Sitting, Sleeping and Walking After Spine Surgery: Posture Habits That Protect Healing

The first thing many people notice after a back operation is not the incision. It is the chair. The soft sofa that used to feel like a reward now feels like a trap, and the dining chair that always seemed too stiff is suddenly the only seat in the house that makes sense. A surgeon’s instruction sheet says something about sitting after spine surgery for short periods only, and the question that follows is immediate: how short, and for how long?

Posture after a spine operation is not about looking tidy. It is about load. Every position you hold places a measurable amount of pressure on the discs, the screws, the bone graft or the small window of bone a surgeon removed, and some positions ask far more of a healing spine than others.

This explainer walks through sitting, sleeping and walking in plain terms: what each one does to the lower back, what mainstream guidance actually says about timing, and where the myths start.

Why does sitting after spine surgery matter so much?

Standing feels like the tiring position, so people are often surprised that sitting is the one surgeons fuss about. The reason sits in physics. Classic measurements of pressure inside the lumbar discs, taken with tiny sensors in volunteers, showed that unsupported sitting loads the lower discs more than relaxed standing, and slumped sitting loads them more still. Lying flat on the back drops that pressure to its lowest level. The spine does not care whether you feel busy; it cares about angle and support.

When you sit, the pelvis tends to roll backward and the natural inward curve of the lower back flattens. That shift pushes the front of each disc together and stretches the back wall, exactly the region most lumbar operations touch. After a diskectomy (removal of the part of a disc pressing on a nerve) the remaining disc wall is thinner than before. After a fusion (joining two or more vertebrae with bone graft and usually metal hardware) the hardware holds the segment still while new bone forms, but the levels above and below take extra bending stress.

Time adds to the effect. A single minute in a flattened posture does very little. Forty minutes of it, repeated across a day, keeps the healing tissue under sustained strain and tends to stiffen the muscles that should be sharing the work. Early postoperative advice therefore targets two things at once: how you sit and how long you stay there.

None of this means sitting is forbidden. Sitting upright at the edge of the bed on day one is part of standard recovery, and getting out of bed early reduces the risks that come with lying still, including blood clots and chest infections, as NHS guidance on lumbar decompression recovery notes. The aim is sitting that supports the back rather than sitting that hangs from it.

What actually happens inside a healing spine

Spine operations differ enormously, and posture advice follows the surgery, so it helps to know which kind you had. Mayo Clinic groups the common ones usefully.

A decompression removes whatever is pinching a nerve. A laminectomy takes away part of the lamina, the bony arch at the back of a vertebra, to make room. A diskectomy removes the bulging portion of a disc. The structures around that spot are left to heal like any other surgical wound: skin in about two weeks, deeper muscle and ligament over several weeks, with the scar tissue continuing to remodel for months.

A fusion is a different project. The surgeon places bone graft between or alongside the vertebrae, often with screws and rods to hold everything still. The hardware is scaffolding; the real repair is biological. Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins both describe the fusion itself, the growth of solid bone across the segment, as a process that takes several months, and in some people up to a year, before the bone is mature. During that window, repeated bending or twisting through the operated level can disturb the graft and slow or weaken the fusion.

Nerves heal on their own, slower timetable. A nerve that was compressed for a long time before surgery may keep sending tingling or aching signals for weeks or months afterward while it recovers. That is why some leg symptoms linger even when the operation went well, and why patience is part of the plan.

Understanding this changes how the posture rules feel. They are not arbitrary restrictions; each one protects a specific stage of tissue repair. The log roll protects stitched muscle in week one. The lifting limit protects the disc wall or graft for weeks. The no-twisting rule for fusion patients protects new bone that cannot yet protect itself.

Who these posture rules are for, and who is usually asked to wait longer

Almost everyone who has a lumbar operation receives some version of the same core advice: walk early, sit in short spells, log roll in and out of bed, and avoid bending, lifting and twisting. The difference lies in how long each rule lasts.

People who have had a single-level microdiskectomy or a small decompression are usually on the shorter end. The NHS describes patients walking around within a day or two of lumbar decompression, leaving hospital within roughly one to four days, and often returning to desk-based work at around four to six weeks, with longer for physically demanding jobs. Restrictions are typically eased once the wound has healed and the surgeon or physiotherapist is satisfied with movement.

