Cold Laser Therapy a.k.a. Low Level Laser Therapy

Cold Laser Therapy or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is a treatment that utilizes specific wavelengths of light to interact with tissue and is thought to help accelerate the healing process. It can be used on patients who suffer from a variety of acute and chronic conditions in order to help eliminate pain, swelling, reduce spasms and increase functionality.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/pain-management/cold-laser-therapy-pain-management-treatment

Herniated Disks

A herniated disc occurs when the soft, gelatinous inner core of a spinal disc leaks out through the disc’s weakened outer layers and affects a nearby nerve.

www.spine-health.com/blog/understanding-herniated-discs

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Recovery

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, or ACDF, is a common type of neck surgery to address pain and other symptoms caused by cervical disc problems. After an ACDF, most patients are able to go home the day of the surgery or the next day, so most of the recovery time is spent at home. Learn the typical considerations and instructions for ACDF postoperative care and rehabilitation.

Featured Article:
ACDF Surgery Postoperative Care

Additional Info

Hospital Care After ACDF Surgery
The goal of the one- or two-day hospital stay following ACDF is to keep the patient as comfortable and mobile as possible while preparing for long-term recovery at home. Learn More...

Getting Adequate Pain Control After Back Surgery
The spine surgeon performing a fusion surgery should have a pain control plan in place prior to surgery and should discuss it with the patient. This includes setting realistic expectations about the type and level of postoperative pain and providing instructions on how to respond when it occurs. Learn More...

Quitting Smoking Before a Spinal Fusion
An extensive amount of research has firmly established that cigarette smoking is bad for patients undergoing spine fusion surgery. But how does it impact a spinal fusion? What do you need to know to help my chances of successfully quitting smoking? Learn More...

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) Video


An anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is an anterior approach to removing a cervical herniated disc in order to relieve spinal cord or root pressure and alleviate corresponding pain, weakness, and numbness. This interactive video provides an overview of anterior cervical discectomy.

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What is Degenerative Disc Disease?

Degenerative disc disease is one of the most common causes of low back pain, and also one of the most misunderstood. Many patients diagnosed with low back pain caused by degenerative disc disease are left wondering exactly what this diagnosis means for them. Learn what you can expect to experience moving forward after your initial diagnosis.

Featured Article:
What is Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment for Low Back Pain
Although degenerative disc disease can cause lower back pain symptoms over a long period of time, the good news is that the pain is usually manageable with various nonsurgical treatment options, including exercise, massage, and chiropractic. Learn More…

Living with Degenerative Disc Disease
Learn the key components of a self-care program you can undertake to manage the pain of degenerative disc disease, including components such as pain reduction, exercise and rehabilitation, behavior modifications, and nutrition. Learn More…

Deciding on Surgery for Degenerative Disc Disease
If ongoing severe, disabling pain from degenerative disc disease and associated symptoms (e.g., numbness, tingling, difficulty sitting), it is sometimes not possible to wait for non-surgical therapy to work, and surgery may be your next course of action. Learn More…

Chiro Post-Operative Care

Even though there is usually some temporarily added muscle soreness (similar to the feeling of having completed an aggressive exercise session) after the manipulation, the patient should experience an immediate increase in range of motion post-anesthesia care.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/post-operative-care

Spinal Stenosis: Steps Clinical Study for the Minimally Invasive Totalis Procedure

Featured Clinical Trial Spinal Stenosis: Steps Clinical Study for the Minimally Invasive Totalis Procedure Right now spine specialists around the United States are accepting patient's diagnosed with or who may have spinal stenosis for the Steps Clinical Trial. Do you suffer with pain, tingling, or numbness in your leg(s) when walking or standing? Have medications and injections failed to provide relief? Are you considering a lumbar decompression surgery? You may be eligible to participate in a clinical research study designed to produce scientific information to demonstrate the treatment effect of the Totalis procedure, a minimally-invasive alternative to traditional spine surgery that does not require general anesthesia and allows most patients to return home the same day. The Study is intended to provide clinical data required by Medicare to support insurance coverage. Learn more about the Steps Clinical Study for the Totalis Procedure and find Study locations.

Are You Considering Cervical Fusion Surgery?

When considering cervical fusion surgery it is important to know your options. One option to look into is the Mobi-C® Cervical Disc (Mobi-C) which has been designed as an alternative to cervical fusion for cervical disc replacement to restore segmental motion and disc height.

