You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Free Of Back Pain
September 30, 2008
Would you have back pain if every part of your body were perfect? The answer has to be… No, it’s pretty safe to say you wouldn’t have any pain if your body were perfectly aligned, perfectly balanced and in a perfect state of being.
But here’s the thing—you don’t have to be perfect to be pain-free. In fact, you can have serious conditions like Spinal Stenosis and even a Herniated disc and still have no pain—regardless of the type of job you have or how you think the condition developed or even the unique situation that you find yourself in today.
Don’t believe it? The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine just reported it.
They published a study in which researchers performed an MRI on 98 people who had no back pain. And the researchers found that nearly two thirds of them had some kind of abnormal disk condition.
The researchers conclude:
"Many people without back pain have disk bulges or protrusions… Given the high prevalence of these findings and of back pain, the discovery by MRI of bulges or protrusions in people with low back pain may frequently be coincidental."
That’s right. They called having a bulging or protruded disc and having back pain a coincidence. Proof positive that you can have a condition and not have pain. Indeed, there are millions of people with existing back problems right now who do not even know that they have the condition and surly don’t have any pain at all.
How do you become one of those people?
Living with the condition and living pain free.
Let me say something that may be uncomfortable for you to hear. There is a good chance your condition will never go away. That may sound scary, but it is possible. Herniated disks don’t typically un-bulge themselves and then heal them self to the way they were when you were 15. Spinal Stenosis doesn’t come and go.
And yet, you can still live without pain. In fact, you probably already have.
If you have gone just one minute of one day since your last flare-up without pain, you’ve proved you can have your condition without pain.
How can this be? If the condition didn’t go away, what changes? It all has to do with the alignment of your body, the position of your pelvis, the curvature of your spine and the stability of your body as a whole as you go through your day.
Now, there are a couple of ways to try to relieve that irritation permanently. Sure, you could have surgery. That’s one option to treat your pain. But most surgeries fail within 3 to 5 years. Why? Because they don’t address the reason why the condition became symptomatic in the first place. In other words they don’t fix what’s really causing your condition to develop–they just remove the irritant that is causing the pain.
So what does? I understand you think you’ve tried everything—chiropractors, physical therapy, cortisone shots, acupuncture, massage, anti-Inflammatories and probably 20 others. But ask yourself one question. Answer it truthfully.
Has anyone ever looked at your body as a whole and told you specifically what your postural dysfunctions are and what specifically is causing your body to look like it does?
Furthermore has anyone spelled out for you why your pelvis is the way it is? Did they tell you specifically which muscles are tight, which muscles are weak and then give you a very specific and very targeted corrective program to achieve postural balance and stability, which is the single more important thing you can do to alleviate your pain and gain control of your life?
Stability is Everything when looking for pain relief
The only way to stop the irritation is to bring your body back to a more neutral, more balanced and more stable state. When you do that, everything works better—your back, your hips, your shoulders, your SI joint, everything. Once your body is balanced and stable you can do all the things you love to do and do them with the confidence that you are safe, strong and protected against further injury.
As the NEJM proved, you don’t have to be perfect to eliminate pain. You just need to work toward creating a more balanced and neutral state for your body. When you work toward pelvic stability, you help your spine maintain a neutral position. Then you can use your body as it was intended to be used.
That’s how you can have the condition and not have pain. You most likely won’t need surgery. You won’t wake up every morning stiff. You can return to your life and do all you want to do.
Why is Muscle Balance Therapy so different?
First, you should understand that there is no single set of exercises that can specifically help a Herniated disk or Spinal Stenosis or any condition for that matter. So I urge you not to search the Internet for back pain exercises and just do any old stretch or exercise without knowing the underlying reason you are doing it for.
You must also understand that the Corrective Exercise Program you will get form Muscle Balance Therapy is not based on your diagnosis but rather on corroborating evidence from both physical and visual assessments that are used to ensure you are doing the correct and safest program possible for you and your current condition.
Muscle Balance Therapy is based on the biomechanical principle—the more balanced and stable your body is the better your body will work and the less pain you will be in. So before we start we must first know which muscles are out of balance, meaning we need to know specifically which muscles are tight and which are weak. Once we know those, then we can create a very specific and targeted stretch and exercise program to restore balance. And again that only comes from doing the specific assessments…
Let me just review this point one more time, there is no such thing as a single exercise for and medical diagnosed form of back pain like a herniated disc or Spinal Stenosis. So when you ask me will, I just had and MRI and was just diagnosed with 4 Herniated Discs, Degenerative Disc Disease all levels, Spinal Stenosis and oh I was born with Scoliosis and 17 years ago I was in a major auto accident, will your system work for me the answer is will always be yes…
In fact, I tell everyone it great to know your specific diagnosis but now forget about it, you can not change the facts and you can not change the past. Rather, focus your energy on the things you know you can change and as you restore balance you will restore function.
