Warren Said:

Disk replacement surgery?

We Answered:

Get a second opinion, then a third, then a fourth. The replacement surgeries aren't all they're cracked up to be. The results just aren't there. Have you tried a chiropractor? I see people on a daily basis with DDD, and it can be helped without surgery. Even physical therapy, accupuncture, massage, yoga, and swimming get far better results than surgery. I recently had a patient go in for a "routine" back surgery (against my advice) and came out paralyzed in his left leg. His back pain was gone immediately, but he couldn't walk! 3 months later he is able to hold himself up with a walker thanks to the physical therapy, but the procedure was not worth it. You'll get plenty of people telling you that surgery saved their life, but please get a second opinion.

DDD is not hereditary, but posture is. An old injury is usually the culprit, and it just takes time to surface. It can take several years before the degeneration is evident on an x-ray. If the problem was there, the weight of the pregnancy would have significantly aggravated it. It is very unlikely that the pregnancy caused anything. Although it would be nice to blame it on the kids!

William Said:

My Mom recently had disk replacement surgery in her back. The doctor said she needs to have water physical..?

We Answered:

My wife had the same surgery, with the titanium appliances. Our insurance would not pay for aqua therapy either. However, at the initial therapy consult, the therapist offered to put the claim through as "physical" therapy, which WAS covered. The exercises would depend on which discs were replaced, according to my wife. She had two in her cervical spine, and one in her lumbar spine. The exercises were completely different for each surgery. You may be able to contact a therapy center in your city and explain the situation. Most have printed exercise sheets that you may be able to pick up, as long as you have a physician's prescription for therapy. I hope this helps, and best wishes for your mother's speedy recovery.

Vivian Said:

For a herniated back disk, is a discectomy or disk replacement surgery better?

We Answered:

i would think a disk replacment...depending what disk. L5-S1 tends to take alot of pressure. your L disks are really big because they bare most of your weight. If you remove that completley it could put pressure on the others and could cause more problems with the others.
its also leading to your S1 so thats kind of more your sitting bones, and im no doctor and havent seen much of this (im a nursing student in my clinical rotations) but it would make sense it could affect alot when you sit.

i wouldnt suggest a discectomy, i would go with the disk replacment...Talk to your doctor though. I just shared my thoughts on it and that L5-S1 area is pretty significant. if it were something like T3-T4 then maybe.

hope that helped :)

Clinton Said:

disk replacement surgery, any thoughts to share w a scared soon to be recipient?

We Answered:

do not do it it will help for just a little while. my husband had it done 'it did,t help pain management is a very good pro,I HOPE YOU THE BEST OF LUCK

Margaret Said:

For back surgery, is a discectomy or disk-replacement surgery better?

We Answered:

Neither is a really good choice, but only a neurosurgeon can really answer this question. In my eight years as a PT, I've yet to actually see more than one person who has the replacement. Granted, he did fairly well, but in my own experience, neurosurgeons are very slective in whom they perform these procedures...even the "experts" who are doing all the research. Upon speaking with a neurosurgeon myself, she told me "It's not where we want it to be yet."

As far as a discectomy, this is a pretty radical procedure for someone with a HNP...you're setting yourself up for neurological impingement later in life. A microdiscectomy would be a better choice for longevity or even a laminectomy, depending on your situation.

You've done PT...have you seen someone who is credentialed in mechanical diagnosis and therapy? I would highly suggest it if you haven't done so already ( http://www.mckenziemdt.org ). Not everyone can be helped with this method, but many more a helped by this than by those who complete "core stability" or other types of "standard" physical therapy. At the very least, if you cannot be helped with this, it will be known shortly.

I've seen several young people like yourself go through percutaneous disc decompression which is a much less invasive procedure and tends to get good results (uses a needle to actually drain the herniation). I would ask about this as well.

Good luck

Karl Said:

What is the average cost of disk surgery, Disk replacement, ruptured disk?

We Answered:

I had a ruptured disc out in November. There are a lot of variables, but the copies of my bills that I rec'd from my insurance company seemed to total about $70k. I'm not sure all of the bills have been submitted yet.

If you are having this done, good luck! You'll be taking it easy for a few months afterward.

Ronald Said:

Has anyone had spinal fusion and disk replacement surgery?

We Answered:

I had a shattered vertebra and it had to be fuse with the ones above it and below it. It all depends on where on your spine the surgery will be. They had to go in through my chest and ribs to reach mine, the last of the Ts. It was a couple of weeks before I even started to feel like getting around. If your surgery is lower, they will of course go in through your back. I'd give it a couple of weeks. The worst is over when you can stop wearing the back brace, which means the bone has healed. Good luck, sweetie. Sorry you are having to have this done. But, you will feel so much better. Not at first. hehe What got me through the bad times after surgery was realizing that this is temporary. Instead of focusing on how lousy I felt, I focused on my life after I healed. Kind of like having a baby. The labor is awful, but you know that it won't last forever and in the end you have a beautiful little baby. Same theory. It works.