People who have had a fusion, particularly across several levels, are generally asked to wait longer before bending, twisting, driving long distances or returning to lifting, because the bone graft has to consolidate. Johns Hopkins notes that full fusion can take months, and surgeons commonly keep the strictest rules in place until follow-up imaging shows bone forming.

Some factors prompt a more cautious plan. Osteoporosis makes bone softer and screw grip less reliable. Smoking reduces blood flow to healing tissue and is associated with slower or failed fusion, which is why many teams ask people to stop before and after the operation. Diabetes, long-term steroid use and higher body weight can slow wound healing. Older adults, or anyone unsteady on their feet, may be asked to use a walker or frame for longer before walking unaided.

Cervical (neck) surgery follows its own rules. Sitting is less of an issue, but head position, collar use and avoiding looking down at a phone for long periods matter more. If your operation was in the neck, ask for neck-specific guidance rather than applying lumbar rules.

Whatever the category, the person who sets the timetable is the treating team, who know what was done at each level and how solid it felt at the end of the operation.

How to sit after spine surgery without straining the repair

Think of a good postoperative chair as a brace you can get out of. Discharge guidance such as MedlinePlus advises a firm seat with a straight back and arms, and that single sentence carries most of what matters.

Height first. When the hips sit level with, or a little higher than, the knees, the pelvis stays upright and the lower back keeps its natural curve. A seat that sinks puts the knees above the hips, rolls the pelvis back and flattens the lumbar curve, which is the posture the pressure studies flagged. If the only chair available is low, a firm cushion on the seat raises you; a rolled towel behind the waist supports the curve.

Arms second. Chair arms let you push up with your hands instead of folding forward through the back when you stand. Recliners cause trouble not because they recline but because getting out of one usually means curling the trunk and heaving.

The movement into the chair deserves as much attention as the sitting. Back up until your calves touch the seat, hinge at the hips with a straight back, reach for the arms, and lower yourself. Reverse it to stand: slide to the front edge, feet under the knees, nose over toes, push through the legs. People who have practised this with a physiotherapist usually find it protects the incision from the pulling sensation that makes early sitting unpleasant.

A few everyday seats tend to be poor choices in the first weeks: deep sofas, beanbags, low stools without backs, car seats that are set far back, and office chairs with the backrest tilted to lounge. Toilets are low too; many people find a raised seat or a frame makes the first days easier, and MedlinePlus lists this among common home preparations.

Finally, the body gives honest feedback. A growing ache across the lower back after a period in a chair is a signal to stand and walk, not to shift and endure.

How long can you sit after back surgery?

This is the question behind most of the sitting advice, and the honest answer is that the limit is a moving target set by your surgeon, not a fixed number. Still, mainstream discharge instructions converge on a pattern.

In the first week or two, sitting is encouraged for meals and short rests but broken up often. MedlinePlus discharge guidance describes keeping early sitting spells short, and a common benchmark across patient instructions is to stand and walk every 20 to 30 minutes rather than settling in. Many people find that an hour is simply beyond them at this stage anyway, because the back stiffens and the incision starts to pull.

Through weeks two to six, tolerance usually climbs. Longer meals, a stretch of television, a car journey as a passenger with a break to walk: these become realistic for people recovering from decompression surgery, in line with the NHS picture of returning to light work at around four to six weeks. Fusion patients often move along the same curve more slowly and may be asked to keep sitting spells limited until their first follow-up imaging.

A practical way to pace yourself is the rule of the next spell. If a period of sitting leaves you with an ache that fades within a few minutes of walking, the duration was fine. If the ache lingers for an hour or wakes you that night, the next spell should be shorter. Pain that changes in character, spreads into a leg or comes with numbness is a different matter and belongs in the red-flag section below.

Two nuances deserve a mention. First, sitting on the floor, cross-legged or kneeling is far harder on a healing lumbar spine than sitting in a chair, and most teams ask people to avoid it for longer. Second, the length of sitting your back can tolerate depends on what you do while seated; typing with a straight trunk and supported forearms is gentler than leaning forward over a laptop on your knees.

How to sleep after back surgery: positions that take load off the spine

Nights are often harder than days in the first fortnight, partly because of pain and partly because the body wants to move and the back wants to be still. Two positions carry most of the mainstream advice.

On your back with a pillow under the knees. Lying flat is the lowest-pressure position for the lumbar discs, and the pillow bends the hips slightly so the lower back rests on the mattress instead of arching away from it. One pillow under the head, not a stack, keeps the neck in line.

