Return to work

[mark007]

Hi all,
I have just come home from hospital yesterday after having a Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (ACDF) and a Cage put in at C6/7,having previously had a fusion at C5/6 in 2001. Dose anyone know how long recovery is for this procedure and how long i will be off work. I am a postman in the UK which involves some manual lifting and driving, i had eight weeks off after the first op.
Will the recovery be as long this time? or is it easier second time round.
I don't want to go back to work to soon  and do more damage!

[patsy10]

I had C5/6 and was off for 8 weeks.

[mark007]

Thanks that is a great help, i hope my GP in the UK will know the answer to this question as well as you.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

It should take at least six weeks for you to recover from the surgery. Avoid bending the neck for the first few weeks. Use a brace. By six weeks, the neck muscle will have recovered strength. You can go back to light work even before six weeks, but since your work involves some lifting of weights and traveling, you should not return to work before six weeks. A good period of rest will be 8 - 10 weeks.

Regards