Making a surgical decision with degenerative disc disease is an elective decision. It's not a condition that people die from so it is similar to arthritis in that regard.
Who ends up with DDD? Usually it's individuals between the ages of twenty five and sixty. In between those years, the discs start to lose fluid and as a result, the disc may start to fray and lose height. The outside part of the disk may experience irritation, and may hurt as a result. The outside part of the disc is the only part that has nerve endings and is able to feel pain - it is called the anulus fibrosus.
When patients are suffering from degenerative disc disease, the nonsurgical options consist of:
1. Benign neglect
2. Physical therapy
3. Chiropractic Treatment
4. Spinal Decompression Treatment
5. Interventional Pain Management
6. Pain Medication
7. Bracing and TENS units
Nonsurgical therapies work well over seventy five percent of the time. Individuals are often able to end up in an acceptable state of pain control and can avoid surgery. One of the most successful treatments that has been shown in the literature is aerobic exercise. This could include cycling or swimming.
If a person attempts significant conservative treatment for over 6 months with the pain still present, it could be time to start considering surgery. The North American Spine Society recommends minimum six months of nonsurgical treatment first, and maybe more since it could take that long to start getting results. A surgical decision should be heavily debated. A discogram may help prior to the procedure for DDD although it is highly debated. This procedure can tell if the disc is the pain generator.
If the patient has one level positive on the discogram and all imaging studies point to that same level as having significant degeneration, then surgery may have a high level of success. In fact, it may be a life changing "home run." But this is not always the case as even if the diagnosis is presumed and a technically perfect surgery is performed, the patient may end up with residual pain. Getting rid of 100% of a patient's back pain is typically unreasonable. One should expect with a one level DDD and a great surgery performed to be able to alleviate 50 to 75% of the pain.
Surgery for degenerative disc disease, at this point in time, consists of two options. One is to perform a spinal fusion, the second is an artificial disc replacement. Artificial disc replacement became FDA approved back in 2004 for the lumbar spine, and the hope was it would be a veritable "holy grail" for degenerative disc disease. So far, that has not been the outcome. Results have been approximately 70% good to excellent for either procedure.
But artificial disc replacement surgery has not been shown to be superior yet to spinal fusions. Based on the fact that neither surgery has a success rate over 90% (more like 70%), patients should think long and hard prior to surgical intervention.
Who ends up with DDD? Usually it's individuals between the ages of twenty five and sixty. In between those years, the discs start to lose fluid and as a result, the disc may start to fray and lose height. The outside part of the disk may experience irritation, and may hurt as a result. The outside part of the disc is the only part that has nerve endings and is able to feel pain - it is called the anulus fibrosus.
When patients are suffering from degenerative disc disease, the nonsurgical options consist of:
1. Benign neglect
2. Physical therapy
3. Chiropractic Treatment
4. Spinal Decompression Treatment
5. Interventional Pain Management
6. Pain Medication
7. Bracing and TENS units
Nonsurgical therapies work well over seventy five percent of the time. Individuals are often able to end up in an acceptable state of pain control and can avoid surgery. One of the most successful treatments that has been shown in the literature is aerobic exercise. This could include cycling or swimming.
If a person attempts significant conservative treatment for over 6 months with the pain still present, it could be time to start considering surgery. The North American Spine Society recommends minimum six months of nonsurgical treatment first, and maybe more since it could take that long to start getting results. A surgical decision should be heavily debated. A discogram may help prior to the procedure for DDD although it is highly debated. This procedure can tell if the disc is the pain generator.
If the patient has one level positive on the discogram and all imaging studies point to that same level as having significant degeneration, then surgery may have a high level of success. In fact, it may be a life changing "home run." But this is not always the case as even if the diagnosis is presumed and a technically perfect surgery is performed, the patient may end up with residual pain. Getting rid of 100% of a patient's back pain is typically unreasonable. One should expect with a one level DDD and a great surgery performed to be able to alleviate 50 to 75% of the pain.
Surgery for degenerative disc disease, at this point in time, consists of two options. One is to perform a spinal fusion, the second is an artificial disc replacement. Artificial disc replacement became FDA approved back in 2004 for the lumbar spine, and the hope was it would be a veritable "holy grail" for degenerative disc disease. So far, that has not been the outcome. Results have been approximately 70% good to excellent for either procedure.
But artificial disc replacement surgery has not been shown to be superior yet to spinal fusions. Based on the fact that neither surgery has a success rate over 90% (more like 70%), patients should think long and hard prior to surgical intervention.
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Want to find out more about chiropractic Phoenix, then visit Preferred Pain Center's site on how to choose the best arizona pain clinic for your needs.. This article, When Is Surgery Appropriate For Degenerative Disc Disease? has free reprint rights.
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