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Herniated Disc Surgery
Herniated disc surgery is still a popular solution for disc related pain. When it comes to disc surgery, there are several possible methods used to achieve symptomatic relief. Finding the correct surgical procedure gives a patient a far greater chance of achieving lasting positive results from their surgeries and reduces the chance of experiencing
failed back surgery syndrome.
Herniated Disc Surgery / Disc Procedures
Some surgeons concentrate of procedures which actually reduce the size of the herniation in the disc.
Minimally invasive
procedures are always recommended whenever appropriate. The most common of these less invasive forms of disc surgery are
IDET
and
Nucleoplasty.
Sometimes, the surgeon will remove part or all of an affected disc, using a
Discectomy
procedure. Once again, minimally invasive versions of this operation are preferred to speed healing time and minimize damage to healthy tissue. Less common, but still performed, is the old fashioned
Forminotomy
procedure. This surgery is not usually a good idea as a stand alone solution for disc pain. It is often a good add on procedure when performed in tandem with a Discectomy procedure.
Herniated Disc Surgery / Disc Replacement
Artificial disc replacement surgery
is the newest wave of spinal operations used to correct disc pain. In this procedure, the old organic disc is removed via discectomy and a new
artificial disc
is implanted between the
vertebrae.
This procedure makes the most sense of all disc surgeries, since the concept maintains normal disc function as a vertebral spacer and spinal shock absorber. The technology is still relatively new and will certainly improve over the next few generations of implanted devices.
Herniated Disc Surgery / Spinal Fusion
Spinal fusion
surgeries are used as a last resort for unresolved disc pain conditions. Fusion is generally an extremely poor choice for almost any pain syndrome, since it restricts spinal movement and often creates stress, pain and degeneration in surrounding vertebral levels. Patients who endure fusion surgery are the most likely to undergo numerous procedures over the course of their lifetimes to maintain spinal function and integrity. A fusion should only be considered as an absolute last option is almost every case of
herniated disc pain.
Avoiding Herniated Disk Surgery
Surgery is almost never necessary for patients with
herniated discs.
Most disc pain will heal, either all by itself, or with appropriate conservative treatment. New
spinal decompression
systems demonstrate excellent results for alleviating disc pain without the risks or complications of
back surgery.
Of course, do not forget that herniated discs are very common in the population and rarely actually cause long term pain.
Bulging discs
are the single most common
back pain scapegoat
condition blamed for symptoms, but rarely actually responsible. I have 2 badly herniated discs L4/L5 and L5/S1 and I have absolutely no pain at all.
Recommendation on Herniated Disc Surgery
Surgery does not demonstrate good long term results when it comes to curing
disc pain.
Most patients receive a short term reduction of symptoms and eventually experience pain again in the future. The most logical reason for this common scenario is not poor surgical technique, but rather
misdiagnosis
of the actual cause of symptoms. Make sure that your herniated discs are really the spinal troublemaker before even considering disc surgery. If your disc pain does not respond to proper conservative treatments, it will not likely respond well to surgery either. For patients with this agonizing reality, consider the possibility that your pain might actually be the direct result of a
psychosomatic
causation.
Herniated Disc Surgery to Back Pain Home
10/15/08 Revised 10/20/09
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