That brings us to the third unique aspect of Muscle Balances Therapy and that is that we have to perform what we call the Unbalanced Workout. This means that you will not benefit from just blindly strengthening or stretching all your core muscles. That is not the way to do it.
The reason is that you could be stretching or strengthening muscle groups that do not need to be stretched or strengthened and you can make your condition worse. Here is the secret: The difference between having pain and not having pain is in millimeters of movement and the more specific the physical approach the faster and safer the results will be.
The fourth difference is not in our exercises, because there are no new exercises in the world. Rather, it’s the confidence you get knowing that the exercises that you are doing are working the muscles in the best way possible for you and your situation.
The Secret
Everyone understands that one approach can not be the answer to every possible circumstance, and we know that, so here is the secret, as you work with Muscle Balance Therapy and address root cause issues like physical balance and postural stability, please understand that we encourage you to seek out those same modalities that failed you before, they all have value in the process of healing but not until you address the important stuff first.
You know the list of things that you have tried; I contend that this time Massage, Inversion, Supplements, Trigger Point Therapy, Heating Pads to name a few will all work to speed your healing and help you achieve optimal health for the rest of your life.
Is Muscle Balance Therapy perfect? It’s close. Does everyone get 100% pain relief? Most do.
I can say with all honesty that there is 100% chance you will improve from your current state. We have a list of 50 ways that your body and life will benefit and 100% pain relief is by all measures a bonus. So it boils down to this: Would you be happy with 80%, 60%, even 50% reduction in pain yet able to do all the things you love to do? Would that improve your quality of life?
I have dedicated the last 15 years of my life and endured both personal and professional sacrifice to create a safe, systematic approach to addressing all forms of back pain that can be used by young and old alike. And I have never been closer then I am right now with the concept of Muscle Balance Therapy to be able to say that you have just learned one of the best lessons anyone with back pain can hear.
I’m not promising miracles, but I do promise a complete and thorough as well as safe approach to managing, treating and even eliminating your pain.
I have seen amazing results again and again for those people that put in the effort and believe in them self knowing that they are doing the right thing.
Let me leave you with this last thought and one that I believe holds the most power. The human body is intrinsically designed to heal its self, we as individuals just need to give our bodies what is needed and remove what is not needed, Muscle Balance Therapy puts that power to heal yourself back in your control.
If I could barrow a line from my good friend Bob Proctor, the cure to ignorance is knowledge and the answer to fear, worry and doubt is study, understanding and faith. Faith builds enthusiasm and enthusiasm accelerates healing. How good it that!
So if you don’t believe me that you can have your condition and not have pain let me teach you what is possible. If you worry and are filled with doubt I urge you to study what is already available to you and the more you know the better off you will become.
That is true for all things and will be true till the end of time.
Sources
1. Jensen, M.C., et. al. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Lumbar Spine in People without Back Pain. N Engl J Med 1994; 331:69-73
2. Bob Proctor, The Winners Image, ©1995 –2008
Source: postchronicle.com
How to Keep Healthy Back
September 29, 2008
By Dr. Lee June-ho
Contributing Writer
A lot of patients come for consultations requesting “what is a good posture for a healthy back?” Natural daily activities require a lot of back motion, leading to a restless lumbar joint condition.
Due to these continuous activities, many people naturally suffer from “discogenic back pain” by degenerative degradation of their intervertebral disc joints along with the aging process.
What has already turned ‘black’ by aging or degeneration cannot be restored to its original ‘white’ or normal with present medical technology.
However, there are measures for the prevention of further damage to discs. Here are some tips for maintaining ‘a good healthy back’ as suggested by the North America Spine Society.
Follow these simple guidelines to keep your back in good shape:
1. Standing: keeping one foot forward of the other, with knees slightly bent, takes the pressure off your low back.
2. Sitting: sitting with your knees slightly higher than your hips provides good low back support.
3. Reaching: stand on a stool to reach things that are above your shoulder level.
4. Moving Heavy Items: pushing is easier on your back than pulling. Use your arms and legs to start the push. If you must lift a heavy item, get someone to help you.
