A vast majority of American adults – about 60-80% will experience a bout of back pain, and slightly less – about 20-70% will suffer neck pain during their lifetime. With conservative treatment, you recover and return to feeling like yourself again. But what happens if you have more bad days than good days, and conservative treatment options have failed?
You are not alone. About 1.71 billion people worldwide suffer from musculoskeletal issues. Back and neck pain are the leading causes of musculoskeletal problems, which disrupt mobility and can make walking, sitting, and standing painful.
If this scenario sounds all too familiar, our fellowship-trained and renowned expert on cervical artificial disc replacement, Neil Bhamb, MD, in Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey, California, suggests it may be time to consider artificial disc replacement.
The human spine may be the most underappreciated part of your body. We expect a lot from it and never really think about it much until we have that aching back or neck moment.
A healthy spine creates structure for your body and orchestrates pain-free movement, but that’s not all. The healthy operation of your body's systems, such as lung function, digestion, metabolism, and mood, ultimately hinges on a healthy spine.
The human spine is composed of 33 stacked vertebrae, about 220 ligaments, 120 muscles, and 100 joints. Between each vertebra are discs, which serve as shock absorbers, with a cushiony, jelly-like center and a strong outer coating.
Capping off this impressive structure are 31 pairs of nerves, which weave through the openings of the vertebrae, acting like a communications highway that links your brain with the rest of your body. When your spine is healthy and strong, movement is pain-free, and systemic functions perform optimally.
When trauma or natural aging results in degenerative disc disease, spinal discs can rub against each other and pinch nerves. If you have a herniated disc, you know firsthand how uncomfortable and debilitating this can be. Now imagine that the pain won’t go away, no matter what treatment you try. That’s where artificial disc replacement comes in.
A surgeon can perform artificial disc replacement on an outpatient basis or in a hospital with a one or two-night hospital stay. The way that artificial disc replacement surgery works is after you receive general anesthesia, your surgeon removes the source of your pain — the damaged or worn disc — and replaces it with an artificial disc that operates like your previous healthy disc.
The new disc works with the neighboring vertebrae and does not rub against them to create pinched nerves.
Instead of discomfort and pain, the new artificial disc facilitates natural movements. While you might not have the full range of motion that your healthy spine once had, you typically gain more mobility than you would from other spine treatments like spine fusion, which fuses vertebrae.
Advances in artificial discs offer patients a mimic of normal spinal function, and may result in less bleeding, tissue damage, scarring, and pain.
At our practice, Dr. Bhamb and the professional team offer patients a holistic approach to spine health and treat spine issues with the most minimally invasive techniques. With minimally invasive spine surgery, or MISS, a small incision and tubular retractor gently separate muscles from the spine to access the surgical area instead of making a large incision and cutting through muscles like traditional open surgery does.
Endoscopic spine surgery, or ESS, takes the minimally invasive approach to the next level. With ESS, Dr. Bhamb makes tiny incisions during surgery using small surgical tools, and an endoscope or camera guides him to view the vertebrae along with small tubular systems.
ESS surgical technique preserves even more muscle and tissue than the standard MISS approach, resulting in an enhanced range of spine mobility post-surgery.
Besides enhanced range of motion, MISS and ESS typically require less downtime. Although recovery times differ from patient to patient, they generally can expect to resume activities within days of surgery, returning to work and most daily routines two to three weeks after surgery. Dr. Bhamb provides each patient with specific post-op instructions.
Do you suffer from chronic back or neck pain, and want to know if artificial disc replacement surgery is right for you? Start your journey to a healthier spine by calling us today or booking a consultation online.