On your side with a pillow between the knees. This stops the upper leg from dropping forward and twisting the pelvis, which in turn twists the lumbar spine. A second small pillow tucked against the stomach or chest gives something to hug and discourages rolling onto the front during sleep. Either side is usually fine unless the surgeon has advised otherwise because of the incision site.

Sleeping on the front is generally discouraged early on. It forces the neck to rotate and pushes the lower back into extension for hours at a stretch, and it is the position people struggle to get out of without twisting.

The mattress question comes up constantly. The evidence base here is modest and comes mostly from studies of chronic back pain rather than postoperative recovery, where a medium-firm surface tended to be preferred over a very firm one. The practical point is support: a mattress that sags in the middle or a sofa that swallows you both flatten the lumbar curve. A firm mattress topper or sleeping on the firmer side of a bed is a cheaper experiment than a new bed, and most teams suggest waiting to see how recovery goes before buying anything.

Changing position at night is where the log roll, covered next, earns its keep. Do it slowly, and expect to wake several times early on; broken sleep is common in the first few weeks and usually settles as pain eases.

Getting in and out of bed: the log roll explained

Physiotherapists teach the log roll before discharge for a simple reason: it is the only way to go from lying to standing without bending or twisting the trunk. The name describes the idea exactly. Your body moves as one piece, like a log, rather than folding in the middle.

Getting out of bed:

• Lie on your back and bend both knees so your feet rest flat on the mattress.
• Keep shoulders and hips in line and roll together onto the side you intend to get out on. The knees, pelvis and shoulders turn as a unit; the waist does not twist.
• Let the lower legs slide over the edge of the bed. As they drop, push with the upper hand against the mattress and the lower elbow to raise the trunk into sitting. The legs act as a counterweight, so the back does almost nothing.
• Pause on the edge for a moment. Light-headedness is common in the first days, especially with pain medicine on board.
• Shuffle to the edge, feet under the knees, hinge forward from the hips with a straight back and stand through the legs.

Getting in is the reverse: sit on the edge, lower sideways onto the elbow while lifting the legs onto the bed, then roll onto the back as one piece.

Bed height matters more than people expect. A bed that is low enough that the knees sit above the hips when seated makes standing harder and encourages a forward curl. Raising the bed on sturdy blocks or using a firmer mattress can help; a hospital-style rail is another option some people borrow for the first weeks.

The log roll is also the right way to turn over in the night. It feels clumsy and slow at first, and most people stop needing to think about it within a couple of weeks, which is roughly when the deeper tissue has knitted enough to tolerate ordinary movement.

Walking after spinal fusion: can you walk after L4 L5 fusion?

Yes, and usually sooner than people expect. Walking is the one activity that nearly every surgical team encourages from the first day or two, including after a fusion at L4 L5, the level between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae and the most commonly fused segment in the lower back. The NHS describes people being up and walking within a day or two of lumbar decompression, and fusion protocols follow the same early-mobilization principle with a physiotherapist present for the first attempts.

Walking does things no other early activity can. It pumps blood through the calf muscles, which is the body’s main defence against clots forming in the deep leg veins. It expands the lungs, lowers the risk of chest infection, and keeps the bowel moving at a time when pain medicines tend to slow it down. It also loads the spine in the one way that healing bone seems to like: steady, upright, low-amplitude compression, with none of the bending or shear that disturbs a graft.

The early pattern is short and frequent. Several walks of a few minutes around the house beat one long outing. Over the first few weeks the distance grows, often to a daily walk outside, with the surgeon’s clearance. Flat, even ground is easier than slopes; good shoes with a grippy sole matter more than at any other time in adult life.

A walker or frame is common for the first days, particularly after fusion or in older adults, and is not a sign that recovery is going badly. It takes some weight through the arms, steadies balance while pain medicines are in the system, and lets the back relax instead of bracing.

Stairs are usually allowed once you are steady, taken slowly with a handrail. Many teams suggest leading with the stronger leg going up and the weaker leg coming down. What walking does not include early on is jogging, hiking on rough terrain or carrying anything heavy, all of which add impact or load the team will reintroduce in sequence.