5. Lifting: kneel down on one knee with the other foot flat on the floor as near as possible to the item you are lifting. Lift with your legs, not your back, keeping the object close to your body at all times.
6. Carrying: two small objects (one in either hand) may be easier to handle than one large one. If you must carry one large object, keep it close to your body.
7. Sleeping: sleeping on your back puts 55 lbs. of pressure on your back. Putting a couple of pillows under your knees cuts the pressure in half. Lying on your side with a pillow between your knees also reduces the pressure.
8. Weight Control: additional weight puts a strain on your back. Keep within 10 lbs. of your ideal weight for a healthier back.
9. Quit Smoking: smokers are more prone to back pain than nonsmokers because nicotine restricts the flow of blood to the discs that cushion your vertebrae.
10. Minor Back Pain: treat minor back pain with anti-inflammatories and gentle stretching, followed by an ice pack.
Dr. Lee June-ho is a neurosurgeon at Chungdam Wooridul Hospital.
Source: koreatimes.co.kr
O’Fallon chiropractor talks about his business and move
September 29, 2008
Dr. Anthony Peck has treated patients for about 18 years. The last nine have been spent at his Back and Neck Pain Center, in O’Fallon. He has recently moved his practice down the street, to 810 W. Highway 50. Peck recently talked to business reporter Will Buss about his business and move:
Q: Why did you move to a new office?
A: "At the other place, the parking was starting to become inadequate as the practice grew. We have other businesses there that shared parking with us. That was one of the reasons we moved, because we needed more parking. The new location has its own parking and its own building. We don’t share it with any other businesses within the same structure. It will have plenty of parking now. Now, we’ve got a lot better visibility and it’s easier to find from the highway. We’re next to a major landmark, the First Bank building. The big building has a big sign out front. Most people know where it sits. … Our new building has more room, that plus it’s kind of got a hometown feel to it and it’s a comfortable business."
Q: What lead you into chiropractic care?
A: "I had a mom and dad in the medical profession for 25, 30 years and two brothers who are doctors. It’s kind of in my blood, I guess you could say. I was a pre-med major who was drawn into it. It’s a unique ability to treat the human ailment without drugs or surgery. It’s something that’s different that appealed to me for its unique natural approach to health care. The other thing is it’s people helping people. It’s great when you are able to help someone who has tried many different approaches and really didn’t get the relief they were looking for, and you’re able to help them treat that and give you more passion."
Q: What makes your practice different from others?
A: "That’s a good question. There’s a lot of chiropractors out there. They offer similar techniques. We are one of the only ones and the first in St. Clair County that started auriculotherapy."
Q: What is auriculotherapy?
A: "It’s a form of acupuncture. It’s not a new technique, and we have had great success treating smokers with it. We also use it for weight loss. It has worked very well to treat back pain, neck pain and sciatica. That’s one of the things we offer. We are also a hands-on, old-school. We’re hands-on and don’t use any instruments to adjust people. We do manual manipulation by hand. That sets us apart from other chiropractors. Lots of people want to come in and get adjusted traditionally, like most chiropractors. Many chiropractors with time have started using instruments for adjustments. Many love to or hate it, none in between. We’re old-school."
Q: What is your approach?
A: "What sets us apart from other chiropractors is we’re pretty much a pain management style of practice. Some of the other chiropractors take a wellness approach. We offer that, too, but we treat pain. You’ve got neck and back pain, spinal issues, that’s pretty much what we treat. That’s why we named it what we did. Back pain is one of the more common things we treat."
Q: What else is new at the new office?
A: "We are offering a free consultation examination right now through all of next month, in October, for anyone wanting to see what we can do to help them out with any problems. We’ll have a grand opening there sometime later. Right now, we are in transition. We have most things moved in. You know how it is when you move."
Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 345-7822, ext. 24. \
Source: bnd.com
VCU Researchers Seek Relief for Back Pain
September 29, 2008
Study is first to look at a medicine’s ability to regenerate discs
With the most common chronic pain in the back, Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are testing whetherp injections of a sort of "biological putty" can help people suffering chronic lower-back pain.
The substance, a growth factor called osteogenic protein 1 or OP-1, which can help regenerate or repair damaged discs, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for investigational and humanitarian use.
"This is this first study of its kind where we are actually looking at a medication’s ability to repair a disc, help regenerate it and reduce painful symptoms," said Dr. Michael J. DePalma, medical director of the VCU Spine Center. DePalma is principal investigator for the study at VCU, one of seven sites where the industry-funded research is being conducted.
