Back Disc Surgery – When To Consider Surgery, And When To Consider Other Options

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January 31, 2009

Bulging Disc Surgery can be a very scary thing to consider, especially because of all the conflicting information you will find. There are definitely some times where herniated disc spine surgery is necessary, but more often than not, this is not the case.

In fact, much of the research available today indicates that the success rate of surgery for a herniated disc is not very good, and rarely results in long-term relief (in most cases, the pain comes back within 5 years).

This article will discuss the different options available for surgery for a herniated disc, but before we discuss that, we need to talk about what a bulging disc is.

The spinal discs are cushions that separate each set of bones in the back. Their main purpose is to act as shock-absorbers, protecting the bones of the spine from excessive wear and tear with movement.

Each disc is composed of a strong outer covering called the annulus, and a soft jelly center called the nucleus. In the case of a bulging disc, the outer covering becomes weak and tears. This leads to the jelly to shift from the center of the disc into the area of weakness, which causes the disc to bulge.

The most serious complication of this problem is that the spinal nerves are located right behind each disc of the spine, which is where the disc will tend to bulge if it is injured. Because of this, the bulging disc will tend to apply pressure on a nerve, which can result in a great deal of disability and pain.

In fact, an interesting fact about the spinal discs that you may not be aware of is that they are not able to experience pain sensations. This may sound crazy to you at first, because as you know, this can be a very painful problem to live with.

But if you think about it, it makes sense that a disc wouldn’t experience pain, because they are absorbing shock all day. If they could experience pain, you would be in pain all the time, with every movement you make!

So, what actually causes the pain in the case of a bulging disc? It’s actually the pressure on the affected nerve. Even more significant than the pain, though, is the other parts of the body that can be affected by this problem.

Because the spinal nerves control everything in the body, pressure on a nerve will cause the part of the body being controlled by that nerve to stop working like it’s supposed to.

A good example of this would be a bulging disc in the lower back. The nerves that would be affected here control the legs, so it’s very common for a person with this condition to experience pain radiating down the legs, as well as weakness in the legs.

I’ve even seen cases where the pressure on the nerves in the low back becomes so intense that a person literally drops to their knees because they’ve lost so much strength in their legs.

Now, before we talk about the different types of surgery for a herniated disc available, let me just say one thing, because people often ask if there is a way for them to tell if surgery is their only option, and there is.

There are only a couple of situations that actually call for surgery immediately. The first is if you have a bulging disc in your low back, and you are losing control of your bowel and/or bladder. This is very serious and usually requires surgery right away.

The other situation that often requires surgery is when a person begins to have weakness in the extremities (either the arms or legs). This is an indication that the nerves have enough pressure on them that they are beginning to fall asleep. This is also a very serious sign.

One thing I need to say about that second situation, though, is that the weakness I’m referring to is an objective weakness that a physician can only find through a proper examination. You may feel like you are having weakness, but unless it shows up on the exam, it may not be serious enough to consider surgery.

In other words, your physician is the only one who will know if you have a true weakness that requires surgery.

Now let’s talk about the different types of surgery for a herniated disc commonly utilized today. Even though there is a lot of new research in this field, the two most commonly used types of surgery involve either removing the bulging part of the disc to remove the pressure from the nerve, or removing the entire disc and fusing the bones above and below the disc together.

With both of these types of surgery, the success rate is very low – only about 16% according to the medical journal Spine. Also, these often lead to other complications in the future. With a fusion, the joints above and below the fusion have to work extra hard to make up for the loss of movement, so those joints tend to wear out more quickly, and the problem will eventually spread throughout the spine.

In the case of a disc resection, where they remove the portion of the disc that is bulging, the condition usually comes back within 5 years, because if you are removing a part of the disc, it creates a weakness in the disc, and also causes scar tissue to develop over time.

Many people ask me about disc replacement back surgery, and other recent discoveries in this field, but at this point in time, these types of surgery are not as commonly utilized. I believe there is a lot of potential in this field, but they really haven’t perfected this technology yet.

So, here’s the bottom line with surgery for a herniated disc – always view this as a last resort. The success rate is not very good, and unless you fit into one of the situations that absolutely requires surgery, you should try everything else available first.

So, what other options do you have? After working with thousands of patients with this problem, I have actually found that there are a number of treatments that are very helpful, and can truly lead to long-term results.

I’ve actually found that it’s a combination of treatments that lead to the best results. If you are interested in avoiding surgery for a herniated disc, and would like to know more about the combination of therapies that are most effective for healing a bulging disc, you can click here (surgery for a herniated disc) to get all the details.

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