When You Should Call a Spine Surgeon

Chronic back pain has become one of the most common problems across America and while surgery may remove some of this pain, it is rarely required. Many back pains can be removed with a combination of simple exercise and physiotherapy. But there are some signs which indicate that you better fix an appointment with a spine surgeon Florida. The sooner the better!

Some of these signs are:

• A slipped disc that remains as painful as before.

• A degenerative diseases or disc herniation,

• Trouble with walking

• Numbness in legs or arms

• Fever with back pain. This could be sing of an infection.

• Bone spurs in the spinal cord that causes pain.

• Loss of bowel control arising from nerve problem

• Tumor on the spinal cord.

• Spinal fracture

• Nerve compression like sciatica

There are different types of spine surgeries. Some of the surgeries carried out by spine surgeon Florida are:

Diskectomy: This procedure is used to treat a damaged disc that is affected by spinal nerve compression. The procedure involves removal of a small portion of the affected disc to relieve the nerve. It could also mean the removal of the entire disc if it too damaged.

Laminectomy: This procedure is carried out to remove any bone that overlays the spinal canal. The enlarged spinal canal relieves the pressure on the nerve pressure. It is performed to relieve pain from conditions like stenosis.

Fusion: An injured or degreased disk causes instability, forcing another disk to compensate. This, in turn, causes pain in the vertebra. A spinal fusion procedures is used to ‘fuse’ two or more bones in the spine to give it strength and stability.

Artificial disks: An alternative to fusion in case of a damaged or injured disc is substituting it with an artificial disk.

Cervical laminoplasty: This procedure repositions and reshapes the bones to relieve nerve pressure on the cervical spine. This is another alternative to treat spinal stenosis.

Stem Cell Therapy: A relatively cutting-edge procedure, here the surgeon uses stem cells to repair or replace the spinal nerve cells. This is usually applied to treat spinal injuries that cause nerve damage.

Some spine surgeon Florida also prefers minimal invasive surgeries since the risk of damage is lower than most open back surgeries. Many of us avoid meeting a surgeon because we dread a surgery. However, in most cases your surgeon will try alternative methods before going in for surgery.