Candidates for the research study "are typically patients whose lifestyle has been really altered because they can’t function," DePalma said. "They can’t do things on a daily basis they really need to do. They are missing time from work. They can’t take care of chores. They can’t sleep at night because of the back pain."
Rebecca Tirs, 37, enrolled in the study this year. She was in a rollover car wreck in 1999.
"I had a lot of injuries; rehabilitation was two to three years," said Tirs, practice manager at a local dental office. "It changed my life completely."
Getting to work was sometimes a problem, so her boss allowed her to work from her home in Chesterfield County.
Chronic pain, she said, had become her "new norm." At times the pain would subside, going down to a level of one to three on a scale of 10. Around April last year, the pain started to become unbearable again.
A nurse practitioner treating her referred her to DePalma. Because she is still able to have children, there was reluctance to allow her into the study, she said. She wrote a letter pleading, and after agreeing to some restrictions, she was allowed to enroll.
"I thought, this could be the rest of my life, lying on the sofa, doing nothing, not even going to work," Tirs said. "I would have people come in to help with every function, even down to bathing."
She does not know whether she had the study treatment or the placebo but suspects it was the study treatment because of an allergic reaction she had for two days afterward.
She has noticed a slight improvement in her walk.
"This research . . . is a strategy to help repair an injured disc, and therefore it makes sense to help repair injured tissue and help it regenerate rather than doing something else like heating it up, deadening the nerve endings in it," DePalma said.
"Those procedures can be helpful . . . but the future is being able to understand why disc tissues are painful, how it’s injured, and directly repair that injury."
That can’t come soon enough, Tirs said.
"Folks in pain – we don’t always look it," she said. "We learn to deal with it, and we put on a good face. But it’s very isolating."
. . .
Not all pain is as debilitating, and for many, pain is temporary. It’s not always easy to tell initially which it will be.
"Pain is an indication that something’s not right," said Dr. Douglas Cutter, director of the CJW Medical Center (Chippenham) Sports Medicine Center. "If you have pain that limits the amount of activity, the intensity of activity, the range of motion of a joint, that’s significant. That is the body telling you that this is something that’s significant enough to seek medical attention."
Virginia Porter can’t remember what it feels like to be pain-free.
"It never goes away. There is no cure," said Porter, who has been battling pain since a bad car wreck 21 years ago. "People see us looking normal and don’t understand."
Porter, who lives in the Richmond area, and others like her suffering chronic pain often find that they go for years, and from doctor to doctor, trying to find help. After the devastating car wreck Porter was in, it was two years before a doctor put a name to her lingering pain – reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
"Three doctors before that said this was all in my head," Porter said.
Doctors don’t know what causes the pain disorder, also called complex regional pain syndrome, but research indicates it can develop after trauma and surgery. One characteristic is that it tends to worsen over time.
Treatments include medications, including pain relievers and muscle relaxants, or physical rehabilitation.
Cutter said various therapies can help relieve pain. Anti-convulsants, for instance, have been shown to help some people suffering with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition.
"That’s a tough patient to be – someone in chronic pain," Cutter said. "It’s a tough way to live."
Contact Tammie Smith at TLsmith@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6572.
Source: inrich.com
What To Expect From Chronic Back Pain Medications
September 27, 2008
Regardless of what your back pain cause is you will always be needing chronic back pain medication if you are stuck with chronic back pain for the rest of your life. Some people require prescription strength medication and only prescription strength will work.
Other folks can do with chronic back pain medication found over the counter and for those people there are a few suggestions on which over the counter chronic back pain medication you can use to get yourself some relief. Keep in mind that this is not medical advice and you should always consult with your doctor before you take any kind of medication. I would also suggest that you always want to follow the dosage instructions on the bottle of any chronic back pain medication.
Sometimes the pain can be intense but if you overdose with chronic back pain medication you can do some serious damage to your kidney and other parts of your body. So ask your doctor before you start taking any of this over the counter chronic back pain medication and make sure you follow the dosage instructions on the label of any medication you take.
Your local drug store sells a chronic back pain medication called naproxen. This chronic back pain medication is effective in relieving the pain for a period of time. It can be found in a generic form called sodium naproxen also. This over the counter chronic back pain medication is very strong stuff. Be sure to check the directions on the bottle before consuming this type of medication. As long as you take this chronic back pain medication as directed you should find the needed relief you are looking for.
