Body & Soul3 mins ago
Chronic Neck-Pain
11 Answers
... due to degenerative disc disease. Mrs Khandro has had it bad for a year, tried physiotherapy etc and tries to keep it at bay with painkillers. I understand there is a procedure called disectomy which can include artificial disc replacement.
Has anybody had this and if so, what were the results please?
Has anybody had this and if so, what were the results please?
Answers
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I haven't answered as you have asked for personal experience which I do not have.The procedure that you mention is DISCECTOMY usually but not always applicable to the lumbar region.
For this operation one needs to have a protruding disc which is causing the pain and for that to be diagnosed one needs an MRI Scan
There are other conditions requiring different types of procedures but generally speaking Lumbar Discectomy is more successful than neck procedures.
For this operation one needs to have a protruding disc which is causing the pain and for that to be diagnosed one needs an MRI Scan
There are other conditions requiring different types of procedures but generally speaking Lumbar Discectomy is more successful than neck procedures.
Thanks Sqad, She's had the scan and there is definitely a protruding (and I guess, worn) disc. She is an extremely young 80 (people think she is about 15 years younger!) very active gardener and walks with our dog about 2 hours a day over hilly terrain. But the constant pain is getting her down. We're trying a second physio in hope, but I wondered if this fails whether surgery was a possibility.
Do you think acupuncture might help alleviate the pain?
Do you think acupuncture might help alleviate the pain?
Khandro - 3rd attempt to reply. AB was impossible to use and eventually deleted everything Start again.
I am, personally, delaying my op. as long as possible, and Sqad did say that he would do the same, but would go for the discectomy. My reasons are varied, but boil down to the risks I face against an estimate of only 50/50 that the back pain will go - one of the smaller risks is that it will increase and I don't know how I'd bear that.
My situation is that I don't know how Mr J2 would cope if I lost mobility as a result of the op. At the moment I walk the dog etc., etc. and manage to more-or-less control the pain except for bad periods. He is 84, I am 68. I would be hospitalised for some time about an hour away, leaving him to cope with sweet, but problem rescue-dog etc.. I foresee that I will be driven to have the procedure eventually. Right now I am following neuro-surgeon's advice and trying to build-up my spinal muscles by swimming. (Nearly up to half a mile, twice a week now.)
OH's nurse (sees to his leg once a week)has 2 metal discs in her spine - she's in her late fifties. Friend's sister had a discectomy in her neck and is perfectly OK and pleased she had it (in her fifties).
Don't know if this helps. I could moan more. Good luck to Mrs. Kh. :)
I am, personally, delaying my op. as long as possible, and Sqad did say that he would do the same, but would go for the discectomy. My reasons are varied, but boil down to the risks I face against an estimate of only 50/50 that the back pain will go - one of the smaller risks is that it will increase and I don't know how I'd bear that.
My situation is that I don't know how Mr J2 would cope if I lost mobility as a result of the op. At the moment I walk the dog etc., etc. and manage to more-or-less control the pain except for bad periods. He is 84, I am 68. I would be hospitalised for some time about an hour away, leaving him to cope with sweet, but problem rescue-dog etc.. I foresee that I will be driven to have the procedure eventually. Right now I am following neuro-surgeon's advice and trying to build-up my spinal muscles by swimming. (Nearly up to half a mile, twice a week now.)
OH's nurse (sees to his leg once a week)has 2 metal discs in her spine - she's in her late fifties. Friend's sister had a discectomy in her neck and is perfectly OK and pleased she had it (in her fifties).
Don't know if this helps. I could moan more. Good luck to Mrs. Kh. :)
jourdain; I have practised 15 minutes of yoga every morning for 40 years and have no back problems at all, (that isn't meant to sound smug) though I'm not free of pain in one ankle and one knee, which I can live with.
It is impossible for doctors to evaluate pain because it is so subjective, though nonetheless real for each individual. Sqad wouldn't and couldn't say whether you should go for the operation because he couldn't know what that pain means to you but if it was extremely severe and it was me, I would ignore other people and dogs etc. for a few days and have the operation on the grounds that they will all benefit from your new found demeanour in the long run.
I asked the question about procedure to the neck because I do not know of anyone who has undergone it, but I know of people who have had the lumbar job and they have been extremely successful.
It's your call.
It is impossible for doctors to evaluate pain because it is so subjective, though nonetheless real for each individual. Sqad wouldn't and couldn't say whether you should go for the operation because he couldn't know what that pain means to you but if it was extremely severe and it was me, I would ignore other people and dogs etc. for a few days and have the operation on the grounds that they will all benefit from your new found demeanour in the long run.
I asked the question about procedure to the neck because I do not know of anyone who has undergone it, but I know of people who have had the lumbar job and they have been extremely successful.
It's your call.
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