Avoid excessive bending, twisting, pushing, pulling, or lifting anything more than 15 pounds for the first 6 weeks. We encourage you to take short but frequent walks, 4-5 times a day. On average patients will be walking about a ½-1 mile total each day when they are about 3 weeks out. This is important to help prevent blood clots, mobilize your back muscles and help stimulate your bowels in case you are constipated. If you need to pick something up from ground level, squat and keep your back straight. If you were fitted with a brace, please wear it when you are active. You may remove it at night to sleep, for showers/baths, driving, and when you are relatively inactive around the house. Returning to work depends on the type of job that you do. We can address that issue for you if needed. We may consider physical therapy after 6 weeks. We can discuss that at your follow up visits. Do not drive if you are taking narcotics.