Sometimes You Just Need To Control The Swelling
In many cases chronic back pain is caused by swelling in or around the spine. One of the best chronic back pain medications you can take that can help you control swelling is any form of ibuprofen. Once again a generic version of ibuprofen offered by your local drug store is more than sufficient to do the job. However, as with any other drug, you need to really pay attention to the dosage instructions for ibuprofen as taking too much ibuprofen can cause a lot of internal damage.
Chronic back pain medication is effective if taken correctly. Always talk to your health care provider about any type of chronic back pain medication you may want to take. Your health care provider can give you information on which chronic back pain medication takes effect quickly and which ones release over time. Take the right precautions and use chronic back pain medication as directed to get the full benefits you need.
Dr. Ken Offers Relief for Lower Back Pain in Allen, TX
September 24, 2008
Before people reach for that bottle of muscle relaxants, anit-inflammatories or ibuprofin or prescription pain medicine, they should consider recent evidence that shows that chiropractic care is more effective than drugs for back pain. A study compared chiropractic adjustments vs. muscle relaxants for the treatment of low back pain.
One hundred ninety-two patients with low back pain were assigned to one of two intervention groups (adjustments with placebo medicine or muscle relaxants with sham adjustments) or to a control group (sham adjustments with placebo medicine). Chiropractic adjustments were used to treat the low back area of the spine. Adjustments were performed with each subject in a facedown or side-lying position on a back pain treatment table. The adjustments were applied over the course of two weeks and followed by a final assessment visit two weeks later to see if the patients’ back pain had been resolved.
The results: After two weeks, chiropractic adjustments proved to be more effective than placebo in reducing low back pain and more effective than muscle relaxants and placebo in reducing low back pain.
“This study identified a sample population of subacute back pain sufferers for which chiropractic care provided an equally effective management to the conservative medical care of muscle relaxants,” wrote the researchers. Persons suffering from low back pain can receive this effective treatment by making an appointment with Dr. Kenneth Wilson, D.C. to help resolve low back pain condition.
Dr. Wilson’s efforts and patients’ testimonies speak for themselves.
“I suffered with low back pain for 20-plus years. It wasn’t until I decided to give chiropractic and try and chose Dr. Wilson as my Chiropractor that my back pain finally went away! I’m able to be more active with my family than any other time in the last 20 years! Thank you Dr. Wilson.” Dave R. Allen, Texas
For more information on low back pain treatment and other studies highlighting the benefits of chiropractic for back pain sufferers, please visit http://www.TreeOfLifeSpine.com, call the office at (214) 547-7234.
Reference: Hoiriis KT, Pfleger B, McDuffie FC, et al. A randomized clinical trial comparing chiropractic adjustments to muscle relaxants for subacute low back pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics July-August 2004; 27(6): 388-98.
Do you need surgery for back and neck pain?
September 23, 2008
Question: Do I need surgery for back and neck pain?
Answer: Do I need surgery for back and neck pain? Most people with back and neck pain do not need surgery. What they need is the correct diagnosis and the correct management. A spine expert is usually needed to make a correct diagnosis. For example, those diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation should do extension or backward bending exercises. On the other hand, if the diagnosis is lumbar stenosis, or crowding of the nerves in the lower back, extension exercises should be avoided. Nonoperative treatment can include activity modification, physical therapy, oral medications and sometimes injections. The vast majority of people with neck and back pain will respond to these conservative approaches.
Despite conservative treatment, some people will have progressive nerve damage or progressive severe back pain that may require surgery. In these cases, the types of surgery and the technology available is superior to what was available in the past. My mother needed spine surgery approximately 40 years ago. She told me that after her surgery she remained in bed for six months and was turned with a sheet. For that same type of surgery today, patients are out of bed walking the day after surgery and spend approximately three days in the hospital. The right diagnosis and the right management is the key to success in treating back and neck problems.
Tiffany Rogers, M.D., M.P.T. Diplomate, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery;
Source: dailybreeze.com
Opioid Painkillers Reduce Workers Low Back Pain
September 23, 2008
A new study has suggested opioid pain medications for workers with chronic low back pain, for it can significantly improve their ability to lift and perform other work-related physical tasks.
For the study, a team of Canadian researchers evaluated 30 patients with chronic low back pain of more than six months duration.
In the double-blinded, random-ordered, placebo-controlled trial, subjects performed a lifting test twice, once after receiving intravenous fentanyl and once after taking a placebo.
