Herniated Disc Surgeon: Last Resort In Recovery

Herniated disc surgery should be the last option in terms of treatment for this condition. A herniated disc is caused when the vertebral disc is injured and sticks out to the spinal canal, placing pressure on the nerve roots. The inner component of the disc seeps out and places more pressure on the nerve roots or spinal cord creating acute pain thus indicating the occurrence of the herniated disc.

A herniated disc which places pressure upon the sciatic nerve, results in what is termed sciatic pain. This pain is felt from the hip down through the legs. Herniated discs without fragmentation cannot be easily detected by normal X-ray procedures, but rather identified clearly by CT (Computer Tomography) scan or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). In most cases, a herniated disc will improve simply with bed rest- and a basic course of medication. This obviously depends on the severity of the herniated disc, and the condition of health of the patient suffering from the conditions. If the pain persists after 6 – 8 weeks, and is near unbearable, then the doctor or physician should recommend herniated disc surgery as a last resort.

The herniated disc surgeon should perform a thorough analysis and diagnosis of the exact reasons for one’s herniated disc. The main goal of any herniated disc surgery is to relieve the pressure being placed on the nerve caused by the rupturing of the disc in the spine. The most common surgical approach is a discectomy, or partial discectomy.

With a discectomy, the surgery is performed under general anaesthetic and normally does not last much longer than 1 hour. The herniated disc surgeon begins the procedure with an incision at the center part of the patient’s back. For this reason it is crucial that the patient is lying with his or her face down during the procedure. The herniated disc surgeon will next cut open the muscles which surround the spine to clearly see the damaged area and remove small bone ligaments from the spine. This part of the procedure is medically termed a laminotomy.

Once the selected ligaments have been removed from the spine, the herniated disc surgeon will be able to see the spinal nerves, and then make the appropriate decision and action to protect it from the herniated disc. Depending on the complexity of the herniated disc, more fragments may be removed to prevent a future disc herniation occurring. Once the herniated disc surgery is completed, the surgeon will close the wound, and apply bandages.

In most cases of herniated disc surgery, the patient will wake up from the anaesthetic with almost no remaining symptoms of the herniated disc- which is obviously initially a massive relief. A sometimes more effective and less invasive type of herniated disc surgery is an endoscopic microdiscectomy. This is essentially the same process as the open discectomy, but a smaller incision is made, and in most cases a quicker recovery time is observed. This would be recommended for patients who have less of a recovery time available to them.

In deciding which method of treating a herniated disc, the advice of a recommended doctor and physician is vital. Surgery is definitely not the best option for all sufferers of a herniated disc- and can be a far too aggressive option for the majority of sufferers of a herniated disc. It is always advised to try medication and physical therapy before contemplating surgery as an option in curing a herniated disc.