Bending, lifting and twisting: the rules behind BLT

Surgeons compress a surprising amount of biomechanics into three letters. BLT, short for bending, lifting and twisting, is the trio of movements that places the highest stress on the operated segment, and it governs most of daily life for the first several weeks.

Bending means flexing forward through the lower back. Hinging at the hips with a straight spine is different and is generally fine; it is how you should sit down, pick up a light object from a table or lean over a sink. The movement to avoid is the rounded-back reach to the floor. For the floor, a reacher-grabber tool or a half-kneel with one knee down keeps the back straight. Socks and shoes are the classic problem, which is why slip-on shoes and a long-handled shoehorn appear on nearly every preparation list.

Lifting limits are usually expressed as an everyday object. MedlinePlus discharge guidance uses a gallon of milk, roughly 10 pounds (about 4.5 kg), as the early ceiling. That rules out full laundry baskets, grocery bags carried in one hand, toddlers and most pets. The limit rises in stages set by the surgeon, generally faster after a decompression than after a fusion.

Twisting is the one people forget. Reaching across the body to the passenger seat, turning to grab something behind you, or swinging the legs out of a car while the shoulders stay put all rotate the lumbar spine. The fix is to move the feet and turn the whole body, the same principle as the log roll.

Driving sits in this section because it combines all three: the twist into the seat, the reach for the belt, the sustained flexed sitting. The NHS advice is to wait until you can sit comfortably, turn freely and perform an emergency stop without hesitation, and to check with your insurer. For many people that is a matter of weeks; after fusion it is often longer. Being a passenger earlier is usually acceptable, with the seat upright and breaks to walk.

Sitting, sleeping and walking at a glance: what the first weeks usually look like

Recovery is a curve, not a cliff, and the table below sketches the shape most people recognize. The ranges come from NHS lumbar decompression guidance and MedlinePlus discharge instructions, and they describe typical patterns, not targets. Fusion timelines usually sit toward the longer end or beyond it, and your own plan may differ.

Stage	Sitting	Sleeping	Walking	Usually still off limits
Days 1–3	Edge of bed, then a firm chair for meals; short spells	On back with pillow under knees, or on side with pillow between knees; log roll to turn	Short walks on the ward or around the house with a physiotherapist or helper	Bending to the floor, lifting, twisting, driving, baths
Weeks 1–2	Spells lengthen as comfort allows; stand and walk roughly every 20–30 minutes	Same positions; broken sleep common	Several short walks daily, building distance on flat ground	Lifting over about 10 pounds, floor sitting, long car journeys
Weeks 2–6	Longer sitting for work, meals and passenger travel with breaks	Side and back; some people trial a firmer mattress or topper	Daily outdoor walk; stairs with a rail	Heavy lifting, sport, driving until cleared, desk work until around 4–6 weeks for many decompression patients
Beyond 6 weeks	Approaching normal, with attention to posture	Normal positions as comfort allows	Walking as exercise; physiotherapy may add strengthening	Fusion patients: twisting and heavier loads often restricted until imaging confirms bone growth, which can take months

Two things are worth reading between the lines. The sitting column changes fastest, because tolerance builds with tissue healing and conditioning. The final column changes slowest for fusion patients, because the limiting factor is bone biology rather than pain. People sometimes feel well enough to abandon the restrictions at week four and are puzzled when the surgeon asks them to hold on; the explanation is that feeling good and being fused are not the same thing.

How bad is pain after spinal fusion surgery, and how long is medication usually needed?

People ask this quietly, as though a frank answer might jinx the operation. The frank answer is that spinal fusion is one of the more painful spine procedures in the first days, because bone is drilled, graft is placed and muscle is moved aside, and the pain usually peaks early and then falls steadily. Decompression without fusion tends to be considerably less painful. Mayo Clinic notes that it is common to feel pain and discomfort in the days after fusion and that this is managed with medicines while you start moving.

Several kinds of pain overlap. Incision pain is sharp and local and eases within a couple of weeks. Muscle pain across the back is a deep ache that worsens with sitting and improves with gentle walking. Nerve pain, the burning or tingling in a leg that the operation was meant to relieve, often improves quickly but can also flare for a while as the nerve recovers from being compressed; MedlinePlus notes that it can take weeks or months for leg symptoms to settle.

