Spine surgery recovery Getting back to daily life after back or neck surgery

Whether you had a discectomy, a laminectomy or a fusion in the neck or lower back, the operation is only part of the result. How you recover over the following months matters just as much. This post explains what spine surgery recovery usually looks like, what our therapists do, and what to do if pain lingers. For healing pain after any operation, see pain after surgery. Your surgeon’s instructions always come first, and our pre- and post-surgical rehab team works within them.

A typical spine surgery recovery timeline

• First two weeks: wound care, short walks several times a day, and the movement limits your surgeon gives, often no bending, lifting or twisting
• Weeks two to six: longer walks and more independence at home; some people return to desk work
• From about six weeks: formal physical therapy often starts or steps up, sooner after smaller operations
• Three to twelve months: a fusion keeps healing, and heavier work and sport return gradually as your surgeon allows

Every operation and every person is different, so treat these as typical ranges rather than deadlines.

Physical therapy after spine surgery

Physical therapy after surgery turns protected movement back into normal movement. The second video shows the kind of hands-on work and strengthening a physical therapist uses for the lower back. After an operation, therapy usually focuses on:

• Walking farther and longer
• Deep trunk (core) and hip strength to support the spine
• Safe ways to get out of bed, bend, lift and carry
• Posture and tolerance for sitting and standing
• A gradual, planned return to work and exercise

Physical therapy is offered at our Brooklyn and Staten Island offices. For longer-term back care, see our guide to chronic back pain treatment.

Occupational therapy after neck surgery

Surgery on the neck often follows months of arm pain, numbness or hand weakness from a pinched nerve or a narrowed spinal canal. In the first video, an occupational therapist describes her work with a patient after cervical spine surgery and practices hand tasks with him at the table. Occupational therapy rebuilds grip, fine hand control and the everyday skills of dressing, cooking and work, and it is offered at our Brooklyn office only. Learn more about occupational and hand therapy.

When pain continues after spine surgery

Some pain during recovery is expected. Pain that lasts beyond the expected healing time, returns after a good stretch, or spreads into a leg or arm deserves a closer look. A pain management doctor first works out the likely source: a nerve that is still irritated, the joints above or below a fusion, scar tissue, or muscles that tighten and spasm. The third video shows an X-ray-guided procedure for back pain, and the fourth shows an ultrasound-guided trigger point injection for a spasming back muscle. Depending on the cause, options may also include an epidural steroid injection or, for a small number of people with long-standing nerve pain after surgery, a spinal cord stimulator trial. Our post on finding the cause of chronic pain explains the testing.

Tips for a smoother recovery at home

• Walk every day, adding a few minutes at a time
• Roll onto your side to get out of bed instead of sitting straight up
• Change position often; avoid long stretches of sitting
• Follow your lifting limits, even on good days
• If you smoke, stop; smoking slows bone and wound healing

When to call your surgeon

Call your surgeon promptly for fever, redness or drainage at the incision, new or worsening numbness or weakness, or calf pain and swelling. Go to an emergency room or call 911 for loss of bladder or bowel control, sudden leg weakness, chest pain or shortness of breath.

Related care at Precision Care Medical & Sports Performance

Spine surgery rehab near you

For post-surgical rehab in Brooklyn, our Brooklyn physical therapy team, physical therapists Zoya Reznik, DPT, OCS and Maggie (Yi) Zhang, DPT, with physical therapist assistants Dennis Furman, PTA and Leila Nahmoud, PTA, sees patients from Coney Island, Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay. Brooklyn is also where we offer occupational therapy, so if you need occupational therapy in Brooklyn for hand use and daily tasks after neck surgery, start there. For physical therapy on Staten Island, physical therapists Victoria Lynn Kain, DPT and Nicholas “Nick” Ursini, DPT see patients at our Staten Island physical therapy office, convenient to Todt Hill, New Dorp and Eltingville.

If pain continues after surgery, our pain management physicians see patients at all three offices: Ashley Marcus, MD at our Brooklyn office, Jake Stephen, DO at our Staten Island office, and Yuri Gordin, MD at the Precision Care Spine & Pain Center in Midtown Manhattan, convenient to Midtown East, the Upper West Side and Washington Heights. Physical and occupational therapy are not offered at the Midtown Manhattan office. Searching for a physical therapist near me after spine surgery? Request an appointment or call the office closest to you.

Questions patients ask

Educational only, not medical advice. These videos and this article explain common problems and treatments in general terms. They are not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for you. Results vary from person to person. See a qualified clinician about your own symptoms, and call 911 or go to an emergency room for an emergency.

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