The objective of the study was to examine the impact of acute opioid administration on repetitive lifting and lowering exercise in workers with low-back pain.
The study showed that opioids improved lifting performance between 15 and 48 percent.
The researchers concluded that the performance improvement was due to reduced pain intensity.
Pain reduction, as measured by pain scales, was indicative of clinically relevant analgesia achieved by the medication.
However, the researchers suggest that longer trials are needed to measure the effectiveness of opioids as an adjunct to functional restoration programs for workers with low-back pain.
The study is published in The Journal of Pain, the peer review publication of the American Pain Society.
10 Things You Don’t Know About Back Pain
September 23, 2008
Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about back pain and its causes:
- Back pain affects 8 out of 10 people at some point in their lives and it costs the United States between $20 and $50 billion yearly.
- Back pain is the most common orthopedic complaint and also the most common cause of disability in people less than 45 years old.
- Low back pain is the second most common reason to visit a doctor in the developed world.
- About 1% of people living in the United States of America are chronically disabled due to back pain.
- Back pain can be felt going down into the buttock, back of the thigh, and below the knee into the calf and ankle. When this happens it is known as ’sciatica’.
- It is time to see your doctor as an emergency if symptoms of bowel and bladder are present as these may signify compression on the spinal cord.
- Cancers of the breasts, lungs, kidneys, prostates and thyroid glands can present as back pain.
- It may be important for your doctor to examine your abdomen, pelvis, rectum and major arteries when you complain of back pain. This is because; diseases of the abdomen, chest, rectum(such as rectal cancer) and pelvis may refer to the back of the spinal cord. Sometimes back pain may be the only sign of such serious diseases.
- Back pain can cause emotional problems such as low mood, depression, stress, and anxiety.
- Risk factors for developing back pain include overweight, female gender, older age, previous history of back pain, lack of physical activity, smoking, job dissatisfaction and wide spread pain.
Managing Back Pain Taking New Direction
September 22, 2008
Degenerative back disease can be a chronic problem for many Americans. Replacing the diseased disc is now an option for some of these patients.
The Spine Center at the University of Colorado Hospital is taking part in a nationwide clinical trial testing a new model of a replacement disc.
Kathy Hassebrook traveled from Aberdeen, S.D., to take part in this specific clinical trail.
For the past 10 years, she’s experienced increasing back pain and what she calls a lack of back structure. She’s tried back injections, physical therapy and wearing a back brace. Nothing worked.
“I’ve had the options given to me to either live with it, which I’ve done, and when it got to the point that it got so bad that it was affecting different things in my life, there’s two surgeries that were recommended,” said Hassebrook.
Golfing and bowling have been off limits , but it was a recent trip to Thailand that solidified her decision to have surgery.
“There was an elephant ride I was not on! And, I was afraid of the long flight,” said Hassebrook.
Missing that elephant ride was her last straw. She decided to enroll and was accepted into the clinical trial.
Dr. Vikas Patel leads a team of spine surgeons who are testing the newly designed artificial disc.
“This new disc is a third-generation type of disc where they are combining aspects of previous implants that we believe are better. These trials are important in general to make certain when new technologies come out they are thoroughly tested and carefully followed to make sure they are better than what’s currently available,” said Dr. Patel.
The new disc incorporates added mobility.
“It allows a bit of sliding and translating motion,” said Dr. Patel. He said it will act even more like a natural spine disc.
Because Kathy is part of this clinical trial, she can not know if her replacement will be with the new disc or an older version. To her, either disc will be fine.
“The good news is that I get one of the discs and I don’t have a fusion surgery scheduled. I either get the one being studied in the trial or one that is already FDA approved,” said Hassebrook on the day prior to her surgery.
The minimally invasive surgery to remove the diseased disc and implant the new one took about three hours. Kathy was walking within the first day.
She flew back to Colorado for a seven-week check up. There’s no doubt in her mind, she said, the surgery was a success. To prove it, she wore high-heeled boots to her appointment. That was something she could not do until after the surgery.
“I was hopeful, but it’s like I stepped back 10 years and it worked,” said Hassebrook.
Not knowing what disc was implanted is not even an issue.
“I’m guessing maybe I have the new one, but either way it worked. I’m happy,” said Hassebrook.
Kathy’s experience will join that of about 300 other patients to determine which disc may help future patients the most.
If this disc is approved by the FDA, it could be available in about three years.
The clinical trial is still accepting new patients.
For more information visit The Spine Center at University of Colorado Hospital
Source: TheDenverChannel.com
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