Medication after spine surgery is usually a short taper rather than a long course. In hospital, teams commonly combine several approaches: regular non-opioid pain relievers that work by reducing inflammation or acting centrally, local anaesthetic around the wound, muscle relaxants for spasm in some cases, and opioid medicines for the sharper early pain. The typical pattern is that opioids are stepped down over the first days to a couple of weeks as the simpler medicines and walking take over, because longer opioid use brings constipation, drowsiness, falls and dependence risk without improving healing.

Exactly which medicines, in what amounts and for how long, is a decision for the prescribing clinician, who weighs your kidney function, other conditions and what you took before surgery. Do not change or stop a prescribed medicine on your own, and tell the team if pain is not following the expected downward path, because that information changes the plan.

What people often get wrong about recovery posture

Some of the most common missteps come from good intentions.

Resting too much. The old model of weeks in bed has been thoroughly replaced. Lying still invites clots, stiffness, weakness and low mood, and it does nothing to speed bone healing. Early walking is now standard across NHS and Mayo Clinic guidance, and the people who recover most smoothly tend to be the ones who move little and often.

Treating the recliner as the safe chair. Reclining itself is not harmful; a reclined, supported position can be comfortable. The problem is the exit, which almost always involves curling forward and heaving. If a recliner is your most comfortable seat, use it, but learn to get out by bringing it fully upright first and pushing through the arms.

Assuming a brace replaces posture. Some surgeons prescribe a lumbar brace after fusion; many do not, and the evidence that bracing improves fusion rates is weak. Where a brace is used, it is a reminder and a modest support, not a licence to bend. Wear it exactly as instructed and no more.

Judging progress by pain alone. After fusion, pain often fades well before bone has formed. The restrictions remain because of biology you cannot feel. Conversely, a stiff ache at the end of a long day is normal and not a sign that something has come loose.

Comparing timelines online. Forum threads mix people who had a one-level microdiskectomy with people who had multi-level fusions for deformity, and the ranges are meaningless without that context. Your surgeon’s instruction sheet beats a stranger’s day-count every time.

Giving up on posture at six weeks. The habits that protect a healing spine, hip hinging, supported sitting, breaking up long periods in a chair, also protect the levels above and below a fusion for years. Keeping them is one of the few things within your control that plausibly reduces future trouble.

Questions to ask your care team

Discharge conversations are short and medicines are still on board, so writing questions down beforehand pays off. These are the ones that most directly shape sitting, sleeping and walking at home.

• Exactly which operation did I have, at which levels, and was anything fused? The answer determines which set of rules applies to me.
• Is there a sitting time limit for the first two weeks, and how will I know when to extend it?
• Which sleeping positions do you want me to use, and is there any position you specifically want me to avoid because of where the incision or hardware is?
• How far and how often should I walk this week, and what should the increase look like week by week?
• What is my lifting limit now, and when and how will it change?
• Do you want me to wear a brace or collar, for which activities, and for how long?
• When may I sit as a passenger for a longer journey, and what is the test for being allowed to drive?
• When can I shower, and when can the wound be submerged in a bath or pool?
• What is the expected pattern for my pain medicines over the next two weeks, and who do I contact if the pain is not following that pattern?
• Which symptoms mean I should call the clinic, and which mean I should go to an emergency department?
• When is my first follow-up, and will there be imaging before restrictions are relaxed?
• Will I be referred to physiotherapy, and when does structured strengthening usually start after this kind of operation?

Bring a second person if you can. Two sets of ears catch more, and the companion who will be helping at home benefits from hearing the log roll demonstrated and the lifting limit stated out loud.

When to call your doctor

Most of what you feel in the first weeks is ordinary healing, and the pattern should be steady improvement with occasional bad days. The signs below are different because they can point to infection, bleeding, a clot, a nerve problem or hardware trouble, and they warrant prompt contact with the surgical team or, for the most urgent ones, emergency care.

Seek emergency care without delay for:

• New or worsening numbness around the groin, buttocks or inner thighs, or new difficulty controlling the bladder or bowel. Together these can indicate pressure on the nerves at the base of the spine (cauda equina syndrome), which is a surgical emergency.
• Sudden weakness in one or both legs, or a foot that drags or will not lift.
• Chest pain, sudden breathlessness or coughing up blood, which can signal a clot that has travelled to the lungs.
• Severe headache that is much worse when upright and eases lying flat, with or without nausea, which can suggest a leak of spinal fluid.

