Originally Posted by CDSmith

And hopefully you never will.

As I said this one was on my upper and lower spine. When I was 16 (way back in '79) I had a spinal fusion done on the middle of my spine to correct for scoliosis. I had an "S" type curve and at it's worst was 45 degrees. So I've lived all my life with a fused spine, and sure enough just as the surgeon and other doctors involved said, once I get into my 40's I would start seeing signs of degeneration in my upper and lower back.

Osteo-arthritis has set in over the years, nothing much can be done about it except to take certain measures to try and slow it's progress. But in recent years I've also developed other symptoms, one being sciatica and other pinched nerve problems. The muslcles and tendons throughout the regions are like iron from all the years of growing inflamation. I'm actually kind of hoping this new specialist I'm seeing will decide on a surgical solution to alleviate some of that, especially the sciatica, so I'm kind of encouraged by those here who said they had such a surgery. (assuming your surgeries produced positive results for you)