Our spine is made of many tiny bones called vertebrae, and between these vertebrae is a disc which is cylindrical in shape with a flat top and bottom. They are attached to the vertebrae and act as a cushion to the bones. When the disc starts losing its pliability and strength, it causes pain or discomfort. This can cause extra pressure on the nerves and muscles around it, which causes discomfort to the patient. Let’s discuss slip disk surgery and how it can be effective to reduce spine related discomforts.
A ‘slipped’ disc can occur in any part of the spine starting from the neck region and can go down to the lower back. For slipped discs in the neck, patients might experience numbness, tingling or pain in shoulders, arms, neck or hands.
For lower back slip disc, pain in the lower back, or the back of the legs is very common.
If the slip disc is not major, doctors will first recommend anti-inflammatory medication and suggest home exercises to help mitigate the pain.
If a slip disk surgery is required, the doctor will first diagnose the disc, looking at nerve function and muscle strength while identifying damaged areas. X-Rays, scans, and an MRI will help identify the problem better.
What causes a slip disc?
A slip disc occurs when the outer ring becomes weak and leads the inner portion of the disc to bulge out.
This can happen from lifting heavy weights, which can suddenly twist your spine, pushing it against nerves in the lower back. This is called a herniated disc, and can also affect people who are overweight as extra weight needs support.
Aged individuals are also likely to experience a slip disc problem as the discs lose their protective water content over time due to which they have a possibility to slip out of place.
Possible ways of slip disc surgeries:
There are multiple surgery packages online that evaluate different surgeries done in case of slip disc. For the lower back pain surgery, microdiscectomy is the most common slip disk surgery that targets the nerve root and promotes healing for the disc. During this surgery, damaged intervertebral disc fragments are removed.
Surgeons scrape off the attached muscles from the bone of the spine in order to determine the extent of herniation.
Micro Endoscopic surgery is the latest spine slip disc treatment that is performed through a thin tube using a fluoroscope. Surgeons try to minimize the disruption to the surrounding tissue. Using minimal surgical technique, a small tubular retractor is been placed between the muscle fibers.
Unlike a discectomy, the muscles stay attached to the bone of the spine.
Success rate for such surgeries:
Lumbar herniated disc surgeries have a high success rate. In case of microendoscopic surgery, a small system is utilized that spreads the muscle tissue. This little disruption causes pain but contributes to a fast recovery.
In case of discectomy where muscle stripping from the bone is done, post-operative pain is much higher and takes considerably more time to recover from. After discharge, minimal postoperative pain is common among patients.
With proper care and treatment, you can have your healthy lifestyle back once again. Speed up the recovery process by taking good care of yourself and by following the physician’s order. Weight reduction, balanced diet, avoidance of tobacco and alcohol, and regular physiotherapy and rest will help you recover better.
