Patients will feel some pain after surgery, especially at the incision site. While tingling sensations or numbness is common, and should lessen over time, they should be reported to the doctor. Most patients are encouraged to be up and moving around within a few hours after surgery. After surgery, your doctor will give you instructions on when you can resume your normal daily activities.

Signs of infection like swelling, redness or draining at the incision site, and fever should be checked out by the surgeon immediately. Keep in mind, the amount of time it takes to return to normal activities is different for every patient. Discomfort should decrease a little each day. Most patients will benefit from a postoperative exercise program or supervised physical therapy after surgery. You should ask your doctor about exercises to help with recovery.

Outcome
The results of the surgery are variable since some people have more extensive disease than others. In general, after the surgery most patients can expect to regain:

• Some spinal cord function
• Improvement in their hand function and walking/balancing capabilities
• Surgery is very effective in reducing the pain in the arms and shoulders caused by nerve compression. However, some neck pain may persist.
• Decrease numbness in the hands (if there was a lot of numbness prior to the surgery, it probably won't go away completely)