and was skiing in 11 months. Zero post surgical issues, rapid recovery.

We too were very hesitant to have back surgery. But as opposed to spinal fusion (almost never good) or disc replacement, the microdiscectomy appears to have high efficacy and our experience was very good. If the same happened to me, based upon my wife's recovery I would have zero hesitation.

Trick is to pick the right doc. Many general Ortho surgeons are qualified to do it. Our doc did back surgery exclusively. That's the kind of specialist you'd want.

Good luck - and pm if you have any questions.