Contact the surgical team the same day for:

• Fever, chills or feeling generally unwell.
• Redness spreading from the incision, increasing warmth or swelling, pus, or clear fluid leaking from the wound.
• Calf pain, swelling or tenderness in one leg, a possible sign of a deep vein clot.
• Back or leg pain that is clearly getting worse rather than better over several days, or pain that changes character, for example new burning or electric pain down a leg.
• Pain that is not controlled by the plan you were discharged with, or side effects from medicines such as severe constipation, confusion or excessive drowsiness.
• A fall, even one that seemed minor.

MedlinePlus and the NHS both list these warning signs in their discharge guidance, and both make the same point: it is better to call about something that turns out to be nothing than to wait on something that is not. Your team expects these calls and would rather hear from you early.

Frequently asked questions

How long can you sit after back surgery before it becomes a problem?

In the first week or two, most discharge guidance advises short sitting spells broken up by walking roughly every 20 to 30 minutes, lengthening as comfort allows. There is no single safe number; the practical test is whether an ache after sitting fades within a few minutes of walking. Fusion patients are often asked to keep spells shorter for longer, and the treating team sets the exact plan.

How to sleep after back surgery when every position hurts?

Try lying on your back with a pillow under the knees, or on your side with a pillow between the knees and another to hug, and use the log roll to change position. A firm, supportive mattress generally feels better than a sagging one. Broken sleep is common in the first weeks and usually improves as pain settles; tell your team if it does not.

Can you walk after L4 L5 fusion in the first few days?

Yes. Walking is normally started within a day or two of an L4 L5 fusion, with a physiotherapist and often a walker at first. Short, frequent walks around the house are the early pattern, building to a daily outdoor walk over the following weeks with the surgeon’s agreement. Early walking lowers clot risk and does not disturb the fusion the way bending or twisting can.

How bad is the pain after spinal fusion surgery compared with other back operations?

Fusion is usually more painful in the first days than a decompression or diskectomy, because bone is prepared and graft and hardware are placed. Mayo Clinic describes pain and discomfort as expected early on, peaking in the first days and then easing steadily. Incision pain settles within a couple of weeks, muscle ache takes longer, and nerve symptoms in the leg can fluctuate for weeks or months while the nerve recovers.

How long will I need pain medication after spinal fusion surgery?

For most people, stronger pain medicines are stepped down over the first days to a couple of weeks as walking and simpler pain relievers take over, though timelines vary with the extent of surgery and individual factors. The prescribing clinician decides what to use and when to reduce it. If pain is not following a downward path, tell the team rather than adjusting medicines on your own.

Is a recliner a good chair for sitting after spine surgery?

A recliner can be comfortable, but getting out of one usually involves curling forward and heaving, which strains a healing back. If you use one, bring it fully upright before standing and push up through the arms. Many teams prefer a firm, upright chair with arms for the first weeks, with hips level with or slightly above the knees and feet flat on the floor.

When can I drive after spine surgery?

Usually once you can sit comfortably, turn freely to check mirrors and perform an emergency stop without hesitation, and once you are no longer taking medicines that cause drowsiness. NHS guidance frames it this way rather than as a fixed date. For decompression surgery that is often a matter of weeks; after fusion it is frequently longer. Check with your surgeon and your insurer before driving.

What is the log roll and why does it matter?

The log roll is a technique for getting in and out of bed, or turning over, while keeping the shoulders, trunk and hips moving as one unit so the lower back neither bends nor twists. You bend the knees, roll onto your side as a whole, let the legs drop over the edge and push up with the arms. It protects stitched muscle and the operated level during the first weeks.

Should I wear a back brace when sitting or walking after spinal fusion?

Only if your surgeon has prescribed one, and then exactly as instructed. Practice varies; many surgeons do not use braces after fusion, and the evidence that bracing improves fusion is limited. Where a brace is used it acts as a reminder and modest support, not as permission to bend, lift or twist beyond your limits.

What posture habits should I keep after recovery from back surgery?

The habits that protect a healing spine also protect the levels above and below the operated segment long term: hinging at the hips rather than rounding the back, sitting with support and breaking up long periods in a chair, lifting close to the body with the legs, and turning the whole body instead of twisting. Regular walking and any strengthening program your physiotherapist sets round out the picture.

References

• MedlinePlus: Spine surgery – discharge
• MedlinePlus: Spinal fusion
• NHS: Lumbar decompression surgery – Recovery

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.