KBS Offers New Hope for Neck and Spine Pain
Awareness months come and go. But if the condition in the spotlight is one you happen to deal with personally, you’re more likely to take notice. And if you’re one of the millions of Americans who suffer from severe neck or back pain, whether chronic or acute, this is your month.
National Spine Health Awareness Month is observed every October, serving as a public reminder of how important spinal health is. After all, the condition of your spine has a considerable effect on your mobility and quality of life.
Kalra Brain & Spine has helped countless people identify and treat the source of their acute and chronic pain. Sometimes, surgery offers the best solution, but lasting pain relief often can be found short of the surgical suite. In fact, at KBS, surgery is considered only when other methods have been tried first.
“Our commitment is to offer our patients the most conservative treatments that yield the greatest benefit. In other words, we want to get you out of pain and back to living your life as quickly as possible!”
– Dr. Ricky Kalra, fellowship-trained neurosurgeon
Treatments for spine pain and nerve pain in the arms or legs can include physical therapy, medication and injection treatments. In many cases, these first-line treatment modalities are enough to offer the relief that’s needed. But for others, the pain persists. If conservative management fails to provide pain relief, then surgical intervention may be considered. Common neck and lower back surgeries include cervical disc replacements, anterior cervical fusion, lumbar microdiscectomy, lumbar decompression and lumbar fusion.
When Your Spine Pain Means Surgery
When all other non-operative options have been explored, and you are still not getting the relief you need for your pain, surgery may be the best solution. This is especially true when dealing with a herniated disc (also called a ruptured or slipped disc) and some spinal deformities like scoliosis.
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) Offers New Hope for Chronic Pain
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion is an excellent option for people with chronic neck and spine pain that requires surgical intervention. ACDF has a great history of success in relieving severe pain.
During the procedure, the cervical spine is reached through a very small incision in the front of the neck (anterior means “front”). The disc is gently removed using a microsurgical technique. A small spacer is inserted that includes materials to stimulate growth. This acts as scaffolding across the disc space and thereby fusing the two vertebrae and stabilizing the spine at that segment. Surgical hardware is placed to immobilize the segments while the bone is fusing.
What are the Advantages of Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion?
In addition to relieving pain, fusions offer patients a consistent treatment that has a long history of successful relief of the worst instances of spine pain. Normally considered after other treatment options haven’t worked, fusions can effectively prevent painful movements in damaged areas of the spine to offer quality of life to patients who may have thought they would never find relief.
Posterior/Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF/TLIF) Offers Hope for a Healthy, Active Future
Posterior and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusions are two other options for people with lower back and nerve pain that require surgical intervention.
During the procedure, the lumbar spine is reached through an incision in the back (posterior means “back”). The affected disc is removed using a microsurgical technique. A small growth-stimulating spacer is inserted. This acts as scaffolding across the disc space, thereby fusing the two vertebrae and stabilizing the spine at that segment. Surgical hardware is placed to immobilize the segments while the bone is fusing, which can take up to a year.
What Are the Advantages of Lumbar Spinal Fusion?
Spine surgery may sound like a big deal, but living with back pain for the rest of your life is a bigger deal. In fact, most procedures, such as Lumbar Spinal Fusion, have become so common and consistent, that you can rest easy knowing your outcomes are well understood. Check out our patient Kristina’s story to learn how a lumbar fusion gave her her life back!
New Hope for Spinal Pain
When world-class training meets hometown values deeply rooted in family and community, the result is the kind of medical care you’ve always hoped for. This describes Kalra Brain & Spine, the practice of Dr. Ricky Kalra, who specializes in the most up-to-date evidence-based neurological care. If you’re living with neck or back pain that is unresolved with other treatment modalities, schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalra today.