Take our short survey to see if you're a potential candidate for you Mobi-C® Cervical Disc replacement surgery.

You may be a candidate, click here to take the survey.

To learn more about your options, click here to learn about the MObi-C® Cervical Disc.

Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy Video

Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy Video

Lumbar radiofrequency neurotomy is a minimally invasive procedure that reduces or eliminates the pain from damaged joints by disrupting the nerves that carry pain signals. It's a helpful option for patients to reduce pain enough to participate in a rehabilitation program.

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Herniated Disk - VIDEO

A herniated disc occurs when the disc degenerates and the inner core leaks out. It can be treated through chiropractic manipulation. This video explains what is a lumbar herniated disc, and gives visuals on what happens inside the spine.

http://www.spine-health.com/video/lumbar-herniated-disc-video

Conservative vs Surgical Care for Lower Back Pain

For most people, any episode of lower back pain will tend to get better within two weeks to three months. During this time period that an episode of back pain is resolving, or if the back pain is chronic, it is important to consider the appropriate course of conservative (meaning non-surgical) treatment in order to:

• Reduce pain and spasm
• Provide conditioning for the back
• Assist in managing issues frequently associated with back pain, such as sleeplessness or depression.

Chiropractic on the Lumbar Spine Video

 

Treatment options are considered "conservative" when they are non-invasive (such as medication) or markedly less invasive (such as injections or chiropractic manual manipulation) than surgery.
As a general rule, surgery for lower back pain is considered if conservative back treatment fails and the lower back pain and/or leg pain persists for an extended period of time, or if the patient is unable to maintain a satisfactory ability to function in everyday activities.

There are a few exceptions to this general rule. Conservative treatments are not the first option of choice if:

• The patient loses bowel or bladder control, or develops progressive weakness in the legs - these symptoms constitute a medical emergency and require immediate surgery. However, surgical emergencies for back pain are extremely rare and most episodes of lower back pain can be treated nonsurgically. For more information, see When Back Pain May Be A Medical Emergency.
• The patient has lower back pain, but an anatomical cause of the pain cannot be identified, surgery is not advisable and conservative treatments are the only recommended course of action. For more information, see What to Expect from Spine Surgery for Low Back Pain.

The length of time that conservative treatment should continue varies widely. Here are two general rules to help provide some context for patients:

• In general, the more pain and dysfunction a patient experiences, the earlier surgical treatments will be considered.
• The morbidity (e.g. incidence of post-operative discomfort) or extent of the surgery must also be considered, and therefore a microsurgery (small surgery using microscopes) will be considered much earlier than a much more extensive fusion operation.

In This Article:

• Conservative vs Surgical Care for Lower Back Pain
• Video: Am I a Candidate for Back Surgery?

For a more complete discussion of the role of back surgery, see Back Surgery and Neck Surgery Overview.
At the onset of lower back pain it is generally advisable to try one or two days of bed rest to decrease muscle spasm and allow the back to rest. More extensive bed rest seems to be counterproductive because it leads to further deconditioning (weakening) of the muscles that provide critical support for the spine.

In addition to initial bed rest, either one or a combination of several conservative treatment options is often recommended in order to alleviate pain and rehabilitate the lower back. To review nonsurgical treatments, see Back Pain Treatment: Non-Surgical Options for Pain Relief

Next Page: Video: Am I a Candidate for Back Surgery?

 

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Pilot study suggests wearable devices can help alleviate back pain

http://news.yahoo.com/pilot-study-suggests-wearable-devices-142202857.html

A major missing element, according to healthcare analytics startup Vivametrica, is context for the data generated and presented by these devices: what's needed is a comparison of an individual's activity pattern with the relevant sector of the general population, an assessment of the relative risks of different diseases based on these patterns, and personalised interventions designed to reduce those risks.

Vivametrica has been researching lower back pain caused by lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), which, according to cofounder and chief operating officer Dr Christy Lane, "is the top reason for orthopaedic surgery in North America; it's a huge, costly problem, and what's happening is that people are getting thrown into surgery, which is often very successful, but there also are a lot of people who could avoid surgery through something like this".

Vivametrica's pilot study, released today, finds that body mass index is the best predictor of daily function in people with LSS, suggesting that weight loss and increased physical activity may improve the condition. The study also finds that objective activity measures from wearable devices eliminate the guesswork inherent in patient feedback such as questionnaires, allowing more targeted treatment. The use of wearable devices also empowers LSS patients to be more involved in their own health and encourages them to change their behaviour.